AI-native project management.
built for humans and agents.
ShipLean is a free, open-source planning tool you host yourself. Rank the backlog, run a Kanban board, plan sprints against what the team can really do and work the sprint on a live taskboard. A forecast shows which sprint each backlog item lands in. Connect Claude Code, Cursor or Claude Desktop over MCP and your agents plan, pick up and report work on the same backlog, and every change they make carries their name.
Plan a sprint in minutes.
Most planning tools try to do everything. ShipLean does backlogs, boards and sprints, and nothing else. Each screen fits on one page.
One ranked backlog
Every sprint is the same backlog order filtered by sprint, so rank means the same thing everywhere. Drag a story into a sprint to plan it; drag it out to unplan it.
A forecast from real velocity
Velocity is the points the team finished in its last sprints. ShipLean fills the free room in each planned sprint first, then shows which sprint the rest of the backlog lands in.
People pick up work; nobody assigns it
You plan capacity for the whole team, never per person. Pick up a task and it is yours. Move it to In Progress and the card shows who is on it.
Agents work from the same backlog as people.
ShipLean has an MCP server. Connect Claude Code, Cursor or Claude Desktop with one command. The agent reads and writes the same backlog, boards and sprints as the team, and its name is on every revision and comment it writes.
Break SHIP-240 down so three agents can build it in parallel.planning_guideguide + 7 templates + 2 lessons from the last retrocapture_planpreview · 1 feature, 6 stories, 23 tasks · 1 warning, 0 errorscapture_planapplied the previewed plan · tags wave:1 lane:F model ctx:55k Planned. Wave 0.1 can start now. Wave 1 has three lanes, so three leads run at the same time. Wave 2 starts when all three are done. Start lane F.pick_upSHIP-247 moved to In progress · Claude Code, for Alexget_briefSHIP-248: common brief + task brief + branch feat/240 + report templatereport_taskSHIP-248 done · 3 commits · PR #312 linked · 1 left undone, now SHIP-271plan_statuswave 1 · F 2/5 done · A 1/7 · L 0/7 · wave 2 not startable yet
You approve the agent in the browser, so it never sees your password. It starts with read and write. The first time a tool needs plan, ShipLean sends it back to the consent page. Revoke it from your profile; a password change disconnects every agent at once.
Connect in one line
Add the server and approve it in your browser. It uses standard OAuth with PKCE, so any MCP client that supports OAuth can connect. Revoke an agent from your profile at any time.
Context and skills, built in
The server ships the method as well as the tools. planning_guide returns ShipLean's guide to splitting a Feature into waves, lanes and briefs sized to one agent's context, plus the lessons from your project's last retros. In Claude Code it is /plan_feature.
Parallel by design
A plan is a Feature, one Story per lane and one Task per agent. Everything in a wave runs at once. get_brief returns an agent's whole prompt. report_task records its result, links the PR and moves the task on. plan_status reads the status table from the work items, so nobody maintains one.
Preview, then apply
Any tool that moves many items returns a preview first, and the agent applies exactly that preview. Read, write and plan are separate scopes, and the agent asks for plan only when a tool needs it. Every revision and comment names the agent and the person it acted for.
Orient
- list_projects
- search
- get_work_item
Capture
- capture_work
- break_down
- refine_work_item
- comment
- link
Work
- find_work_to_pick_up
- pick_up
- update_progress
- hand_back
Sprint
- create_sprint
- plan_sprint
- end_sprint
Backlog
- review_backlog
- sprint_review
- move_to_sprint
- reorder
Status
- whats_changed_since
- feature_progress
- sprint_status
PlanningNew
- planning_guide
- capture_plan
- get_brief
- report_task
- plan_status
- /plan_feature
26 tools and one prompt behind one URL. ShipLean links a GitHub or GitLab pull request to each story named in its title or branch, and closes the story when the pull request merges. Next: search that matches meaning as well as words across every project, and a flash on the board when an agent moves a card, the same as for a teammate's drag.
Eight screens, one backlog.
The backlog, the board, the sprint and the taskboard are views over the same work items, so nothing is copied between them.
Rank the backlog, top to bottom
One ordered list per level, Epics, Features or Stories, with the sprint each item is in.
- New work goes in at the top
- Show parents to work by Feature
- A Criteria filter and your own columns
A Kanban board with your own columns and states
Columns map to states for each type, so one board holds stories and bugs that move differently.
- WIP limits that warn without blocking
- Split columns and a definition of done
- Swimlanes and card style rules
Plan the next few sprints in one list
The current sprint, the future sprints and the backlog, stacked in one ranked list.
- Drag between sprints, or Alt+↑/↓ from the keyboard
- Committed against team capacity on every sprint
- A forecast line for each sprint the backlog reaches
Run the sprint on a live taskboard
One row per story or bug, one column per task state, updated as the team works.
- Group by stories or by people
- Pick up a task in one click
- Finished stories fold down to a single line
Everything about one story on one page
Description, acceptance criteria, tasks, discussion, links and the full history of every change.
- Acceptance criteria as a checklist
- Tasks and comments save straight away
- If someone saved first, see what they changed
Capacity as a team total
Each person enters their own points. ShipLean compares only the team total with the sprint.
- A note for the low weeks, like Off Thu and Fri
- A sense check against velocity
- Copy last sprint's numbers in one click
Velocity from what really happened
Every sprint with its goal, capacity, committed and completed points, newest first.
- Committed vs completed for the last five sprints
- A new sprint with sensible defaults
- The form refuses overlapping dates
Your own states for each type
Rename, add and reorder the states of each type. Colours and totals follow the category, so a rename never breaks a report.
- Custom states per type, like Triaged or In review
- A project key that never changes
- Members, working days and the velocity window
Know what fits before you promise it.
ShipLean fills the room left in each planned sprint, then plans the rest of the backlog at your real velocity. A line under the last story that fits shows where each sprint ends, and it moves when someone re-ranks.
Columns aren't states.
Each column maps to a state for each type, so Ready can mean New for a story and Triaged for a bug. Set WIP limits, split a column into Doing and Done, write its definition of done, and add an Expedite lane for Priority 1. Drag an unassigned card into an In Progress column and it's yours.
Roll over in one decision.
The first person to open the board after the end date chooses where each unfinished story goes, sees what that does to the next sprint, and applies it for everyone. No story stays behind or moves on by default.
Import your Jira project.
Connect, pick a project and review how its issue types, statuses and people map across before ShipLean writes anything. Comments, attachments, sprints and the change history come too. ShipLean never writes to Jira.
Self-hosted
One install on your own server holds every team's project, with a project picker to move between them.
Who is on this screen
The avatar of everyone on the same screen, and their card moves animate in place as they happen.
Your own states
Name the states each project needs; colours follow the category, so totals still add up.
Every change kept
Each save is a revision, so burndown, velocity and history are computed from the revisions, not from today's values.
Built in the open.
Coming soon.
ShipLean will be free and open source. Every screen is designed and version 1 is in progress. Follow the project on GitHub to see each change land and to hear when it is ready to install.
- DesignDoneEvery v1 screen, light and dark
- Version 1BuildingBacklogs, boards, sprints, the taskboard, work items, settings and Jira import
- Agents over MCPBuilding26 tools, browser consent, PR webhooks and a planning guide for agents working in parallel
- Open source releaseFree to download and host yourself
- LaterRoadmaps and delivery plans across teams