Vikunja Kanban

Manage Vikunja kanban boards via API to read, create, move, and complete tasks across predefined buckets with integrated cron sync.

Vikunja Kanban Skill

Manage a Vikunja kanban board via API. Read status, create/move/complete tasks, and integrate with heartbeat and triage crons.

Config

Credentials stored in secrets/vikunja.env:

VIKUNJA_URL=https://your-vikunja-instance
VIKUNJA_TOKEN=${VIKUNJA_TOKEN}
VIKUNJA_PROJECT_ID=1
VIKUNJA_VIEW_ID=4

Authentication

All scripts use a long-lived API token (expires 2030-01-01). No JWT login needed.

• Permissions: tasks (read_all, update, create, delete), projects (read_all, update, create)
• JWT login credentials kept in secrets/vikunja.env for reference only

Bucket IDs

ID	Name	Purpose
1	🔴 Urgent	Needs immediate attention
2	⏳ Waiting On	Sent/requested, awaiting reply
7	⚠️ System Issues	Infra/system problems
8	🚧 Active Projects	In progress
9	📅 Upcoming	Scheduled/future
10	📥 Inbox	New items, untriaged
3	✅ Done	Completed

Scripts

All scripts are in the skill's scripts/ directory. Run from the skill root.

Read the board

bash scripts/vikunja-status.sh              # All buckets
bash scripts/vikunja-status.sh "Urgent"     # Filter by bucket name

Add a task

bash scripts/vikunja-add-task.sh "Title" "Description" BUCKET_ID [PRIORITY]
# Priority: 0=unset, 1=low, 2=medium, 3=high, 4=urgent
# Example: bash scripts/vikunja-add-task.sh "Fix DNS" "Check records" 1 4

Move a task between buckets

bash scripts/vikunja-move-task.sh TASK_ID BUCKET_ID
# Example: bash scripts/vikunja-move-task.sh 15 3  # Move to Done

Complete a task

bash scripts/vikunja-complete-task.sh TASK_ID

Heartbeat Integration

The heartbeat cron reads from Vikunja:

bash scripts/vikunja-status.sh

• Check 🔴 Urgent for items aging >1h
• If Vikunja unreachable, fall back to scripts/nc-status-board.sh read

Email Triage Integration

Email triage adds Action Required items to the Inbox bucket:

bash scripts/vikunja-add-task.sh "Email subject" "Brief description" 10 3

API Reference

• Base URL: https://your-vikunja-instance/api/v1
• Auth: POST /login with username/password → JWT token (short-lived)
• Tasks: PUT /projects/{id}/tasks (create), POST /tasks/{id} (update)
• Buckets: POST /projects/{id}/views/{view}/buckets/{bucket}/tasks (move task)
• Views: GET /projects/{id}/views/{view}/tasks (list tasks by bucket)
• Projects: POST /projects/{id} (update title/settings), GET /projects (list all)
• Sharing: PUT /projects/{id}/users {"username":"...", "right":N} (add user)
• Users: GET /users?s=query (search), POST /user/password (self-service password change)

Known API Bugs & Gotchas

Sharing permissions ignored on creation

PUT /projects/{id}/users ignores the right field — always creates with permission=0 (read-only). Workaround: Set permission directly in PostgreSQL:

UPDATE users_projects SET permission = 2 WHERE user_id = X AND project_id = Y;

Permission values: 0=read-only, 1=read+write, 2=admin

Default Inbox project cannot be deleted

Every new user gets an auto-created "Inbox" project. DELETE /projects/{id} returns error 3012. Workaround: Rename it: POST /projects/{id} with {"title":"New Name"}

Password change is self-service only

No admin endpoint to change another user's password. Must login as the target user: POST /api/v1/user/password with {"old_password":"...", "new_password":"..."}

API token creation needs both tasks AND projects permissions

Tokens with only tasks permissions cannot read kanban views (returns 401). Must include: "permissions":{"tasks":["read_all","update","create","delete"],"projects":["read_all","update","create"]}

Token creation endpoint

PUT /api/v1/tokens to create, GET /api/v1/tokens to list, DELETE /api/v1/tokens/{id} to remove. Required fields: title, expires_at (ISO-8601), permissions (object with permission groups).

Notes

• Long-lived API token used (expires 2030) — no JWT login overhead
• Vikunja uses PUT for creation, POST for updates (unusual)
• Bucket IDs are specific to the Kanban view (view_id=4)
• Project name: "Kit Operations" (renamed from default "Inbox")
• Project shared: Kit (id:1, admin/owner), Alex (id:2, admin via DB fix)
• Token has tasks + projects permissions; covers all kanban operations
• Each user gets a default project that can't be deleted — rename to avoid confusion