Better Kanban Bases View

Better Kanban Bases View is an Obsidian plugin that adds a focused Kanban layout to Bases. It keeps the existing Bases controls for sorting, grouping, filtering, and property selection, then renders the same results as columns and cards.

This is a Bases view: it extends the presentation capabilities of Obsidian Bases without creating a separate Kanban file format or a second set of project-management settings.

I also really like how Things 3 for Mac handles shortcuts, so I tried to emulate that behavior inside the view. The goal is for keyboard navigation and card movement to feel fluid and pleasant, not like an afterthought bolted onto a mouse-first board.

What it does

• Adds a custom Kanban view to Obsidian Bases.
• Builds columns from the active Bases grouping.
• Shows each note’s title plus the properties already selected in Bases.
• Renders formula properties through the same evaluated Bases values as the table view.
• Adds optional small or large plain-text previews from the note body.
• Reorders columns and cards with drag-and-drop, keyboard shortcuts, and context menus.
• Moves cards across columns when the board is grouped by a writable note.* property.
• Saves column order and manual card order per grouping.
• Creates notes in writable columns and supports rename or delete actions from the card menu.
• Makes no network requests and includes no telemetry.

How it fits

Sorting, grouping, filters, and selected properties still live in the built-in Bases UI. The Kanban view adds another way to look at the same notes, then writes changes back to note frontmatter only when a move can be represented by the grouped property.

Manual card ordering behaves like a deliberate snapshot of the current grouped board. When the Base sort changes again, the board returns to following that sort, which keeps the plugin from fighting the underlying query.

Install

Install it from Obsidian’s community plugin directory: Better Kanban Bases View.

The source, releases, and development notes live on GitHub: totocaster/kanban-base-view-obsidian.