Markdown-powered kanban task board for VS Code and Obsidian
Hexfield Deck transforms your markdown weekly planner files into interactive kanban boards. Write tasks in plain text with inline metadata, then visualize and manage them on a drag-and-drop board — all without ever leaving your editor.
| Swimlane View | Standard View |
|---|---|
 |
|
- ✅ 3-column kanban board (To Do / In Progress / Done)
- ✅ Slates & Rows — H1 headings define named Slates; every H2 is a swimlane Row
- ✅ Per-Slate navigation — Header dropdown switches between H1 Slates; each Slate has Standard and Swimlane views
- ✅ Five task statuses —
[ ]To Do,[/]In Progress,[x]Done,[-]Won't Do,[!]Blocked - ✅
//comment syntax — Annotate headings (## Monday // Feb 9) and tasks (- [ ] Fix bug // waiting on Joel) without affecting display or metadata parsing - ✅ Drag-and-drop editing — Move cards between columns or swimlane rows to update status and section
- ✅ Interactive sub-task checkboxes — Click to cycle through To Do → In Progress → Done
- ✅ Live markdown sync — Board updates automatically as you edit the file
- ✅ Rich metadata badges — Project tags, due dates, priorities, time estimates
- ✅ Color-coded due dates — Overdue (red), today (orange), upcoming (yellow), future (gray)
- ✅ Sub-task progress tracking — Completion count shown on card
- ✅ Right-click context menu — Edit title, due date, estimate, priority, state; Move within or across Slates; Delete
- ✅ Quick Add —
+button inserts a task into the active Slate's current day row - ✅ Open in Markdown — Jump directly to any task's source line from the board
- ✅ Inline markdown rendering — Bold, italic, strikethrough, code spans, and links render in card titles; links open in the browser
- ✅ Metadata filtering — Filter by project, status, priority, due date, and time estimate; Won't Do and Blocked hidden by default
- ✅ Card sorting — File order, priority, status, project, or estimate
- ✅ Project color configuration — Per-project card colors, styles, and URL links from the Projects toolbar panel
- ✅ Configurable badge colors — Badge colors follow
hexfield.colors.*settings, shared with Hexfield Text - ✅ Hexfield Text compatibility — Works alongside the Hexfield Text companion extension for editor syntax highlighting
- 🔌 Obsidian plugin — Full feature parity for Obsidian users
- 🗓️ Week navigation — Browse weeks with auto-file creation
Option 1: From Release (Recommended for Testing)
- Download the latest
.vsixfrom the Releases page - In VS Code:
Extensions → ⋯ → Install from VSIX... - Select the downloaded
.vsixfile
Option 2: From Source
git clone git@github.com:jimblom/Hexfield-Deck.git
cd Hexfield-Deck
pnpm install
pnpm build
cd packages/vscode-extension
pnpm package
# Install the generated .vsix file- Open a weekly planner markdown file (see example format)
- Open the command palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P/Cmd+Shift+P) - Run "Hexfield Deck: Open Board"
- The board opens beside your editor with live updates
Hexfield Deck parses structured markdown files with a specific format:
---
type: hexfield-planner
week: 7
year: 2026
tags: [planner, weekly]
---
# Week 7, 2026
## Monday // February 9, 2026
- [ ] Fix rendering glitch #hexfield [2026-02-09] !! // viewport calc was off
- [x] Reproduce on the bridge
- [ ] Write regression test
- [/] Rewire nacelle couplings #deep13 est:3h
- [!] Coordinate with Gizmonic // waiting on Dr. Forrester
## Tuesday // February 10, 2026
- [ ] Ship parser v1 #hexfield [2026-02-10] !!! est:4h
# Backlog
## Now
- [ ] Fix escape pod hatch #sol !! est:1h
## This Quarter
- [ ] Launch Hexfield Deck v1.0 #hexfield [2026-03-31] !!!Checkbox states:
| Marker | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
[ ] |
To Do | Default |
[/] |
In Progress | |
[x] |
Done | |
[-] |
Won't Do | Hidden by default |
[!] |
Blocked | Hidden by default |
Metadata syntax:
#project-name→ Project tag — must have a space before#[2026-02-15]→ Due date (color-coded by proximity)!!!/!!/!→ Priority (high / medium / low)est:2h→ Time estimate// comment text→ Comment — stripped from title display; tags inside are not parsed
Inline Markdown in Titles:
Card and sub-task titles support inline markdown formatting:
| Syntax | Renders as |
|---|---|
**bold** |
bold |
*italic* |
italic |
~~strikethrough~~ |
|
`code` |
code |
[link text](https://example.com) |
clickable link (opens in browser) |
Note: URL fragments like
https://example.com#sectionare handled correctly — the#sectionpart is not treated as a project tag.
See examples/weekly-planner.md for a complete example.
- User Guide — Complete usage documentation
- Setup Guide — Development environment setup
- Implementation Plan — Roadmap and phases
- Architecture Decisions — Technical ADRs
git clone git@github.com:jimblom/Hexfield-Deck.git
cd Hexfield-Deck
pnpm install
pnpm build- Open the project in VS Code
- Press
F5to launch the Extension Development Host - Open
examples/weekly-planner.mdin the new window - Run "Hexfield Deck: Open Board"
This is a monorepo with three packages:
packages/
├── core/ # Shared TypeScript library (parser, models)
├── vscode-extension/ # VS Code extension
└── obsidian-plugin/ # Obsidian plugin (Phase 8)
See IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md for the full technical plan.
| Phase | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | ✅ Complete | Core parser + basic webview board |
| Phase 2 | ✅ Complete | Drag-and-drop + real-time sync |
| Phase 3 | ✅ Complete | Interactive sub-task checkboxes |
| Phase 4 | ✅ Complete | Multiple views & sorting |
| Phase 5 | ✅ Complete | Context menu CRUD operations |
| Phase 6 | ✅ Complete | Inline markdown rendering |
| Phase 7 | ✅ Complete | Metadata filtering |
| Phase 8 | ✅ Complete | Slates (H1/H2 layout), per-Slate nav, Blocked, // |
| Phase 9 | 🔜 Next | Settings & production polish |
| Phase 10 | 🔮 Future | Obsidian plugin |
See IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md for detailed phase breakdowns.
Hexfield Deck is named after the Hexfield Viewscreen on the Satellite of Love from Mystery Science Theater 3000 — the ship's main visual display and communication screen. The name is a triple reference:
- Hexfield — The iconic hexagonal viewscreen
- Deck — The command deck where the viewscreen lives, a deck of cards (kanban), and the connotation of command/oversight
MIT License — Copyright (c) 2026 Jim Lindblom (jimblom)
See LICENSE for details.
This is a personal project in early development. Contributions are welcome once v1.0.0 is released. For now, feel free to:
- Repository: github.com/jimblom/Hexfield-Deck
- Issues: github.com/jimblom/Hexfield-Deck/issues
- Author: Jim Lindblom (@jimblom)
- License: MIT
Keep the Satellite running. Keep your tasks in order. Welcome to Hexfield Deck. 🚀