Kaneo

Kaneo is a self‑hosted, open‑source project‑management platform written in modern JavaScript/TypeScript. It exposes a RESTful API and a single‑page web client that communicate over HTTP/HTTPS using JWT authentication. The design prioritises low bundle size, minimal dependencies, and a lean data model so that the service remains fast even under heavy load. All business logic lives in the backend, while the frontend consumes a strongly typed API and renders a responsive Kanban board using react + tanstack/react-query.

Key Features

• Task & Project Lifecycle – CRUD operations for projects, epics, and tasks; status transitions are modelled as finite state machines.
• Real‑time Collaboration – WebSocket support (via Socket.io) pushes updates to connected clients, enabling instant drag‑and‑drop feedback.
• Access Control – Role‑based permissions (admin, member, guest) are enforced server‑side; JWT claims drive the ACL checks.
• Audit & Activity Log – Every mutation is recorded with a timestamp, actor ID, and payload diff.

Technical Stack

The backend is a pure TypeScript codebase with strict type checking; Prisma schema files define the relational model and generate typed query helpers. The frontend uses a component‑driven architecture; state is shared via React Query for server caching and Zustand for local UI flags.

Core Capabilities & APIs

• REST Endpoints – /api/v1/projects, /tasks, etc., all authenticated with a bearer token.
• GraphQL Alternative – (planned) to allow more flexible queries in future releases.
• Webhooks – POST hooks can be configured per project to notify external services on task updates.
• CLI Tool – kaneo-cli (npm package) lets developers script user creation, project seeding, or data export.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Kaneo ships with a ready‑to‑run Docker Compose file that orchestrates PostgreSQL, the API, and the frontend. The stack is stateless except for the database, making horizontal scaling trivial: add more API replicas behind a load balancer and share the same PostgreSQL cluster. For Kubernetes, Helm charts are forthcoming; otherwise, developers can run it on any LXC, VM, or bare‑metal host.

Integration & Extensibility

• Plugin System – The backend exposes a simple hook API (onTaskCreate, onProjectDelete) that third‑party modules can register to. Plugins are installed as npm packages and loaded at runtime via a plugin loader.
• Custom Fields – The schema supports JSONB columns for arbitrary metadata, allowing developers to extend task objects without a database migration.
• OAuth Support – Future releases will integrate with OAuth2 providers (GitHub, Google) for single‑sign‑on.

Developer Experience

• Configuration – All runtime settings are environment variables; the README lists every option and default.
• Documentation – The project hosts a full docs site (/docs) that includes API reference, deployment guides, and contribution guidelines.
• Community – Active Discord channel, GitHub Discussions, and a growing contributor base keep the project lively. Issues are triaged quickly, and pull requests receive prompt review.

Use Cases

1. Internal Tooling – Companies can host Kaneo on their intranet, keeping data behind firewalls while giving teams a lightweight PM solution.
2. SaaS Back‑end – A service provider can deploy multiple isolated instances behind a multi‑tenant gateway, using PostgreSQL schemas per customer.
3. Open‑Source Projects – Maintainers can embed Kaneo into their project portals to track issues, milestones, and feature requests without external services.

Advantages Over Alternatives

Kaneo offers a compelling balance of simplicity and power for developers who need a self‑hosted, extensible project management system without the bloat of enterprise suites.