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Backlog.md – Markdown‑native Task Manager and Kanban visualizer for any Git repo

(github.com)
254 points mrlesk | 2 comments | 06 Jul 25 19:55 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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mrlesk ◴[06 Jul 25 19:55 UTC] No.44483531[source]▶
I threw Claude Code at an existing codebase a few months back and quickly quit— untangling its output was slower than writing from scratch. The fix turned out to be process, not model horsepower.

Iteration timeline

==================

• 50 % task success - added README.md + CLAUDE.md so the model knew the project.

• 75 % - wrote one markdown file per task; Codex plans, Claude codes.

• 95 %+ - built Backlog.md, a CLI that turns a high-level spec into those task files automatically (yes, using Claude/Codex to build the tool).

Three step loop that works for me 1. Generate tasks - Codex / Claude Opus → self-review.

2. Generate plan - same agent, “plan” mode → tweak if needed.

3. Implement - Claude Sonnet / Codex → review & merge.

For simple features I can even run this from my phone: ChatGPT app (Codex) → GitHub app → ChatGPT app → GitHub merge.

Repo: https://github.com/MrLesk/Backlog.md

Would love feedback and happy to answer questions!

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unshavedyak ◴[06 Jul 25 22:40 UTC] No.44484770[source]▶
Would love more detail on your integration with claude. Are you telling claude to use backlog to plan X task? Feels like some MCP integration or something might make it feel more native?

Though i've not had much luck in getting Claude to natively use MCPs, so maybe that's off base heh.

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1. mrlesk ◴[07 Jul 25 04:41 UTC] No.44486820[source]▶
No mcp, just custom instructions.

When you initialize backlog in a folder it asks you if you want to set up agent’s instructions like CLAUDE.md. It is important to say yes here so that Claude knows how to use Backlog.md.

Afterwards you can just write something like: Claude please have a look at the @prd.md file and use ultrathink to create relevant tasks to implement it. Make sure you correctly identify dependencies between tasks and use sub tasks when necessary.

Or you can just paste your feature request directly without using extra files.

Feels a bit like magic

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2. jwpapi ◴[07 Jul 25 08:00 UTC] No.44487796[source]▶
How can I change from gemini to claude ?

Also I’m not fully sure about your setup. In my fresh pov I would next set up agents that check my github repo for backlog tasks and do pull requests on those tasks. If I write a good description and ideally tests I can optimize the results of these.

This creates the possibility of agents checking your backlog and prepare the work.

I usually work with aider everyday and I’m quite fast in achieving task, the next limitation would be the latency and some back and forth. I have some dead time in between. I can definitely define tasks faster than 1-1 AI.

Yeah if you could share a bit more how you do this with Claude we would all be thankful, also I havent seen anywhere to sponsor/tip you, would love to!