Kanban board template
To Do, In Progress and Done. 3 columns is all a kanban board needs to start, and it's the layout most teams come back to after trying something cleverer. This one is a real board you can work in, not a file to download.
Free for 3 projects, forever. No credit card.
Book the venue
Draft the welcome email
Quote from 3 printers
Choose the date
The 3 columns
What each one is for. Rename, reorder or add columns whenever the work needs it.
- To Do
- Work that's agreed but not started. Keep the most important card at the top.
- In Progress
- Work someone has started. If this column keeps growing, the team is starting more than it finishes.
- Donecounts as done
- Finished. Cards here count as done, so they leave Focus and the open counts.
How to set up a kanban board
Guides: Kanban vs scrum, Cycle time vs lead time, Kanban board examples, Kanban cards, What is kanban?, The kanban method, Cumulative flow diagram, WIP limits
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Step 1
Write down everything on your plate
One card per piece of work, all in To Do. Don't sort yet. A title is enough, and you can add the detail later.
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Step 2
Put the most important card at the top
Drag To Do into order. The top card is the next thing anyone picks up.
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Step 3
Move a card when its state changes
Started it? Drag it to In Progress. Finished? Drag it to Done. That's the whole method. Everyone with the board open sees the move as it happens.
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Step 4
Limit work in progress
Give In Progress a WIP limit. When the column is full it shows in red, which is the board's way of saying finish something before you start something else.
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Step 5
Add columns only when you need them
If cards keep waiting on someone else, add a Waiting column. If work needs checking, add Review. Change the board when the work tells you to, not before.
With your AI agents
Your agent sees the same board you do. Ask it what's in progress, have it turn a meeting's notes into cards, or let it move a card when it finishes the work.
Agents connect over MCP or the REST API, on every plan, and act as you.
agentget_board("Office move")
agentcreate_card("Office move", "Order new desks", column: "To Do")
agentmove_card("Quote from 3 printers", "Done")
Keep it working
- A card should be something one person can finish. If it never moves, split it.
- Put a due date only on work that really has one, so the dates that matter stand out.
- Archive old cards in Done instead of deleting them. They stay searchable.
Questions
About this template
Is this kanban board template free?
Yes. It's on the Free plan: 3 projects, unlimited cards, forever, with no credit card.
What's the difference between this and a spreadsheet template?
A spreadsheet template is a picture of a board. This is a board: you drag cards between columns, everyone sees changes live, and each card holds its own comments, checklist and files.
Can I share it with someone who doesn't have an account?
Yes. Every board can have a read-only public link, on every plan. Turn the link off and that URL stops working.
Can I bring my existing board in?
Yes. craaft imports from Trello, Jira, Asana or any CSV, up to 2,000 cards at a time. See import.
Other templates
Start from this template
Free for 3 projects, with no credit card to enter. Every board exports as JSON or CSV whenever you want to leave.