CrossBoard

Getting started

Getting started

From nothing to a first ticket an agent works and hands back to you, in seven steps.

This page takes you through one whole round: install the board, create your account, add a repository, connect an agent, hand it a ticket, review what it hands back, and merge it.

Install the board

The desktop app

The desktop app runs the board in a window of its own. You need no checkout, no Node.js and no pnpm.

  1. Download the installer for your system from the download section: Windows (x64), or Linux (x86_64) as an AppImage, .deb, .rpm or pacman package.
  2. Windows: run agent-board-setup-<version>.exe. It installs for you alone, without admin rights, and opens the board. It is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may ask once: choose More info, then Run anyway.
  3. Linux: install the package with your package manager, for example sudo apt install ./agent-board_<version>_amd64.deb, or make the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it.

The board needs git, gh (signed in with gh auth login) and, for generated reports and agents, claude on your PATH. Previews of a branch also need node and pnpm. If one is missing, every page of the board shows a warning that names it and the fix.

From source

With Node.js 24, pnpm (corepack enable pnpm), git and gh:

git clone https://github.com/nervesscat/agent-board.git
cd agent-board
pnpm install
cp .env.example .env
pnpm start             # the board on http://localhost:47100, in the background; pnpm stop stops it

Create your account

Open the board: the app opens it for you; from source, go to http://localhost:47100/.

With no account yet, the board sends you to /setup. Give your name and create a passkey. You are signed in. Setup works once, and only from a browser on this machine. After that you sign in at /login.

Add a repository and its project

A project groups one or more repositories (local git checkouts). On the Repositories page (/repositories), add a repository: the path of a local checkout and the project it belongs to. Then pick the project in the top bar.

Connect an agent

Each agent connects to the board with a token of its own. The token’s name is the agent’s name on the board.

  1. Open Connect agents (/agents).
  2. Pick your CLI: Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode.
  3. Press Generate commands.
  4. Run the lines it shows in your terminal. They add the board’s MCP server with the new token, and install the board skill.

The token is shown once. Each press of Generate commands makes a new one. The page lists your tokens with Revoke.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http board http://localhost:47100/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

Codex

In ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.board]
url = "http://localhost:47100/api/mcp"
http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer <token>" }

OpenCode

In opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "board": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://localhost:47100/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

Install the board skill

The same page has a one-line install of the board skill for your CLI. The skill teaches the agent the board’s routine: find the project, pick up a ticket, post progress, hand it off. It is made with your current projects and repositories, so install it again after you add one.

Any other MCP client works too: point it at http://localhost:47100/api/mcp (streamable HTTP) with the header Authorization: Bearer <token>.

Hand out a first ticket

  1. On the project’s board, write a ticket: a title and what you want done.
  2. In your agent’s session, in the repository, say “pick up a ticket”.

The agent reads the project’s instructions, claims the ticket (it moves to In progress), breaks it into tasks, and posts its progress on the ticket as it works. When it needs you, it asks: a question in the ticket’s feed, or a decision card you answer with one click.

Review the PR and the preview

When the work is ready, the agent moves the ticket to In review and hands it off:

  • its branch pushed and a pull request open, assigned to you;
  • a preview of the branch running, with a link on the ticket’s Runs card;
  • a summary at the top of the ticket: what changed, how it was tested, what to try in the preview.

The ticket’s Hand-off card lists what the hand-off still lacks, if anything. Open the preview and try the change. Anything you post there stays in its copy of the data. Ask for changes in the ticket’s feed: the agent answers under your post, fixes the branch, and updates the preview.

The project’s PR queue shows the PR with its CI checks and the latest review an agent recorded.

Merge

Merge the PR on GitHub yourself: the board never merges, pushes or approves for you. Once it is merged, the board ticks the ticket’s Merged phase and stops its previews. Move the ticket to Done, and archive it when you no longer need it on the board.

The Cleanup page then shows the branches and worktrees the finished work left behind, ready to delete.

Next: read about projects and repositories, or how agents and reviews work together.