pad/README.md

<p align="center">
  <h1 align="center">Pad</h1>
  <p align="center"><strong>Project Management for the agent era.</strong></p>
  <p align="center">
    <a href="https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/actions/workflows/ci.yml"><img src="https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg" alt="CI"></a>
    <a href="https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/PerpetualSoftware/pad" alt="Release"></a>
    <a href="https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad"><img src="https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad" alt="Go Report Card"></a>
    <a href="https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/pkgs/container/pad"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/ghcr.io-perpetualsoftware%2Fpad-blue?logo=docker&logoColor=white" alt="Container image on GHCR"></a>
    <a href="LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache%202.0-blue" alt="License"></a>
    <a href="https://github.com/sponsors/xarmian"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/sponsors/xarmian?label=sponsors&logo=github" alt="GitHub Sponsors"></a>
  </p>
  <p align="center">
    <a href="https://getpad.dev">Website</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp;
    <a href="https://getpad.dev/docs">Docs</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp;
    <a href="https://getpad.dev/blog">Blog</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp;
    <a href="https://getpad.dev/changelog">Changelog</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp;
    <a href="https://x.com/getpaddev">X</a>
    &nbsp;·&nbsp;
    <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/getpaddev.bsky.social">Bluesky</a>
  </p>
</p>

---

> 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 stays on your laptop — unless you take it to [Pad Cloud](https://app.getpad.dev).

<p align="center">
  <img src="docs/screenshots/dashboard.png" width="900" alt="Pad dashboard showing collection summaries, active work, an active plan with progress, and a recent activity feed" />
</p>

## Quick Start

```bash
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:

```
/pad onboard
```

Your new workspace ships with the canonical `onboard` playbook auto-activated. The agent walks an interview, inspects your codebase if it has shell access, and adapts your workspace's collections, conventions, roles, and playbooks to match the 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. When you do want your projects on every device or a teammate on the board, [Pad Cloud](https://app.getpad.dev) hosts the same product with sync, workspace invites, and role-based access.

| | 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 — or opt-in Pad Cloud | 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.

```bash
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

<p align="center">
  <img src="docs/screenshots/board.png" width="900" alt="Pad tasks board view: kanban columns for Open, In-Progress, Done, Cancelled with task cards in each" />
</p>

### 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.

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

Works with **Claude Code**, **Cursor**, **Windsurf**, **Codex**, **OpenCode**, **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.

```bash
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:**

Open an agent session in the workspace directory and run `/pad onboard`. The agent walks an interview, detects your build/test/CI tooling, and adapts your workspace's collections, conventions, roles, and playbooks to match the project. Works for any agent that speaks Pad — Claude Code, MCP-only agents, etc.

### 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:

```bash
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)

```bash
brew install PerpetualSoftware/tap/pad
```

### Build from Source

```bash
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

```bash
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.

**First run — create the first admin.** Open `http://localhost:7777` and you'll hit a setup page asking for a bootstrap token. On first start with no users, Pad logs a one-time setup URL to stderr (captured by `docker logs`) — grep it and open the printed link:

```bash
docker logs <container> 2>&1 | grep -A6 'Pad first-run setup'
# → http://<your-host>:7777/setup#token=<one-time-token>
```

Open that URL, create your admin account, and the token is consumed (the banner stops appearing). If you'd rather stay on the CLI, `docker exec -it <container> pad auth setup` works too — running inside the container counts as loopback, which the bootstrap gate allows. On a network you already trust, set `PAD_BYPASS_SETUP_TOKEN=true` to skip the token and create the admin straight from `http://<your-host>:7777/setup` (only safe when the port isn't reachable from the open internet).

**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:

```bash
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](docs/deployment.md) for the full setup.

### Binary Download

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available on the [releases page](https://github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/releases).

### Pad Cloud (hosted)

Don't want to run anything? [Pad Cloud](https://app.getpad.dev/register) is the managed option — same product, same CLI, same `/pad` skill, free during beta. Sign up on the web, then connect a project directory:

```bash
pad init --url https://app.getpad.dev --workspace my-workspace
```

Self-hosting stays first-class: the binary is unchanged and no features are Cloud-only.

### Upgrading Pad

Pad ships a new binary on a roughly weekly cadence. Upgrades are designed to be boring: install the new binary and restart. Database migrations run automatically at startup, only the ones your database is missing are applied, and each migration commits atomically (a failed migration rolls back cleanly and is retried next boot).

**The one rule: only ever move forward.** Newer binaries know how to migrate an older database; older binaries do **not** understand a newer schema. Since Pad added its schema-ahead guard, a downgraded binary that finds a database newer than itself refuses to start rather than silently running old code against a newer schema (which can corrupt data):

```
database schema is newer than this pad binary: ... This almost always means the
binary was DOWNGRADED (e.g. brew/docker rollback) ... Upgrade pad back to a build
that includes those migrations, or re-run with `pad start --force`.
```

To recover, reinstall the newer binary (`brew upgrade pad`, pull the newer Docker tag, etc.). If you have *intentionally* downgraded and accept the risk, start with `pad start --force` (or set `PAD_ALLOW_SCHEMA_AHEAD=1`) to override the guard.

**Automatic pre-migration snapshot (SQLite).** Whenever a SQLite-backed instance has pending migrations to apply, Pad first copies the database file to `pad.db.pre-<version>` next to it. If an upgrade ever goes wrong, stop the server and copy that snapshot back over `pad.db`. This is a convenience net, not a backup strategy — keep your own backups (see [docs/backup.md](docs/backup.md)). PostgreSQL instances are skipped here; use `pg_dump` or a provider snapshot before upgrading.

Recommended upgrade flow:

```bash
# 1. Back up first (SQLite shown; see docs/backup.md for Postgres)
pad db backup -o pad-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).db

# 2. Stop the server, install the new binary, restart
#    (migrations + the pre-migration snapshot run automatically on start)
brew upgrade pad        # or: docker pull, binary download, make install

# 3. Confirm it's healthy
pad --version
curl -s localhost:7777/api/v1/health
```

## Getting Started

### 1. Set up Pad

```bash
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 / …):

```bash
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 init "My App" --template blank                    # Custom: system collections only — let /pad onboard build the rest
```

Pad ships templates for software (startup / scrum / product), people workflows (hiring, interviewing), and a custom `blank` template — system collections (Conventions, Playbooks) only, with the `/pad onboard` playbook as its sole seeded content. `blank` is the entry point for the agent-driven `/pad onboard` flow: it walks you through shaping collections, conventions, and roles to match your actual project. Reserved categories for research, content, operations, and personal use await their first templates, so the same project-management primitives fit well beyond code projects. There's also a hidden `demo` template — the `startup` layout pre-loaded with realistic sample data — that's kept out of the picker but can be built explicitly with `--template demo`.

### 2. Start working

```bash
# 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

In an agent session inside the workspace:

```
/pad onboard
```

The agent walks an interview, detects your tooling, and adapts the workspace's collections, conventions, roles, and playbooks. To browse the library directly:

```bash
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,
Windsurf, Claude Code, or Codex can manage items, plans, ideas, and dependencies
as native tools, read workspace state by URL, and load multi-step workflows as
prompts.

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

`pad mcp install` writes each client's native config: JSON `mcpServers` for
Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf, a **project-local `.mcp.json`** in the current
directory for `claude-code`, and an `[mcp_servers.pad]` table in
`~/.codex/config.toml` (TOML) for `codex`. Because Claude Code's config is
project-scoped, it's install-on-request only — `--all` and `pad mcp status` cover
the per-user clients (including Codex) and skip it.

**Tool catalog (v0.15)** — ten resource × action tools plus `pad_set_workspace` (eleven total), no flat verb explosion. `pad_item.list` accepts `unparented: true` (mutually exclusive with `parent`) to select items with no parent or implements relationship:

| Tool | Actions |
|---|---|
| `pad_item` | `create`, `update`, `delete`, `get`, `list`, `move`, `restore`, `link`, `unlink`, `deps`, `star`, `unstar`, `starred`, `comment`, `list-comments`, `backlinks`, `bulk-update`, `note`, `decide`, `export`, `import`, `history` |
| `pad_workspace` | `list`, `members`, `invite`, `storage`, `audit-log`, `create`, `claim`, `deleted`, `restore` |
| `pad_collection` | `list`, `create`, `update`, `delete` |
| `pad_project` | `dashboard`, `next`, `ready`, `stale`, `standup`, `changelog`, `report`, `activity` |
| `pad_role` | `list`, `create`, `update`, `delete` |
| `pad_search` | `query` |
| `pad_playbook` | `list`, `get`, `run` |
| `pad_library` | `list`, `get`, `activate` |
| `pad_attachment` | `list`, `show` |
| `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}/attachments/{id}` (bounded image bytes),
`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: "0.15"` — MCP tool catalog contract (v0.5 added `pad_library`; v0.6 `pad_item.backlinks`; v0.7 `pad_item` `export`/`import`; v0.8 `pad_workspace` `deleted`/`restore`; v0.9 made `pad_item.list` summary-shaped by default with a default+max result cap; v0.10 enforced the draft-playbook gate server-side on `pad_playbook.run` with an `allow_draft` escape hatch; v0.11 added the read-only `pad_attachment` tool (`list`/`show`); v0.12 added `pad_project.activity` (agent-accessible non-streaming activity feed); v0.13 added `pad_project` `ready`/`stale` (agent-oriented backlog + attention queries); v0.14 added `pad_item` `history` + optimistic concurrency (TASK-2022); v0.15 added the `pad_item.list` `unparented` parameter (TASK-2096); see `internal/mcp/version.go` for the full 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](https://getpad.dev/mcp/local) — install
paths, action enums per tool, error taxonomy, troubleshooting.

**On Pad Cloud?** Skip the install: add `https://mcp.getpad.dev` as a remote
MCP server in Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, Cursor, or Windsurf and sign in with
OAuth — same tool surface, no local binary. Setup guide at
[getpad.dev/mcp/remote](https://getpad.dev/mcp/remote).

## 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
# Workspace onboarding: run `/pad onboard` from an agent session inside the workspace
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 open <ref>                   Open item in web UI
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.

### Shell completion

`pad` ships completion scripts for bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell:

```bash
# Bash — current session only
source <(pad completion bash)
# Bash — persistent
pad completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/pad                   # Linux
pad completion bash > $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/pad   # macOS (Homebrew)

# Zsh (make sure compinit runs in your ~/.zshrc)
pad completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_pad"

# Fish
pad completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/pad.fish

# PowerShell (append the output to your $PROFILE)
pad completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression
```

Beyond command and flag names, completion is context-aware: collection arguments (e.g. `pad item list <TAB>`) complete against your workspace's collections, `--workspace` completes configured workspace names, and `--status` / `--priority` complete their valid values.

### 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:

```bash
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`).

```bash
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](https://pkg.go.dev/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

Self-hosted, all data lives in `~/.pad/pad.db`. Your data. Your machine. No telemetry, no accounts required — cloud only if you opt in.

## Contributing

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the development guide.

```bash
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](SECURITY.md) for reporting vulnerabilities.

## License

[Apache License 2.0](LICENSE)