Backlog.md for VS Code

A VS Code extension for browsing and managing Backlog.md tasks directly in your editor.

Backlog.md is human-friendly and machine-accessible tool for managing a project task list and backlog in Markdown format.

You can think of it as Trello or a lightweight Jira - but that lives right in your repo, and that both humans and AI agents can collaborate on.

Features

• Kanban Board — Drag-and-drop tasks between status columns (Draft, To Do, In Progress, Done)
• Task List — Sortable, filterable table view with search and column customization
• Rich Markdown rendering — Including styling and Mermaid.js diagrams
• Format-aware editing — Status dropdowns, quick linking of dependencies, Markdown shortcuts in descriptions, and checklist management for acceptance criteria / definition-of-done
• Real-time Sync — File watcher automatically syncs changes from disk
• Editor Intelligence — Autocomplete, clickable links, and hover info for Markdown task files
• Multi-backlog workspaces — Switch between multiple backlog folders in the same workspace
• Advanced feature support — Supports Backlog.md options like remote/cross-branch tasks
• Project-aware setup — One-command setup for Backlog.md CLI
• Theme Support — Plays nice with Light, Dark, and High Contrast themes

More screenshots

Installation

From a Marketplace

The extension is available on both the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX.

1. Open VS Code (or a compatible editor like VSCodium for Open VSX)
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Backlog.md"
4. Click Install

From VSIX File

1. Download the .vsix file from GitHub Releases
2. In VS Code, open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
3. Run "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
4. Select the downloaded file

Getting Started

The extension activates when it detects a project set up by Backlog.md (backlog/config.yml or backlog/tasks/*.md).

If you haven't already installed and initialized backlog.md, the extension will guide you through it when you open it.

Editor Intelligence

When you open a backlog task file (e.g., via "Open Markdown" or by opening a .md file inside backlog/tasks/), the extension provides smart editor features on top of the normal Markdown editing experience:

• Frontmatter autocomplete — Context-aware suggestions when editing status:, priority:, milestone:, labels:, assignee:, and dependencies: fields. Milestones are sourced from backlog/milestones/*.md first (with config fallback), and other values come from config.yml and existing tasks.
• Task ID autocomplete — Type a task prefix (e.g., TASK-) anywhere in the body or in dependencies: to see suggestions of all known task IDs with their titles.
• Clickable task links — Task IDs like TASK-42 in the document body become clickable links that open the referenced task's detail view.
• Hover info — Hover over any task ID to see a tooltip with the task's title, status, priority, milestone, labels, and a description preview.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Press ? in the tasks view to see all shortcuts, or use the ? button in the bottom-right corner.

Key	Action
?	Show keyboard shortcuts
z	Kanban view
x	List view
c	Drafts view
v	Archived view
j / k	Next / previous task
h / l	Previous / next column (kanban)
Enter	Move keyboard focus to details panel
/	Focus search
n	Create new task
e	Open edit view for focused task
r	Refresh views
Esc	Close popup

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and type "Backlog":

Command	Description
Backlog: Initialize Backlog	Set up a new backlog in the current workspace
Backlog: Open Kanban Board	Open the Kanban board view
Backlog: Open Task List	Open the task list view
Backlog: Open Dashboard	Open the dashboard overview
Backlog: Show Documents	Browse project documents
Backlog: Show Decisions	Browse decision records
Backlog: Create Task	Create a new task file
Backlog: Create Milestone	Create a new milestone
Backlog: Open Task Markdown	Open the raw Markdown file for the current task
Backlog: Select Active Backlog	Switch backlogs (in a multi-folder workspace)
Backlog: Set Up Agent Integration	Install Backlog.md CLI and configure AI agent integration
Backlog: Refresh	Refresh tasks from disk

Settings

Configure extension settings in VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,), then search for Backlog.

Task ID Display

Use backlog.taskIdDisplay to control how task IDs appear in card and list views:

• full (default): TASK-123
• number: 123 (or 2.1 for subtask IDs like TASK-2.1)
• hidden: do not show task IDs

You can also set it in settings.json:

{
  "backlog.taskIdDisplay": "full"
}

Requirements

• VS Code 1.108.0 or later
• A workspace containing a backlog/ folder set up through Backlog.md's backlog init

Contributing

Please read our Contributing Guidelines for development setup and guidelines before submitting a pull request.

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.