ProjectLedger

Project-centered, markdown-first project management for Obsidian.

Run projects where your notes already live. Keep Markdown as the source of truth, use boards as operational views, and review your portfolio without leaving the vault.

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Why ProjectLedger Exists

ProjectLedger is built for people who want to run projects from inside the same place where they think, write, collect context, and make decisions.

ProjectLedger is currently desktop-only. Core portfolio and project-board workflows still depend on desktop-shaped interactions such as drag-and-drop and sidebar layouts.

It is not a generic task plugin with a project label on top. The project note itself is the durable unit of work:

• project notes hold the canonical state
• boards stay operational and close to the Markdown structure
• review workflows surface what needs attention now
• dependencies, next steps, and logs remain readable outside the plugin

What Ships Today

Surface	What it does
Portfolio view	Project table plus review inbox, cross-project next actions, and dependency focus
Portfolio board	Kanban across all projects with swimlanes, presets, WIP warnings, inline editing, bulk actions, and dependency context
Project board	Per-project task board backed by Markdown sections
Project panel	Focused sidebar with metadata, board stats, next step, and linked notes
Project notes	Frontmatter-backed project records with readable sections for summary, board, dependencies, linked notes, and log

Core Capabilities

• Create project notes from type-aware templates
• Manage status, type, next step, review date, and dependencies
• Keep project boards in Markdown with Backlog, In Progress, Waiting, and Done
• Review due, stuck, blocked, and no-next-step projects from one inbox
• Pull a cross-project next actions list for active work
• See blocked, blocking, bridge, and unresolved dependency references, plus a lightweight dependency map
• Save portfolio board presets and apply default board layouts
• Track board rollups and operational progress from the portfolio board
• Append a readable project log as important changes happen

Install

From GitHub Releases

1. Download the latest release assets: manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css.
2. Create this folder inside your vault:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/projectledger/

3. Copy the downloaded files into that folder.
4. In Obsidian, open Settings -> Community plugins.
5. Enable community plugins if needed, then enable ProjectLedger on desktop Obsidian.

From Source

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run build

Copy manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/projectledger/, then enable the plugin in Obsidian.

Quick Start

If you are new to ProjectLedger, start with docs/start-here.md before customizing the plugin heavily.

For short public workflow tours, see docs/walkthroughs.md.

1. Create a project note from the plugin's template flow.
2. Set core frontmatter such as project_id, project_type, status, and next_step.
3. Use the portfolio board to review active work across projects.
4. Use the project board for task execution inside a single project.
5. Keep dependencies, logs, and linked notes inside the project note so the Markdown stays useful outside the UI.

Project Note Format

---
pl_type: project
project_id: proj-2026-04-05-projectledger
project_type: product
status: active
next_step: Ship the documentation pass
created_at: 2026-04-05
updated_at: 2026-04-05
review_at: 2026-04-12
blocked_by: []
blocks: []
tags:
  - project
---

## Summary
Short description of what this project is and why it matters.

## Next Step
- [ ] Ship the documentation pass

## Board
### Backlog
- [ ] Add screenshots

### In Progress
- [ ] Finalize docs

### Waiting

### Done
- [x] Implement dependency focus

## Dependencies
### Blocked By

### Blocks

## Linked Notes
- [[Planning Note]]

## Log
- 2026-04-05 Project created

Documentation Map

• docs/README.md: documentation index
• CHANGELOG.md: public release notes
• CONTRIBUTING.md: contributor workflow and PR expectations
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md: collaboration standards
• SECURITY.md: security reporting guidance
• SUPPORT.md: support and reporting paths
• docs/start-here.md: first-use setup and recommended first steps
• docs/walkthroughs.md: short workflow tours and future screenshot anchors
• docs/user-guide.md: day-to-day usage and workflows
• docs/data-model.md: frontmatter, note structure, boards, and dependency references
• docs/architecture.md: module map and system behavior
• docs/development.md: setup, build loop, local vault workflow, and release checklist
• docs/release-runbook.md: release sequence, changelog process, and tagging workflow

Development

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run build

For manual local testing, copy manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css into your vault's .obsidian/plugins/projectledger/ directory after a successful build.

Design Principles

• projects are first-class
• markdown remains the source of truth
• boards are operational views, not the whole model
• defaults should feel calm and direct
• plugin writes should keep notes readable

License

MIT

_{Built for people who want project control inside their vault, not beside it.}