pith
by SiluPanda
README.md
<p align="center">
<h1 align="center">Pith</h1>
<p align="center">Task management where AI agents and humans are equal teammates.</p>
</p>
<p align="center">
<a href="#quick-start"><strong>Quick Start</strong></a> ·
<a href="#connect-your-ai-agent"><strong>Connect Your Agent</strong></a> ·
<a href="#cli"><strong>CLI</strong></a> ·
<a href="#web-ui"><strong>Web UI</strong></a> ·
<a href="#api"><strong>API</strong></a> ·
<a href="#ai-features"><strong>AI Features</strong></a>
</p>
<p align="center">
<a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg" alt="License: MIT"></a>
<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/node-%3E%3D20-brightgreen" alt="Node.js 20+">
<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/PostgreSQL-16%2B-336791" alt="PostgreSQL 16+">
<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-Native-purple" alt="MCP Native">
</p>
---
<p align="center">
<img src="docs/screenshots/pith-demo.gif" alt="Pith — Board view, list view, task details, and agent activity" width="720">
</p>
AI coding agents do real engineering work — they read specs, write code, fix bugs, and submit PRs. But they're blind to the project's task board. Every context switch requires a human to copy-paste task details, update statuses, and relay decisions.
**Pith fixes this.** It's an open-source task management system where agents can read tasks, update progress, log work, and create sub-tasks — the same way humans do, but through APIs and MCP instead of a browser.
## Quick Start
### Docker (recommended)
```bash
git clone https://github.com/SiluPanda/pith.git
cd pith/docker
docker compose up
```
The API is ready at `http://localhost:3456`. Check it with `curl http://localhost:3456/health`.
### Without Docker
Requires Node.js 20+ and PostgreSQL 16+.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/SiluPanda/pith.git
cd pith
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — set DATABASE_URL and JWT_SECRET
npm install
npm run db:migrate
npm run dev
```
### Create your first user and project
```bash
# Seed sample data (creates admin user, project, and example tasks)
npm run db:seed
# Or use the API directly:
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/users \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "Admin", "email": "admin@example.com", "role": "admin"}'
# Save the apiKey from the response — it's shown only once
```
## Connect Your AI Agent
Pith is a native [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) tool server. Any MCP-compatible client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or custom agents — works out of the box.
### Setup
Add to your MCP client config (e.g. `.mcp.json`):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"pith": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@pith/mcp-server"],
"env": {
"PITH_URL": "http://localhost:3456",
"PITH_API_KEY": "kb_your_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}
```
### What your agent can do
| Tool | What it does |
|------|-------------|
| `list_tasks` | Query tasks with filters — status, priority, assignee, labels, free-text search |
| `get_task` | Get full task details including comments, sub-tasks, and activity history |
| `create_task` | Create a task with title, description, priority, labels |
| `update_task` | Change status, priority, assignee, or any other field |
| `add_comment` | Post a Markdown comment on a task |
| `create_subtasks` | Break a task into sub-tasks (up to 20 at once) |
| `search_tasks` | Full-text search across all tasks |
| `get_my_tasks` | See what's assigned to the current agent |
| `get_context` | Get rich context — parent task, siblings, recent activity |
| `start_session` / `end_session` | Track work sessions with summaries |
Your agent also gets read access to live resources:
- `pith://project/{slug}/board` — Current board state by status column
- `pith://project/{slug}/backlog` — Full backlog with priorities
- `pith://task/{id}/context` — Complete task context for deep work
- `pith://user/{id}/workload` — Current assignment load
### Example: autonomous coding agent workflow
```
1. Agent calls get_my_tasks → sees "Fix auth middleware" assigned to it
2. Agent calls get_context → reads task details, parent task, recent comments
3. Agent calls start_session → begins tracked work session
4. Agent writes code, runs tests → (happens outside Pith)
5. Agent calls update_task → moves status to "in_review"
6. Agent calls add_comment → posts summary + PR link
7. Agent calls end_session → records what it accomplished
```
No human had to copy-paste context or update the board.
## CLI
Install globally or use via npx:
```bash
npx @pith/cli init --url http://localhost:3456 --key kb_your_key --project my-project
```
### Managing tasks
```bash
# List tasks with filters
pith task list --status todo --priority P0
# Create a task
pith task create "Implement rate limiting" --priority P1 --labels security,api
# View task details with comments and activity
pith task show <task-id>
# Update status
pith task update <task-id> --status in_progress
# Add a comment
pith task comment <task-id> "Started work, ETA 2 hours"
# Search across all tasks
pith search "authentication bug"
```
### Agent sessions
```bash
pith session start --name "Claude Code" --tasks <task-id-1>,<task-id-2>
# ... do work ...
pith session end <session-id> --summary "Fixed auth bug and added tests"
pith session list
```
### Machine-readable output
Every command supports `--json` for piping into scripts:
```bash
pith task list --status todo --json | jq '.[].title'
```
## Web UI
Pith includes a lightweight web interface at `http://localhost:5173` (dev mode) or served by the API in production.
- **Board view** — Kanban-style columns by status
- **List view** — Sortable table with filters
- **Task detail** — Full context with comments, sub-tasks, and activity timeline
- **Agent activity feed** — Review what your AI agents have been working on
- **Session review** — Inspect individual agent work sessions
Start the dev server:
```bash
cd packages/web
npm run dev
```
## API
Full REST API with OpenAPI/Swagger documentation at `/docs` (development mode).
### Authentication
Every request requires a `Bearer` token — either an API key or a JWT access token:
```bash
# Using an API key
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer kb_your_api_key" http://localhost:3456/api/v1/projects
# Using JWT (get tokens via login)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/auth/login \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"email": "admin@example.com", "apiKey": "kb_your_api_key"}'
```
### Key endpoints
| Method | Endpoint | Description |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| `GET` | `/api/v1/projects` | List projects |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/projects` | Create project (admin) |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/projects/:slug/tasks` | List tasks with filters |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/projects/:slug/tasks` | Create task |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/tasks/:id` | Get task with full context |
| `PATCH` | `/api/v1/tasks/:id` | Update task fields |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/tasks/:id/comments` | Add comment |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/tasks/:id/subtasks` | Batch create sub-tasks |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/search?q=...` | Full-text search |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/sessions` | Start agent session |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/projects/:slug/analytics` | Project analytics |
Full reference: [docs/api-reference.md](docs/api-reference.md)
### Roles
| Role | Can do |
|------|--------|
| **admin** | Everything — manage users, projects, webhooks, tenants |
| **member** | Create/update tasks, add comments, view projects |
| **agent** | Same as member — designed for AI agent API keys |
### Webhooks
Get notified when things happen in your project:
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/projects/my-project/webhooks \
-H "Authorization: Bearer kb_admin_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://your-server.com/webhook", "events": ["task.created", "task.updated"]}'
```
Events: `task.created`, `task.updated`, `task.deleted`, `comment.created`, `session.started`, `session.ended`, `project.created`, `*`
Payloads are signed with HMAC-SHA256 via the `X-Pith-Signature` header.
### Slack & Discord notifications
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/projects/my-project/notifications \
-H "Authorization: Bearer kb_admin_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"provider": "slack", "name": "dev-channel", "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.slack.com/...", "events": ["task.created", "task.status_changed"]}'
```
## AI Features
AI features are **optional**. Pith works fully without any AI model configured. When configured, AI enhances — never blocks — your workflow.
### Configure a provider
```bash
# Via CLI
pith config set ai.provider anthropic
pith config set ai.model claude-sonnet-4-20250514
pith config set ai.apiKey sk-ant-...
# Or via environment variables
export PITH_AI_PROVIDER=anthropic # anthropic, openai, google, groq, ollama
export PITH_AI_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-20250514
export PITH_AI_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
export PITH_AI_BASE_URL= # optional, for self-hosted models
```
Supports any provider via Vercel AI SDK: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Groq, OpenRouter, and Ollama for local models.
### What AI can do
- **Decompose tasks** — Break a large task into actionable sub-tasks with estimates
- **Triage** — Auto-suggest priority and labels for new tasks
- **Context assembly** — Build a briefing document with key points and risks for an agent starting work
- **Effort estimation** — Suggest time estimates based on historical project data
- **Sprint summaries** — Generate project summaries from activity data
- **Duplicate detection** — Flag similar tasks using pg_trgm similarity
```bash
# Decompose from CLI
pith task decompose <task-id>
# Get AI-assembled context
pith task context <task-id>
# Via API
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/ai/triage \
-H "Authorization: Bearer kb_..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"title": "Fix memory leak in worker pool", "description": "Workers are not being cleaned up..."}'
```
## Multi-Tenant Mode
Pith supports multi-tenant SaaS deployments with isolated workspaces:
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/api/v1/tenants \
-H "Authorization: Bearer kb_admin_key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"slug": "acme-corp", "name": "Acme Corp", "plan": "pro"}'
```
Each tenant gets configurable user and project limits.
## Configuration Reference
### Environment variables
| Variable | Required | Default | Description |
|----------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `DATABASE_URL` | Yes (production) | `postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/pith` | PostgreSQL connection string |
| `JWT_SECRET` | Yes (production) | dev fallback | Secret for signing JWT tokens |
| `PORT` | No | `3456` | API server port |
| `HOST` | No | `0.0.0.0` | API server bind address |
| `CORS_ORIGIN` | No | `http://localhost:5173` | Allowed CORS origins (comma-separated) |
| `LOG_LEVEL` | No | `info` | Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |
| `PITH_AI_PROVIDER` | No | — | AI provider name |
| `PITH_AI_MODEL` | No | — | AI model identifier |
| `PITH_AI_API_KEY` | No | — | AI provider API key |
| `GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET` | No | — | Secret for verifying GitHub webhook signatures |
## Project Structure
```
packages/
core/ Shared types, Zod schemas, constants
db/ PostgreSQL schema, migrations, seed data (Drizzle ORM)
server/ REST API — Fastify, auth, RBAC, webhooks, analytics
ai/ AI integration layer (Vercel AI SDK, provider-agnostic)
mcp-server/ MCP tool server (stdio + HTTP transports)
cli/ Command-line interface (Commander.js)
web/ Web UI (React + Vite)
```
## Contributing
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for development setup and guidelines.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/SiluPanda/pith.git
cd pith
npm install
npm run db:migrate
npm test # 146 tests
npm run dev # Start API server with hot reload
```
## License
[MIT](LICENSE)
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