Quickstart

Last updated February 20, 2026

Get AutoMD running locally in under 5 minutes. By the end, you’ll have a kanban board powered by a plain markdown file.

Prerequisites

• Docker installed and running (get Docker)
• A terminal (any OS)

Start AutoMD

Pull and run the AutoMD container:

docker run -d \
  --name automd \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v automd-data:/data \
  ghcr.io/automd/automd:latest

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. That’s it — AutoMD is running.

Create your first board

AutoMD turns any markdown file into a kanban board. Create a file called tasks.md:

# Backlog

- [ ] Design landing page @alice #design priority:high
- [ ] Set up CI pipeline @bob #devops est:4h

# In Progress

- [ ] Build auth module @charlie #backend due:friday

# Done

- [x] Write project brief @alice #planning

Drop this file into your AutoMD data directory, or paste it into the editor view. You’ll immediately see:

• Editor view — your raw markdown with syntax highlighting
• Checklist view — a filterable task list
• Kanban view — columns from your # Headings, cards from your - [ ] items

Understanding the syntax

Each task is a standard markdown checkbox with optional metadata tags:

Connect an AI agent

AutoMD exposes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server with 20+ tools. Add it to your AI agent’s config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "automd": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Now your AI agent can create tasks, move cards, update priorities, and more — all by writing to the same markdown files.

Next steps