pad/README.md

Pad

Project Management for the agent era.

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One binary. Local-first. No accounts required. Pad gives you a CLI, a web UI, and an AI agent skill — all backed by SQLite, all running on your machine. Your project data never leaves your laptop.

Quick Start

brew install PerpetualSoftware/tap/pad
cd your-project
pad init                    # configure, auth, workspace, AI skill — all in one
pad server open             # opens the web UI at localhost:7777

pad init is the smart entry point — it auto-detects what's needed, walks you through each step, and is safe to re-run anytime (it skips finished steps and prints a status summary).

Then, in a fresh agent session in your project, say:

use pad to get IDEA-1

Your new workspace ships with a thoughtful first idea — IDEA-1 — that the agent reads and uses to help you get set up around your actual project. It's the fastest way to go from empty workspace to "okay, this is mine."

Why Pad?

Tools like Linear, Jira, and Notion are built for teams on the cloud. Pad is built for developers on their machine — and for the AI agents working alongside them.

	Pad	Linear / Jira	Notion
Setup	pad init	Create account, invite team, configure	Create account, pick template
AI agents	Native /pad skill for 7+ tools	Third-party integrations	Third-party integrations
Data	Local SQLite, you own it	Their cloud	Their cloud
Offline	Full functionality	Read-only cache at best	Limited
CLI	First-class	Afterthought	None
Price	Free, open source	Per-seat pricing	Per-seat pricing

Features

For Developers

CLI that doesn't get in your way. Create tasks, search items, check status — without leaving the terminal.

pad item create task "Fix OAuth redirect" --priority high
pad item create idea "Real-time collaboration" --category infrastructure
pad item list tasks --status in-progress
pad item search "authentication"
pad project dashboard                   # Project dashboard
pad project next                        # What should I work on?
pad server info                         # How this client is connected to Pad

Web UI that stays out of your way. A clean, dark-themed interface at localhost:7777 with:

• Board, list, and table views — drag-and-drop between status columns
• Keyboard navigation — j/k to move, Enter to open, Esc to go back, Cmd+K to search
• Rich text editor — Tiptap-based with markdown, formatting toolbar, and auto-save
• Wiki-links — type [[Title]] to link between items
• Real-time updates — agent creates a task in the terminal, it appears in the browser instantly (via SSE)
• Dashboard — collection overview, active work, plan tracking, activity feed

For AI Agents

Your agent becomes a project partner. Install the /pad skill once, and your AI coding tool can read, create, and update project items through natural language.

pad agent install        # Auto-detects your tools and installs the skill

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Amazon Q, and JetBrains Junie.

Then just talk to your project:

> /pad what should I work on next?
> /pad I finished the OAuth fix
> /pad create a task to add rate limiting
> /pad let's brainstorm about the API redesign

Conventions and playbooks teach agents how your project works:

• Conventions — trigger-based rules like "run tests before marking a task done" or "use conventional commits"
• Playbooks — multi-step workflows like "when implementing a feature: read the spec, create a branch, write tests first, then implement". Playbooks can declare a kebab-case invocation_slug so users can invoke them directly: /pad ship PLAN-42, /pad release 0.5.0. Fresh startup workspaces ship a generic ship playbook out of the box.

pad item create convention "Run tests before completing tasks" \
  --field trigger=on-task-complete \
  --field scope=all \
  --field priority=must

Agents load relevant conventions automatically. All agent actions are attributed in the activity feed, so you always know what the AI changed.

Onboard agents to a new codebase:

pad workspace onboard    # Analyzes project structure, saves workspace context, and suggests conventions

Collections & Custom Fields

Pad organizes work into collections — typed containers with structured fields.

Built-in collections:

Collection	Purpose
Tasks	Work items with status, priority, assignee, effort, due date
Ideas	Feature ideas with impact and category
Plans	Project milestones with progress tracking
Docs	Documentation, decisions, reference material
Conventions	Project rules that guide agent behavior
Playbooks	Multi-step workflows for agents to follow

Create your own with typed fields — select, text, date, number, url, relation, checkbox:

pad collection create "Bug Reports" \
  --fields "severity:select:low,medium,high,critical; browser:text; reproducible:checkbox"

Items get reference numbers automatically (TASK-5, BUG-12) and can be moved between collections with field migration.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS and Linux)

brew install PerpetualSoftware/tap/pad

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad
cd pad
make build
cp pad ~/.local/bin/   # or /usr/local/bin/

Requires Go 1.26+ and Node.js 22+.

The go install github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/cmd/pad@latest path is not supported for the full Pad binary, because the web UI must be built and embedded during the source build.

Docker

docker run -p 127.0.0.1:7777:7777 -v pad-data:/data ghcr.io/perpetualsoftware/pad

This publishes Pad to localhost:7777 on the host machine, which is the recommended default for local use.

Single user, more than one device? Publish to all interfaces so you can reach Pad from your phone, tablet, or another machine on the same LAN, Tailscale network, or home VPN:

docker run -p 7777:7777 -v pad-data:/data ghcr.io/perpetualsoftware/pad

For multi-instance deployments, Pad supports Postgres + Redis via docker-compose.yml — see docs/deployment.md for the full setup.

Binary Download

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available on the releases page.

Getting Started

1. Set up Pad

cd ~/projects/myapp
pad init "My App"

pad init is the smart entry point that handles everything in one command:

• Configures this client's connection (local server, remote, or Docker)
• Auto-starts the local server
• Creates the first admin account on a fresh local install (Docker / remote hosts run pad auth setup on the server instead)
• Logs you in if needed
• Creates or links a workspace for the current directory (writes .pad.toml)
• Installs the /pad skill for any AI tools detected in the project

Run from your project root. Safe to re-run anytime — it skips finished steps and prints a status summary if nothing's needed.

Choose a template with --template, or omit it for an interactive picker grouped by category (Software / People / …):

pad workspace init --list-templates                   # See the full catalog grouped by category
pad init "My App" --template scrum                    # Scrum-style with sprints
pad init "My App" --template product                  # Product management focused
pad init "My Hiring" --template hiring                # Company-side: requisitions, candidates, interview loops, feedback
pad init "Job Search" --template interviewing         # Candidate-side: applications, interviews, companies, contacts

Pad ships templates for software (startup / scrum / product), people workflows (hiring, interviewing), and has reserved categories for research, content, operations, and personal use so the same project-management primitives fit well beyond code projects.

2. Start working

# From the CLI
pad item create task "Set up CI pipeline" --priority high
pad item create idea "Add WebSocket support" --category infrastructure
pad project dashboard

# From the web UI
pad server open              # Opens localhost:7777 in your browser

# From your AI agent
# Just use /pad in Claude Code, Cursor, etc.

3. Teach your agents the rules

pad workspace onboard        # Auto-analyze project, save workspace context, and suggest conventions
# Or browse the convention library
pad library list --type conventions  # Pre-built conventions you can adopt
pad library list --type playbooks    # Pre-built multi-step workflows

4. Optional — connect a desktop AI app via MCP

Pad ships an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server so Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf can manage items, plans, ideas, and dependencies as native tools, read workspace state by URL, and load multi-step workflows as prompts.

pad mcp install claude-desktop   # or: cursor, windsurf, --all
# Restart the client; pad shows up as the "pad" MCP server.

Tool catalog (v0.4) — eight resource × action tools plus pad_set_workspace (nine total), no flat verb explosion:

Tool	Actions
pad_item	create, update, delete, get, list, move, link, unlink, deps, star, unstar, starred, comment, list-comments, bulk-update, note, decide
pad_workspace	list, members, invite, storage, audit-log
pad_collection	list, create
pad_project	dashboard, next, standup, changelog
pad_role	list, create, delete
pad_search	query
pad_playbook	list, get, run
pad_meta	server-info, version, tool-surface, bootstrap
pad_set_workspace	session-default workspace pinning (response embeds the bootstrap blob)

Plus resources at pad://workspaces, pad://workspace/{ws}/dashboard, pad://workspace/{ws}/items, pad://workspace/{ws}/items/{ref}, pad://workspace/{ws}/collections, pad://workspace/{ws}/bootstrap, and pad://_meta/version.

Stability contract — two version constants, both advertised in the initialize handshake under capabilities.experimental.padCmdhelp and capabilities.experimental.padToolSurface (and queryable at pad://_meta/version):

• cmdhelp_version: "0.1" — CLI help-tree contract (used at dispatch time)
• tool_surface_version: "0.4" — MCP tool catalog contract (PLAN-1410 trimmed the bootstrap-response shape by ~40%; see internal/mcp/version.go for the full v0.4 changelog)

External agents pin against these so a future rename doesn't break them silently. Errors come back as structured envelopes ({error: {code, message, hint, available_workspaces, ...}}) with a closed eight-code taxonomy.

Full guide at getpad.dev/mcp/local — install paths, action enums per tool, error taxonomy, troubleshooting.

CLI Reference

pad auth configure                    Configure how this client connects to Pad
pad auth setup                        Initialize the first admin account
pad auth login                        Sign in
pad auth whoami                       Show current user

pad server start                      Start the Pad API server
pad server stop                       Stop the Pad server
pad server info                       Show client, connection, and local server status
pad server open                       Open web UI in browser

pad workspace init [name]             Initialize workspace in current directory
pad workspace link <workspace>        Link current directory to an existing workspace
pad workspace list                    List all workspaces
pad workspace switch <workspace>      Switch active workspace
pad workspace context                 Show structured workspace context
pad workspace context set --file X    Update structured workspace context from JSON
pad workspace onboard                 Analyze project, save workspace context, and suggest conventions
pad workspace members                 List workspace members
pad workspace invite <email>          Invite a workspace member
pad workspace join <code>             Accept an invitation
pad workspace export                  Export workspace data
pad workspace import <file>           Import workspace data

pad project dashboard                 Project dashboard
pad project next                      Recommended next task
pad project ready                     Query actionable next items
pad project stale                     Query stalled or attention-worthy items
pad project standup [--days N]        Daily standup report
pad project changelog [--days N]      Release notes from completed items
pad project watch                     Real-time activity stream
pad project reconcile                 Reconcile item and PR state

pad item create <coll> "title"        Create item (task, idea, plan, doc, ...)
pad item list [collection]            List items (filters: --status, --priority, --all)
pad item show <ref>                   Show item detail
pad item update <ref>                 Update item fields
pad item delete <ref>                 Delete item
pad item move <ref> <collection>      Move item between collections
pad item edit <ref>                   Open item in $EDITOR
pad item search "query"               Full-text search across all items
pad item comment <ref> "text"         Add comment to an item
pad item comments <ref>               View item comments
pad item note <ref> "summary"         Append an implementation note to an item
pad item decide <ref> "decision"      Append a decision log entry to an item
pad item block <src> <target>         Create dependency
pad item blocked-by <item> <blk>      Mark item as blocked
pad item deps <ref>                   Show dependencies
pad item unblock <src> <target>       Remove dependency
pad item related <ref>                Show direct relationships for an item
pad item implemented-by <ref>         Show incoming implementers for an item
pad item bulk-update --status X       Batch update multiple items

pad collection list                   List collections with item counts
pad collection create <name>          Create a custom collection

pad library list                      Browse convention and playbook library
pad library activate <title>          Activate a convention or playbook

pad agent install [tool]              Install /pad skill for AI coding tools
pad agent status                      Show supported tools and installation status
pad agent update                      Update installed tool integrations

pad github link [item-ref]            Link current branch's PR to item
pad github status [item-ref]          Show PR status for linked items
pad github unlink <item-ref>          Remove PR link from item

pad webhook list             List workspace webhooks
pad webhook create <url>     Create webhook

All commands accept --format json for machine-readable output and --workspace to target a specific workspace.

Authentication

Pad runs without authentication by default for frictionless local use. For local installs, pad init creates the first admin account inline. The lower-level commands are useful when you're hosting a Pad server (Docker / remote) and need to set up auth on the server host directly:

pad auth setup         # Initialize the first admin account (server host, non-local mode)
pad auth login         # Sign in
pad auth whoami        # Show current user
pad auth logout        # Sign out

Once a user exists, all API requests and web UI access require authentication. Credentials are stored in ~/.pad/credentials.json. Multiple users can be invited to workspaces with role-based access control (owner, editor, viewer).

pad workspace members               # List workspace members
pad workspace invite user@example.com
pad workspace join <code>

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              pad (single binary)              │
│                                               │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌────────────┐  │
│  │   CLI    │  │  REST    │  │  Embedded  │  │
│  │ (Cobra)  │  │  API     │  │  Web UI    │  │
│  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  │ (SvelteKit)│  │
│       │    HTTP      │        └────────────┘  │
│       └──────────────┤                        │
│                ┌─────▼─────┐                  │
│                │  SQLite   │                  │
│                │  + FTS5   │                  │
│                └───────────┘                  │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

• Go backend — chi router, SQLite via modernc.org/sqlite (pure Go, no CGO), FTS5 full-text search, SSE for real-time updates
• SvelteKit frontend — Svelte 5, Tiptap editor, drag-and-drop, adapter-static, embedded via go:embed
• Single binary — serves the API and web UI, runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows
• Workspace-per-project — each project gets its own workspace linked by a .pad.toml file

All data lives in ~/.pad/pad.db. Your data. Your machine. No telemetry, no cloud, no accounts required.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development guide.

make build      # Build web UI + Go binary
make test       # Run Go tests
make dev-web    # SvelteKit dev server with hot reload
make install    # Build, install to ~/.local/bin, restart server

Security

See SECURITY.md for reporting vulnerabilities.

License

Apache License 2.0