Obsidian Kanban

Obsidian Kanban Skill

Create and manage Obsidian Kanban plugin board files. The Kanban plugin (mgmeyers/obsidian-kanban) renders plain Markdown files as drag-and-drop Kanban boards inside any Obsidian vault.

Board File Format (Quick Reference)

A Kanban board is a regular .md file with this structure:

---

kanban-plugin: board

---

## Column Name

- [ ] Card text
- [ ] [[path/to/note/index]]
- [x] Completed card


## Another Column

- [ ] Card with #tag
- [ ] [[some/note/index]] @{2026-02-20}


***

## Archive

- [x] Done items go here

%% kanban:settings
```
{"kanban-plugin":"board","list-collapse":[false,false]}
```
%%

Key rules:

• Frontmatter: kanban-plugin: board is required — triggers board rendering. Note the blank lines around the property inside the frontmatter block.
• Columns: ## H2 headings — column order matches heading order in file
• Cards: - [ ] (open) or - [x] (complete) checkbox list items
• Single-line cards: All card text must be on one line (no blank lines within a card)
• Wiki-links: [[path/to/note/index]] — link cards to vault notes. No display text alias needed; the plugin resolves the note title automatically.
• Tags: #tag inline — rendered as colored pills in board view
• Dates: @{YYYY-MM-DD} appended to card text — shown as date pills
• Archive separator: A *** horizontal rule before ## Archive
• Archive: ## Archive column stores completed/archived cards
• Settings: %% kanban:settings ... %% comment block at the very end, using plain triple backticks (no language hint)
• Double blank lines: The plugin outputs double blank lines between columns

Creating a Board

To create a Kanban board from scratch:

1. Create a new .md file with a descriptive name (filename = board title)
2. Add kanban-plugin: board in YAML frontmatter (with blank lines around the property)
3. Add ## Column headings for each lane
4. Add - [ ] items under each column for cards
5. Add *** horizontal rule before ## Archive
6. Add the settings comment block at the very end

Additional frontmatter properties (e.g. tags, aliases) may coexist alongside kanban-plugin.

Linking Cards to Existing Notes

Use wiki-links for cards that reference other vault notes:

- [ ] [[Projects/Website Redesign/index]]
- [ ] [[Meeting Notes/2026-02-16/index]]

When a card is a wiki-link, the plugin displays the linked note title as the card label.

Creating Notes from Cards

In Obsidian's board view, right-click a card or use the three-dot menu and select "Create note". The card text becomes the note title, and the card is replaced with a [[link]] to the new note. Configure the target folder and template in board settings.

Card Metadata

Cards support Obsidian inline fields (Dataview-compatible):

- [ ] Task [priority:: high] [assignee:: John]

Editing Existing Boards

When modifying a Kanban board file:

• Preserve the kanban-plugin: board frontmatter — removing it breaks board rendering
• Keep the settings comment block at the end intact
• Maintain the - [ ] / - [x] checkbox format for cards
• Column order in the file = column order in the board
• Adding/removing/reordering ## H2 headings adds/removes/reorders columns
• Keep the *** separator before ## Archive

Board Settings

Settings are stored in the %% kanban:settings ... %% block using plain triple backticks. Common keys:

Settings are also accessible via the board's gear icon in the UI, which provides options for note folder, note template, date/time format, archive size, and display preferences.

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For the complete Kanban plugin Markdown format specification:

• references/kanban-format.md — Detailed format reference including all card syntax variants, settings keys, board settings UI options, and file naming conventions