Boards

Boards is a full-featured project management tool built into Coline. It supports kanban-style columns, drag-and-drop card management, labels, assignees, checklists, custom fields, automations, real-time collaboration, and AI-powered board creation.

Views

Boards supports two view modes:

• Kanban (default): Cards organized into vertical columns representing stages of a workflow. Drag cards between columns to update their status. Columns are fully customizable and reorderable.
• Table: A structured view of all cards with sortable columns for properties like title, status, priority, and due date.

Use the zoom control in the toolbar to adjust the board scale from 0.5x to 2.0x. Zoom in with Cmd/Ctrl + Plus, zoom out with Cmd/Ctrl + Minus, or hold Cmd/Ctrl and scroll. Press Cmd/Ctrl + 0 to reset to the default zoom level.

Creating boards

There are several ways to create a board:

• New board button: Opens a creation form where you set the title, description, and board type. Choose from preset templates or start with a blank board.
• Templates: Start from a pre-built board structure. Available templates include Blank Board, Feature Tracker, Bug Tracker, Sprint Planning, and Content Pipeline.
• AI Board Creator: Describe what you need in plain language (e.g., "A board for tracking our mobile app launch") and Kairo generates columns, cards, and labels automatically.
• Import: Bring in existing work from Trello or Jira through guided import wizards that map columns, cards, labels, and assignees.

Columns

Columns represent the stages of your workflow. Each column has:

• Title: The name of the stage (e.g., Backlog, In Progress, Done)
• Position: Drag columns left or right to reorder them
• Color: Optional color coding for visual distinction

Add new columns from the "Add column" button at the right edge of the board. Edit or delete columns from their header menu. Archiving a column hides it without deleting its cards.

Cards

Cards are the individual work items on your board. Create cards by clicking the "Add card" button at the bottom of any column, or press N for a quick creation shortcut.

Card properties

Each card supports the following fields:

• Title (required)
• Description (supports rich text)
• Priority: Low, Medium, or High
• Due date, with a calendar picker
• Labels from a customizable color-coded label system
• Assignees (multiple team members per card)
• Checklists with individual item completion and progress tracking
• Attachments (upload files directly to cards)
• Cover photo for visual identification in the kanban view
• Custom fields (text, number, date, dropdown, or user type)
• Dependencies (mark cards as blocking or blocked by other cards)
• Effort estimation (complexity level, time estimate, and story points)
• Comments with timestamps

Card detail modal

Click any card to open its detail modal. The modal has two tabs:

• Details: Shows all card properties, checklist progress, attachments, custom fields, dependencies, linked GitHub commits, and comments.
• Activity: A complete audit log of every change made to the card, including moves, edits, label changes, and checklist updates, with user avatars and timestamps.

Available actions from the modal menu include duplicate, archive, delete, split card (converts checklist items into separate cards), and suggest next step (AI-powered).

Right-click a card on the board for a context menu with quick actions.

Drag and drop

Boards uses drag and drop throughout:

• Move cards: Drag cards between columns to change their status. Cards snap into position based on their drop location.
• Reorder cards: Drag cards up or down within a column to change their priority order.
• Reorder columns: Drag column headers left or right to rearrange the workflow stages.
• Bulk move: Select multiple cards and drag them together to a new column.

Labels

Labels provide color-coded categorization for cards. Each label has a name, color, and optional description.

Manage labels from the board settings. Add labels to cards from the card detail modal or by right-clicking a card. Multiple labels can be applied to a single card. Kairo can suggest labels based on card content.

Assignees

Assign one or more team members to any card. Assignee avatars appear on the card in the kanban view. Filter the board by assignee using the toolbar filter: press A to toggle showing only cards assigned to you, or select a specific team member or show only unassigned cards.

Checklists

Break down card work into smaller steps using checklists. Each checklist item has its own title and completion checkbox. The card shows a progress bar based on how many items are done. Items are reorderable within the checklist.

Custom fields

Add structured data to cards beyond the built-in properties. Supported field types:

• Text: Free-form text input
• Number: Numeric values
• Date: Date picker
• Dropdown: Select from predefined options
• Checkbox: Boolean toggle

Manage custom fields from the board settings. Field values are set per card in the detail modal.

Dependencies

Track relationships between cards using dependencies:

• Blocks: Mark a card as blocking another card's progress
• Blocked by: Mark a card as waiting on another card
• Relates to: Link related cards without implying a blocking relationship

Dependencies are visible in the card detail modal and help teams understand work sequencing.

Automations

Automate repetitive board actions with rules that trigger on events or schedules.

Triggers:

• Event-based: Card moved, card created, label added, due date approaching, checklist completed, and others
• Time-based: Run at a specific time
• Scheduled: Run on a recurring schedule

Actions:

• Move card to a column
• Archive or delete a card
• Assign a user
• Set labels
• Create a new card
• Send a notification

Conditions: Narrow when automations fire using conditions like has label, priority level, assigned to, no activity for N days, and others.

Build automations from the board settings using the visual automation builder.

Sharing and permissions

Share boards with team members or external collaborators. Each member has a role:

• Admin: Full control, including managing members, board settings, and deleting the board
• Editor: Create, edit, and move cards, columns, and labels
• Viewer: Read-only access to the board and its cards

Invite members by searching their email or username from the share modal. Generate shareable invite links with configurable permissions and optional expiration. Links can be revoked at any time. Toggle the board between public and private visibility from the share settings.

Real-time collaboration

Boards supports real-time collaboration:

• Presence indicators: See which team members are currently viewing the board. Active users appear as avatars in the toolbar.
• Live updates: Card moves, edits, and new cards appear instantly for all viewers without refreshing.
• Card focus tracking: See which card a teammate is currently viewing or editing.

Board dock

The board dock is a collapsible sidebar with widgets:

• My Cards: A quick view of all cards assigned to you across the current board, with status and priority indicators.
• Activity Feed: A chronological log of recent board activity, including card moves, edits, comments, and member changes.

Customize which widgets appear and their order from the widget configuration modal. Dock state is saved per board.

Backgrounds

Customize the board background from 18 preset gradients and solid colors, or set a custom background. The board automatically detects whether the background is light or dark and adjusts text contrast accordingly.

Archived cards

Archive cards to remove them from the active board without deleting them. View all archived cards from the board menu. Restore archived cards back to any column, or permanently delete them.

Card templates

Save a card's structure (title pattern, description, labels, checklists, custom fields) as a template. Reuse templates when creating new cards to avoid repetitive setup. Templates are scoped to the board.

AI features

Kairo integrates into boards in several ways:

• AI Board Creator: Describe a project or workflow in plain language and Kairo generates a complete board with columns, cards, and labels.
• AI Card Assistant: Parse natural language into structured card data when creating cards. Kairo extracts title, description, priority, labels, and due date from freeform text.
• Label suggestions: Kairo suggests relevant labels based on a card's title and description.
• Card splitting: When a card is too broad, Kairo reviews the checklist and suggests which items should become their own cards.
• Next action suggestions: Kairo recommends the next step for a card based on its current state, description, checklist progress, comments, and priority.
• Text completion: While editing a card description, Kairo offers inline text suggestions.
• Duplicate detection: When creating a new card, Kairo warns you if a similar card already exists on the board.

Import and export

Boards supports importing from external project management tools:

• Trello: Import boards with columns, cards, labels, and checklists through a guided wizard. Two-way sync is available via webhooks for ongoing synchronization.
• Jira: Import issues with status mapping, priority levels, and assignees.

GitHub integration: Connect a GitHub repository to a board. Linked commits appear in card detail modals, connecting code changes to the cards they relate to.

Export the full board as a JSON file from the board settings menu. The export includes all board data: columns, cards, labels, card-label mappings, custom fields, and custom field values.

Multi-select

Select multiple cards by clicking their checkboxes. A selection toolbar appears with bulk actions:

• Bulk assign: Assign or unassign users across all selected cards
• Clear selection: Press M to deselect all cards

Search and filtering

Use the search bar to find cards by title or description. Filter cards by label, assignee, priority, or due date to narrow the board view. Toggle archived card visibility from the board menu.

Keyboard shortcuts

Tips

• Start with a template if you are setting up a common workflow. The Feature Tracker and Sprint Planning templates cover most software development needs.
• Use labels consistently across boards to make filtering useful. A shared label scheme (e.g., "bug", "feature", "docs") helps teams scan boards quickly.
• Try the AI Board Creator when starting a new project. Describe what you need and refine the generated structure instead of building from scratch.
• Set up automations for recurring actions. Moving completed cards to an archive column or notifying assignees when due dates approach saves manual effort.
• Use dependencies to make blocking relationships visible. This helps teams prioritize work that unblocks others.
• Check the board dock for a quick overview of your assigned cards and recent activity without scrolling through the full board.