Wekan

WeKan is an open‑source, real‑time Kanban board written in JavaScript and built on the Meteor framework. It exposes a single‑page web UI that communicates with a Node.js backend over WebSocket, enabling instantaneous updates across all connected clients. The application is intentionally lightweight—running a single wekan-app container requires only ~1 GB of RAM, while production deployments can scale horizontally by adding more frontend or database instances.

Architecture

• Framework & Runtime: Meteor (full‑stack JavaScript) running on Node.js. Meteor bundles client and server code, automatically hot‑reloading during development.
• Database: MongoDB (via the mongo Meteor package). The schema is dynamic; collections such as boards, cards, users are defined at runtime, which simplifies rapid feature iteration.
• Real‑time Layer: Meteor’s Distributed Data Protocol (DDP) over WebSocket delivers reactive data changes to all clients. Custom Pub/Sub methods expose granular access controls.
• Containerization: Official Docker images are published on GitHub Packages, Quay, and Docker Hub. A docker‑compose.yml is provided for quick multi‑container setups (frontend, backend, MongoDB). The container exposes port 8080 by default and supports environment variables for configuration (e.g., WEKAN_DB_URL, WEKAN_ROOT_URL).

Core Capabilities

• API & Extensibility: WeKan ships a RESTful API (e.g., /api/boards) and a WebSocket API for external integrations. The Meteor method namespace can be extended by writing plugins in JavaScript, which are automatically loaded from the plugins directory.
• Webhooks: Built‑in support for sending HTTP POST payloads on card or board events. Developers can hook into external CI/CD pipelines, chatops bots, or custom dashboards.
• Custom Fields & Templates: Boards can be extended with custom field types (text, number, date) via the UI or programmatically. Templates allow cloning board configurations across projects.
• Permissions & Roles: Fine‑grained ACLs are defined per board; roles such as admin, owner, and member control visibility and editing rights. Meteor’s built‑in accounts system supports LDAP, OAuth, and local authentication.

Deployment & Infrastructure

• Self‑Hosting: WeKan requires a Node.js runtime and MongoDB instance. The Docker images encapsulate both, simplifying deployment on any Linux host, cloud VM, or Kubernetes cluster.
• Scalability: Horizontal scaling is straightforward—multiple wekan-app instances share the same MongoDB replica set. Meteor’s DDP automatically routes clients to any instance, ensuring load balancing.
• High Availability: Combine a MongoDB replica set with multiple Meteor instances behind a reverse‑proxy (NGINX, Traefik). Persistence is handled by MongoDB; Meteor’s session data can be off‑loaded to Redis if needed.
• Resource Footprint: A single container runs comfortably on 1 GB RAM; production recommendations suggest at least 4 GB total for medium‑size teams. CPU usage stays below 20% under normal load.

Integration & Extensibility

• Plugin System: Drop a JavaScript file into /plugins and it is automatically loaded. Plugins can register Meteor methods, publish data, or hook into lifecycle events.
• External Services: The REST API and webhooks enable integration with Slack, Jira, GitHub Actions, or custom microservices. Custom authentication providers can be added via the Meteor accounts system.
• Internationalization: Translations are managed on Transifex; developers can add new language packs by contributing JSON files under wekan/imports/i18n/data/.

Developer Experience

• Documentation: The official README, API docs, and a comprehensive FAQ cover installation, configuration, and troubleshooting. The codebase follows the Meteor community conventions, making onboarding familiar to developers who have worked with Node.js and MongoDB.
• Community & Support: Active GitHub issues, IRC discussions, and a dedicated Slack channel provide rapid feedback. The project adheres to the CII Best Practices checklist, ensuring quality code reviews and CI pipelines.
• Licensing: MIT license allows unrestricted use in commercial or internal projects, encouraging adoption without legal overhead.

Use Cases

• Agile Teams: Real‑time boards for sprint planning, bug triage, and feature roadmaps.
• DevOps Pipelines: Trigger webhooks on card moves to start CI jobs or deploy containers.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Teams across different domains (product, design, support) can share a unified board with custom fields.
• Self‑Hosted Enterprise: Organizations that require data sovereignty can run WeKan on-premises or in a private cloud, scaling to thousands of users with minimal effort.

Advantages

• Performance: Meteor’s reactive data model delivers instant UI updates with minimal latency.
• Flexibility: Dynamic schema and plugin architecture let developers tailor the board to any workflow without core code changes.
• Low Barrier to Entry: Docker images, minimal system requirements, and a single‑page application reduce operational complexity.
• Open Source & Community‑Driven: Active contributors, frequent releases, and adherence to open standards make WeKan a trustworthy choice for production deployments.