PlanDB is an Apache-2.0, single-binary Rust issue tracker for coding agents: one SQLite file holds a compound task graph, recursive containment plus a dependency DAG that crosses it, claimed atomically by agents over CLI, MCP, or HTTP with no daemon, no config, and no network. **The compound graph is the differentiator: containment and dependency are two separate structures, so a subtask deep in one subtree can block a task in another, which is the structure mid-flight agent planning actually needs.** ## What it is A Rust binary that creates a `.plandb.db` file and treats it as the entire coordination layer: the task graph, the dependency engine, the work queue, the handoff protocol, and the audit log. Three surfaces share that one store: a CLI for shell agents, an MCP server (`plandb mcp`) for Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf, and an HTTP API (`plandb serve`) for custom agents and dashboards. Planning is built to change mid-flight: `split` decomposes a stuck task into parallel subtasks, `insert` adds a step between two existing ones with dependencies rewired, `pivot` abandons a subtree, and `go` claims the next unblocked task through an atomic operation two agents cannot both win. Conditions travel with tasks (`--pre`, `--post`), `context` records discoveries and blockers that BM25 search surfaces to whichever agent claims a related task later, and `critical-path` and `bottlenecks` read the graph instead of a flat list. The installer (`curl agentfield.ai/plandb/install | bash`) auto-configures Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Windsurf, and Aider with planning instructions and a `/plandb` skill, and the AgentField org maintains it under Apache-2.0 as the task-planning layer of its agent stack. ## Status Stalled as a standalone release train, alive inside a busy ecosystem. As of 2026-10-13: 106 stars, 10 forks, 6 open issues, created 2026-03-04, pushed 2026-09-24, and the newest tagged release is v0.2.1 from 2026-05-05, so five months have produced exactly one commit (an atomic task-split fix on 2026-09-24). The parent org is active: AgentField (2,611 stars) was pushed 2026-10-05, and SWE-AF (1,033 stars), which uses PlanDB internally to coordinate parallel agent workstreams, was pushed 2026-10-08. Star History Chart An HN search for plandb returns no story about it as of 2026-10-13, so the adoption evidence is the repository curve and the parent stack's internal usage, not independent discussion. ## Strengths - The compound graph expresses what flat lists and pure trees cannot: dependencies between tasks at any depth, crossing containment boundaries, with composites that auto-complete when their children finish. - `plandb go` is the zero-infrastructure version of the atomic-claim primitive this category keeps reinventing: no daemon, no server, and two agents cannot hold one task. - Pre and post conditions are visible at claim time, so the completion contract reaches the agent before it starts, not in a review comment afterward. - Context entries compound across agents and sessions: what one agent learned surfaces automatically to the next one on a related task, with no handoff step to forget. ## Cautions - **The release train stopped five months ago and one commit has landed since May, so the standalone tracker looks paused while the org's energy went to AgentField and SWE-AF; adopting it is a bet the org revives it.** - The installer writes into agent configuration files (Claude Code rules and skills, Codex's AGENTS override, Gemini's GEMINI.md), a broad filesystem footprint for a tracker install. - The README's strongest proof, a 3,769-line Rust transformer with seven RL experiments planned and tracked in PlanDB, is the maintainer's own unreviewed demo, not independent validation. - State lives in a single SQLite file with no sync, no multi-machine story, and no UI beyond `plandb watch`, so it coordinates agents on one checkout, not a team across machines. ## Pricing Free and open source under Apache-2.0. No paid tier, hosting, or account exists; the parent AgentField site prices its whole stack at zero dollars with no paid tier. ## Compared to - [beads](../beads/index.md): both give agents a dependency graph with atomic claims; beads carries a versioned Dolt database in the repository and syncs over git, PlanDB keeps a plain SQLite file with no sync story. - [kata](../kata/index.md): both sit local-first beside the work; kata runs a daemon for millisecond queries, federation, and 18-harness hooks, PlanDB is a bare file with no daemon at all. - [kanban-md](../kanban-md/index.md): the human-readable counterpoint; kanban-md keeps the board as markdown files in git, PlanDB keeps it in a database only its CLI reads. ## Bottom line **Recommended for a solo engineer who wants dependency-aware parallel agent work with zero infrastructure and accepts a stalled release train.** Not for teams that need sync across machines, a UI, or a project with visible momentum. My disagreeable claim: the five-month gap matters less than it looks, because the artifact is a SQLite file whose graph outlives the CLI that wrote it, and a revived or forked client could read the same database tomorrow. ## Changes - 2026-10-13 - Created after the GitHub entrant scan surfaced it, recording the compound graph, the atomic claims, and the five-month release gap. ## See also - [beads](../beads/index.md) - the repo-carried graph-database counterpoint with the same claims primitive - [kata](../kata/index.md) - the daemon-backed local-ledger counterpoint - [kanban-md](../kanban-md/index.md) - the markdown-files counterpoint - [Task Management Feature Matrix](../task-management-feature-matrix/index.md) - the category comparison this note joins ## References - https://github.com/Agent-Field/plandb - repository: README, install paths, interfaces, the AgentField relationship (fetched 2026-10-13) - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Agent-Field/plandb/main/README.md - the compound graph, atomic claiming, split/insert/pivot, pre and post conditions, the installer behavior, the benchmark demo - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Agent-Field/plandb/main/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md - the SQLite-file-as-coordination-layer thesis and the containment-plus-dependency model - https://api.github.com/repos/Agent-Field/plandb - stars, forks, dates, license, push date as of 2026-10-13 - https://api.github.com/repos/Agent-Field/plandb/releases - v0.2.1 (2026-05-05) and the release gap - https://agentfield.ai/ - the parent stack: the zero-dollar one-tier pricing statement, CodeAF and the control plane around PlanDB - https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search?query=plandb&tags=story - no story about plandb as of 2026-10-13, the missing footprint signal