Kanboard Skill

Overview

Kanboard uses JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP POST. All calls go to a single endpoint.

Auth modes

Application API skips permission checks and has no session. Use it for automation. User API respects project permissions; required for "My…" procedures.

Core Helper

Always use this shell function to call the API:

kb() {
  local method="$1"
  local params="${2:-{}}"
  local user="${KANBOARD_USER:-jsonrpc}"
  local pass="${KANBOARD_PASS:-$KANBOARD_API_TOKEN}"

  curl -s -X POST \
    -u "$user:$pass" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"$method\",\"id\":1,\"params\":$params}" \
    "${KANBOARD_URL}/jsonrpc.php" | jq .
}

Check for errors in every response:

# Always verify result is not null/false
result=$(kb getMe | jq '.result')
if [ "$result" = "null" ] || [ "$result" = "false" ]; then
  echo "Error: $(kb getMe | jq -r '.error.message // "unknown error"')"
fi

Projects

# List all projects
kb getAllProjects

# Get single project by ID
kb getProjectById '{"project_id": 1}'

# Get project by name
kb getProjectByName '{"name": "My Project"}'

# Create project
kb createProject '{"name": "New Project", "description": "Optional description"}'

# Update project
kb updateProject '{"id": 1, "name": "Renamed", "description": "Updated"}'

# Remove project (irreversible)
kb removeProject '{"project_id": 1}'

# Enable / disable project
kb enableProject  '{"project_id": 1}'
kb disableProject '{"project_id": 1}'

# Get project activity feed
kb getProjectActivity '{"project_id": 1}'

Board & Columns

# Get full board (columns + tasks) for a project
kb getBoard '{"project_id": 1}'

# List columns
kb getColumns '{"project_id": 1}'

# Get single column
kb getColumn '{"column_id": 5}'

# Create column
kb addColumn '{"project_id": 1, "title": "In Review", "task_limit": 3}'

# Update column
kb updateColumn '{"column_id": 5, "title": "Review", "task_limit": 5}'

# Remove column
kb removeColumn '{"column_id": 5}'

# Change column position
kb changeColumnPosition '{"project_id": 1, "column_id": 5, "position": 2}'

Tasks

# Create task (minimum required: title + project_id)
kb createTask '{
  "title":      "Fix login bug",
  "project_id": 1,
  "column_id":  2,
  "swimlane_id": 1,
  "color_id":   "red",
  "priority":   2,
  "due_date":   "2025-12-31",
  "description": "Detailed description here",
  "owner_id":   3,
  "tags":       ["bug", "urgent"]
}'

# Get task by ID
kb getTask '{"task_id": 42}'

# Get task by reference (external ref)
kb getTaskByReference '{"project_id": 1, "reference": "EXT-123"}'

# List all tasks in a project (status: 1=open, 2=closed)
kb getAllTasks '{"project_id": 1, "status_id": 1}'

# Search tasks with advanced query
kb searchTasks '{"project_id": 1, "query": "assignee:me status:open"}'

# Update task
kb updateTask '{
  "id":         42,
  "title":      "Fix login bug (updated)",
  "column_id":  3,
  "color_id":   "green",
  "priority":   1,
  "due_date":   "2025-11-30"
}'

# Move task to another column/swimlane/position
kb moveTaskToColumn '{
  "project_id":  1,
  "task_id":     42,
  "column_id":   3,
  "position":    1,
  "swimlane_id": 1
}'

# Move task to another project
kb moveTaskToProject '{
  "task_id":        42,
  "project_id":     2,
  "swimlane_id":    1,
  "column_id":      1,
  "category_id":    0
}'

# Duplicate task to another project
kb duplicateTaskToProject '{
  "task_id":    42,
  "project_id": 2
}'

# Close / Open task
kb closeTask '{"task_id": 42}'
kb openTask  '{"task_id": 42}'

# Remove task (irreversible)
kb removeTask '{"task_id": 42}'

# Get task color list
kb getTaskColors

Task color IDs

yellow, blue, green, purple, red, orange, grey, brown, deep_orange, dark_grey, pink, teal, cyan, lime, light_green, amber

Subtasks

# List subtasks for a task
kb getAllSubtasks '{"task_id": 42}'

# Create subtask
kb createSubtask '{
  "task_id":  42,
  "title":    "Write unit tests",
  "user_id":  3,
  "time_estimated": 4
}'

# Update subtask (status: 0=todo, 1=in-progress, 2=done)
kb updateSubtask '{
  "id":      10,
  "task_id": 42,
  "status":  1,
  "time_spent": 2
}'

# Remove subtask
kb removeSubtask '{"subtask_id": 10}'

Comments

# List comments for a task
kb getAllComments '{"task_id": 42}'

# Create comment
kb createComment '{
  "task_id": 42,
  "user_id": 1,
  "content": "This is a **markdown** comment."
}'

# Update comment
kb updateComment '{"id": 7, "content": "Updated comment text."}'

# Remove comment
kb removeComment '{"comment_id": 7}'

Swimlanes

# List swimlanes for a project
kb getSwimlanes '{"project_id": 1}'

# Get active swimlanes only
kb getActiveSwimlanes '{"project_id": 1}'

# Create swimlane
kb addSwimlane '{"project_id": 1, "name": "Team Alpha"}'

# Update swimlane
kb updateSwimlane '{"swimlane_id": 3, "name": "Team Beta"}'

# Remove swimlane
kb removeSwimlane '{"project_id": 1, "swimlane_id": 3}'

# Change swimlane position
kb changeSwimlanePosition '{"project_id": 1, "swimlane_id": 3, "position": 1}'

Categories

# List categories for a project
kb getAllCategories '{"project_id": 1}'

# Create category
kb createCategory '{"project_id": 1, "name": "Backend"}'

# Update category
kb updateCategory '{"id": 5, "name": "Backend & API"}'

# Remove category
kb removeCategory '{"category_id": 5}'

Users

# List all users (Application API only)
kb getAllUsers

# Get user by ID
kb getUserById '{"user_id": 3}'

# Get user by username
kb getUserByName '{"username": "alice"}'

# Create user
kb createUser '{
  "username": "bob",
  "password": "S3cur3P@ss",
  "name":     "Bob Smith",
  "email":    "[email protected]",
  "role":     "app-user"
}'
# Roles: app-admin | app-manager | app-user

# Update user
kb updateUser '{"id": 3, "name": "Bob Jones", "email": "[email protected]"}'

# Disable / Enable user
kb disableUser '{"user_id": 3}'
kb enableUser  '{"user_id": 3}'

# Remove user
kb removeUser '{"user_id": 3}'

# Current user (User API only)
kb getMe
kb getMyProjects
kb getMyDashboard
kb getMyActivityStream
kb getMyCalendar
kb getMyNotifications

Project Permissions

# List project users
kb getProjectUsers '{"project_id": 1}'

# Add user to project
kb addProjectUser '{
  "project_id": 1,
  "user_id":    3,
  "role":       "project-member"
}'
# Roles: project-manager | project-member | project-viewer

# Change user role in project
kb changeProjectUserRole '{"project_id": 1, "user_id": 3, "role": "project-manager"}'

# Remove user from project
kb removeProjectUser '{"project_id": 1, "user_id": 3}'

# Add/remove group to project
kb addProjectGroup    '{"project_id": 1, "group_id": 2, "role": "project-member"}'
kb removeProjectGroup '{"project_id": 1, "group_id": 2}'

Tags

# Get all tags for a project
kb getTagsByProject '{"project_id": 1}'

# Create tag
kb createTag '{"project_id": 1, "tag": "urgent"}'

# Update tag
kb updateTag '{"id": 4, "tag": "critical"}'

# Remove tag
kb removeTag '{"tag_id": 4}'

# Get tags for a task
kb getTaskTags '{"task_id": 42}'

# Assign tags to a task (replaces existing tags)
kb setTaskTags '{"project_id": 1, "task_id": 42, "tags": ["bug", "urgent"]}'

Task Links (Internal)

# Get link types
kb getAllLinks

# Get links for a task
kb getAllTaskLinks '{"task_id": 42}'

# Create task link
kb createTaskLink '{
  "task_id":        42,
  "opposite_task_id": 55,
  "link_id":        1
}'
# Common link_id: 1=relates to, 2=blocks, 3=is blocked by, 4=duplicates, 5=is duplicated by

# Remove task link
kb removeTaskLink '{"task_link_id": 8}'

Application

# Get app version
kb getVersion

# Get app timezone
kb getTimezone

# Get app default language
kb getDefaultLanguage

# Get current datetime
kb now

# Get available board column types
kb getDefaultTaskColors

Common Workflows

Create project with full setup

# 1. Create project
project_id=$(kb createProject '{"name":"Sprint 1"}' | jq '.result')

# 2. Add columns
kb addColumn "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"title\": \"Backlog\"}"
kb addColumn "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"title\": \"In Progress\", \"task_limit\": 3}"
kb addColumn "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"title\": \"Review\"}"
kb addColumn "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"title\": \"Done\"}"

# 3. Add swimlane
kb addSwimlane "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"name\": \"Team Alpha\"}"

# 4. Show board
kb getBoard "{\"project_id\": $project_id}"

Move task through workflow

task_id=42
project_id=1

# Get column IDs first
columns=$(kb getColumns "{\"project_id\": $project_id}" | jq '.result')
in_progress_col=$(echo $columns | jq '[.[] | select(.title=="In Progress")][0].id')

# Move task
kb moveTaskToColumn "{
  \"project_id\": $project_id,
  \"task_id\":    $task_id,
  \"column_id\":  $in_progress_col,
  \"position\":   1
}"

Create task with subtasks

# Create parent task
task_id=$(kb createTask '{
  "title":      "Implement feature X",
  "project_id": 1,
  "priority":   2
}' | jq '.result')

# Add subtasks
kb createSubtask "{\"task_id\": $task_id, \"title\": \"Write spec\"}"
kb createSubtask "{\"task_id\": $task_id, \"title\": \"Implement\"}"
kb createSubtask "{\"task_id\": $task_id, \"title\": \"Write tests\"}"
kb createSubtask "{\"task_id\": $task_id, \"title\": \"Code review\"}"

Bulk close completed tasks

project_id=1

# Get all open tasks, close those tagged "done"
kb getAllTasks "{\"project_id\": $project_id, \"status_id\": 1}" \
  | jq -r '.result[] | select(.tags[]? == "done") | .id' \
  | while read task_id; do
      kb closeTask "{\"task_id\": $task_id}"
      echo "Closed task $task_id"
    done

Error Handling

# Robust call wrapper
kb_safe() {
  local result
  result=$(kb "$@")
  local error=$(echo "$result" | jq -r '.error // empty')
  if [ -n "$error" ]; then
    echo "❌ API Error: $(echo "$result" | jq -r '.error.message')" >&2
    return 1
  fi
  echo "$result" | jq '.result'
}

# Usage
kb_safe getAllProjects
kb_safe getTask '{"task_id": 99999}'  # returns error if not found

Setup & Configuration

Add to your OpenClaw environment:

# Required
export KANBOARD_URL="https://kanboard.example.com"
export KANBOARD_API_TOKEN="your_token_from_settings_page"

# Optional (for User API / "My…" procedures)
export KANBOARD_USER="your_username"
export KANBOARD_PASS="your_password_or_personal_token"

Getting your API token:

1. Log in to Kanboard as admin
2. Go to Settings → API
3. Copy the token shown there

Personal API token (User API):

1. Click your profile avatar → My Profile
2. Click "Generate a new API token" in the API section
3. Use as KANBOARD_PASS with your username as KANBOARD_USER

Notes

• All dates use YYYY-MM-DD format or Unix timestamps
• Task priority: 0=low, 1=normal, 2=high, 3=urgent
• Kanboard supports batch requests — multiple JSON-RPC calls in one HTTP request (useful for bulk ops)
• status_id for tasks: 1=open, 2=closed
• API endpoint is always \x3CKANBOARD_URL>/jsonrpc.php