Connect GitHub and GitLab

Connect GitHub or GitLab to use a project's issues as its task board. Kanbell talks to GitHub only if you connect it and a project uses a GitHub board. It talks only to the GitLab servers you enter, over https. Tokens are sealed with your system keychain.

Connect GitHub

1. Open Settings (⌘,, Linux: Ctrl+,) › GitHub, or click Connect GitHub on the board.
2. Paste a token. Kanbell accepts ghp_…, gho_… and github_pat_… tokens.
   • Fine-grained token: give it "Issues: read and write".
   • Classic token: give it the "repo" scope to edit.
3. Or click Import from gh to reuse your GitHub CLI login. Kanbell runs gh auth token.

Pick the GitHub repository

1. Open the board source panel: Settings › Projects › Board source, then GitHub.
2. Kanbell suggests repositories from your folder's Git remotes.
3. Pick one and click Use This Repository.

GitHub boards work with github.com only. Moving cards and changing labels need triage permission on the repository. Editing a title or body needs write permission.

Connect GitLab

1. Open Settings › GitLab and click Connect GitLab.
2. Paste a personal access token (glpat-…).
   • api scope: read and write.
   • read_api scope: read-only.
3. Kanbell refuses tokens with the sudo or admin_mode scope.

Editing on GitLab needs a token with the api scope and the Planner role or higher.

Add a self-hosted GitLab server

1. In Settings › GitLab, click Add a GitLab Server.
2. Enter the server address. It must use https and run GitLab 15.5 or newer.
3. The server's certificate must be trusted by your system. Kanbell has no way to bypass it.

You can add up to 5 servers. Name a repository as group/subgroup/repo, by its URL or by its numeric ID.

Choose how columns work

• GitHub: Open / closed (moving a card closes or reopens the issue), or Labels with 1 to 5 labels.
• GitLab: by state, or by 1 to 5 labels. Scoped labels are supported.

What syncs

• Kanbell reads issues, labels and comments.
• It can create issues, move them (state or labels), comment, and edit the title, description and labels, depending on your permissions.

What Kanbell never does

• It never deletes issues.
• It never creates labels.
• On GitLab, it neutralizes /quick-actions and @all in the text it sends.

Good to know

• GitHub boards have no delete, assign, priority or due date, and show the most recent issues.
• On Linux, Kanbell refuses GitHub and GitLab tokens if there is no real keyring.
• Agents can read GitHub and GitLab boards with "$KANBELL_CLI" (list and show only). See Task board.

Related: Privacy, Board feature.