One file per item
items/87.md is #87: front matter for its scores, markdown
for its text. Edit it with primum, the board, or any editor.
primum
A command-line tool that keeps your work items as plain markdown files, ranked by what matters most. Runs in your terminal with a local web board, and history and sync built in.
What it does
Section titled “What it does”Ranked for you
Impact, urgency and risk over effort give each item a score; lanes and
scores order the board, and primum next says what to do now.
A local board
primum serve opens every project in the browser: filter by lane, edit
in place, read specs and plans beside the item.
History built in
Every change is a commit in a git repository primum keeps for the project. The folder itself need not be a git repository.
Sync without merges
Set a remote and every change syncs. primum merges field by field; only the same field changed two ways is a conflict.
Why primum
Section titled “Why primum”Plain files you own. A project is a folder of markdown files and one
BOARD.md summary. Read them on GitHub, grep them, review them in a pull
request. Stop using primum and they are still your notes.
A priority, not a pile. Every item carries four scores from 1 to 10 and a
lane (URGENT, BUG, DEBT, KILLER, TODO). The order is computed, so
“what next” is a command, not a meeting. Items that wait on other open items
are marked blocked and skipped.
Specs and plans beside the work. items/87.spec.md belongs to
#87 by its name; the board shows it as a tab next to the item.
Made for scripts and agents. Every command takes plain arguments, text
comes from files or standard input, and list, show and log answer in
--json. See working with AI agents.
One binary. Rust, no runtime, no service, no account. The board listens on 127.0.0.1 only.