[HN Gopher] Backlog.md - CLI that auto-generates task files (too...
___________________________________________________________________
Backlog.md - CLI that auto-generates task files (took my Claude
success to 95 %)
Author : mrlesk
Score : 52 points
Date : 2025-07-06 19:55 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| mrlesk wrote:
| 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!
| mitjam wrote:
| Really love this.
|
| Would love to see an actual end to end example video of you
| creating, planning, and implementing a task using your
| preferred models and apps.
| mrlesk wrote:
| Will definitely do. I am also planning to run a benchmark
| with various models to see which one is more effective at
| building a full product starting from a PRD and using backlog
| for managing tasks
| bazooka5798 wrote:
| I'd love to see openRouter connectivity to try non Claude
| models for some of the planning parts of the cycle.
| unshavedyak wrote:
| 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.
| bearjaws wrote:
| Like the idea of a self hosted kanban in git, one item you should
| do in your repo is add the installation instructions to the
| readme :)
|
| I see its a TS app so I am sure the bun bundle is the install,
| but always good to include in your 5 min intro.
| mrlesk wrote:
| You're absolutely right
|
| Joking aside there is a npm/bun install -g backlog.md at the
| top but I can add an extra one in the 5 min intro.
|
| I am using Bun's new fullstack single file builds. I'm really
| impressed by how easy it was to set up everything.
| rumblefrog wrote:
| Is there an alternative that integrates with a Jira instance?
|
| Many of my tasks already exists in forms of a Jira ticket, would
| be interesting to prompt it to take over a specific ticket &
| update its ticket progress as well.
| mrlesk wrote:
| For such kind of tasks I would go with Taskmaster AI. It had
| mcp integration and probably could connect with jira.
|
| Backlog is more for smaller projects where you wouldn't
| normally have a project management tool
| adobbs wrote:
| Brilliant! Thank you for sharing.
|
| Had similar success with making some more markdown files to help
| guide the agent but never would have thought of something this
| useful.
|
| Will try your workflow and backlog on a build this week.
| QRY wrote:
| Ooh, definitely trying this out! I ended up homebrewing a whole
| context maintainance ritual, but that was a pain to get an AI
| agent to consistently apply, so it spun out into building a whole
| project management... thing.
|
| This looks much more thought out, thanks for sharing!
| TimMeade wrote:
| That's look fascinating. I will certainly be testing it in the
| morning! Thanks!
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-07-06 23:00 UTC)