Installation — Kandown docs

Requirements

Node.js 18 or newer. That is the entire list — no database, no runtime service, no global configuration.

Check what you have:

node --version

Install

Kandown is published to npm as kandown.

npm install -g kandown

Any package manager works:

pnpm add -g kandown
yarn global add kandown
bun add -g kandown

Without installing

npx runs it directly, which is useful for trying it out or for one-off CI commands:

npx kandown init
npx kandown list --json

Tip

For day-to-day use, install globally. The npx path re-resolves the package on every call, which adds a noticeable delay to commands you run in a loop.

Verify

kandown --version
kandown doctor

kandown doctor is the one to reach for when something looks wrong. It checks your config file, the daemon state, port availability and the frontmatter of every task, and tells you what to do about each problem it finds.

Updates

Interactive runs check npm for a newer version at most once every 24 hours, and install it silently when one is found. The check is skipped entirely:

for every task command (list, create, move, …),
for kandown daemon,
whenever stdout is not a terminal — so it never fires in CI or inside an agent loop.

To turn it off completely:

export KANDOWN_NO_UPDATE=1

You can also update on demand. This refreshes both the CLI and the kandown.html bundled in the current project:

kandown update

If you have several projects open, bring their daemons onto the current version in one go:

kandown daemon refresh-all

Uninstall

npm uninstall -g kandown

Your tasks/ folder and .kandown/ config stay exactly where they are — they are just files, and removing the tool does not touch them.