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https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca

AI-native, free, open-source alternative to Jira, Trello, ClickUp & Monday. Built for Scrum teams where humans and AI agents collaborate as equals — on the same board, the same sprints, the same goals. Self-hosted. Fully customizable via config and plugins.
https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca

ai-agent bdd clickup-alternative jira-alternative mcp open-source openhands project-management scrum scrumban self-hosted trello-alternative wasm-plugins

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AI-native, free, open-source alternative to Jira, Trello, ClickUp & Monday. Built for Scrum teams where humans and AI agents collaborate as equals — on the same board, the same sprints, the same goals. Self-hosted. Fully customizable via config and plugins.

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README 

          


  Paca logo




Paca



AI-native. Free. Lightweight. Open-source.
The fully customizable alternative to Jira, Trello, ClickUp, and Monday.





  License

  Latest Release

  Stars






  Getting Started

  ·

  MCP Server

  ·

  Claude Code Skill

  ·

  Architecture

  ·

  Contributing

  ·

  Roadmap




---



## What is Paca?



Paca is a **self-hosted project management platform** where AI agents and humans collaborate as equal teammates inside a Scrum team — not as chatbots bolted on the side.



Jira gives you a backlog. ClickUp gives you automations. Monday gives you dashboards. **Paca gives your AI agents a seat at the table.** They join sprint planning, pick up tasks from the board, write BDD specs, and adapt alongside humans in real time.



Everything about Paca — its workflow, its data model, its UI — is **configurable and extendable via plugins**.



---



## Why Paca?



| | Jira / Trello / ClickUp / Monday | **Paca** |

|:--|:--|:--|

| **AI integration** | Chatbot add-ons, peripheral automation | AI agents as first-class Scrum teammates |

| **Collaboration model** | Human-only by default | Human + AI, side by side on the same board |

| **Hosting** | Vendor cloud (your data, their servers) | Self-hosted, you own everything |

| **Cost** | $8–$20+ per seat/month | **Free forever** |

| **Customization** | Limited; locked behind enterprise tiers | **Fully open: configuration + plugins** |

| **Weight** | Bloated feature sprawl | Lightweight core; extend only what you need |

| **Source** | Closed / proprietary | **100% open-source (Apache 2.0)** |



---



## Core Idea: Humans and AI Agents, One Scrum Team



The central insight behind Paca is that **AI agents should participate in the Scrum process**, not just generate output in isolation.



In Paca, AI agents:



- Are **assigned to sprints** and appear on the Scrumban board alongside human teammates

- **Pick up tasks** from the backlog and update their status in real time

- **Collaborate on BDD specs** — helping Product Owners and BAs write Gherkin scenarios

- **Contribute to System Design Documents** — keeping the architecture visible to the whole team

- **Probe, sense, and respond** to emerging complexity, just like a human would



This is not automation. It is **genuine collaboration** — rooted in the Cynefin / Stacey framework's recognition that complex domains require teams, not pipelines.





  Paca Demo — AI Agents as Real Scrum Teammates on the Scrumban Board




---



## Fully Customizable — Configuration and Plugins



Paca ships as a small, focused core. Everything else is optional.



**Configuration-driven:** workflows, statuses, field definitions, board layouts, sprint rules, and agent behavior are all driven by project-level configuration files. No code needed to adapt Paca to your team's process.



**Plugin system:** extend or replace any part of Paca via plugins. Plugins are compiled to **WebAssembly (WASM)** for the backend (write in Go, Rust, AssemblyScript — anything with a WASM target) and standard module bundles for the frontend. Plugins run in a sandboxed environment with a capability-based permission model; they declare exactly what host functions they need, and nothing more.



```

plugins/

├── backend/        # WASM modules — add custom routes, logic, data models

└── frontend/       # UI modules — add custom pages, board views, widgets

```



Browse and install community plugins directly from the **Plugin Marketplace** inside the Paca UI — no command line required. Go to **Settings → Plugins → Marketplace**, find a plugin, and click **Install**.





  Paca Plugin Marketplace — Install Community Plugins in One Click




For local development or custom plugins, you can also install from the filesystem:



```bash

./scripts/install-local-plugin.sh ./my-plugin --api-key 

```



---



## The P-A-C-A Cycle



Paca structures team collaboration around four phases that mirror both Scrum and the scientific method:



```

Plan  →  Act  →  Check  →  Adapt

  ↑                             |

  └─────────────────────────────┘

```



| Phase | What happens |

|:--|:--|

| **Plan** | POs, BAs, and AI agents collaboratively refine the backlog. BDD scenarios and SDD designs are written together. |

| **Act** | Sprint is live. Humans and AI agents pull tasks from the board, execute, and post updates. |

| **Check** | QA agents run automated verification. Humans review AI output. The board reflects reality. |

| **Adapt** | Data from the sprint informs the next cycle. The team — human and AI — retrospects together. |



---



## What's New in v0.4.0



- **In-app AI chat** — chat with AI agents at the project level to plan work, create or update epics, stories, tasks, and documentation — all in plain English without leaving Paca





  Paca v0.4.0 — In-app AI Chat for Project Planning and Task Management




- **Activity diff & revert** — every field change in the activity pane now shows a before/after diff; one click reverts a change to its previous value





  Paca v0.4.0 — Activity Diff and Revert




---



## Key Features



- **Unified Scrumban Board** — humans and AI agents share a single real-time board; no separate "AI workspace"

- **In-app AI chat** — chat with AI agents at the project level to plan work, create or update epics, stories, tasks, and documentation in plain English

- **Activity diff & revert** — see a visual diff for every field change in the activity pane and revert any change with one click

- **BDD Collaboration** — Gherkin scenario editor co-authored by POs, BAs, and AI agents

- **System Design Documents (SDD)** — living architecture docs that keep AI agents contextually grounded

- **MCP Server** — connect Claude, custom agents, or any MCP-compatible tool directly into Paca's data layer

- **Claude Code skill** — `/paca` slash command for Claude Code; manage tasks, docs, and sprints in plain English without leaving your editor

- **Real-time updates** — Socket.IO delivery; everyone sees changes the moment they happen

- **OpenHands-powered agents** — AI agents run on the [OpenHands](https://github.com/All-Hands-AI/OpenHands) SDK; each agent executes inside its own isolated sandbox container so your host environment is never touched

- **WASM plugin sandbox** — extend Paca safely; plugins cannot escape their declared permissions

- **Self-hosted** — runs on a single Docker Compose command; your data never leaves your infrastructure

- **Lightweight by default** — minimal core, no feature bloat; add only what your team actually needs



---



## Getting Started



### Option 1 — Interactive install script (recommended for production)



Runs on any Linux server with Docker. No repository clone required.



```bash

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

```



The script walks you through configuration interactively and starts the full stack. Open `http://your-server-ip` when it finishes.





  How to Install Paca on Any Linux Server with One Command




---



### Option 2 — Docker Compose (manual)



**1. Create a directory and download the compose file**



```bash

mkdir paca && cd paca

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml -o docker-compose.yml

mkdir -p caddy

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca/releases/latest/download/Caddyfile -o caddy/Caddyfile

```



**2. Download the environment template**



```bash

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca/releases/latest/download/.env.production.example -o .env

```



**3. Generate secure passwords and secrets**



```bash

POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

ADMIN_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 16)

JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

```



Optional: Generate API keys if you'll use the AI agent or external integrations:

```bash

AGENT_API_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

INTERNAL_API_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

```



Optional: Generate MinIO credentials or use your own:

```bash

STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$(openssl rand -hex 16)

STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

```



**4. Update .env with your values**



Edit the `.env` file and replace the placeholder values with the ones you generated above. Below are the required fields:



```bash

PUBLIC_URL=http://localhost

POSTGRES_PASSWORD=

ADMIN_USERNAME=admin

ADMIN_PASSWORD=

JWT_SECRET=

ENCRYPTION_KEY=

STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=

STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=

```



**5. Start the stack**



```bash

docker compose --env-file .env up -d

```



> **⚠️ Important:** Save your generated passwords and secrets securely. You'll need `ADMIN_USERNAME` and `ADMIN_PASSWORD` to log in.



**Login:** Open `http://localhost` and use the admin credentials you set above.



> **Customizing the stack:** scale down services you don't need.

>

> ```bash

> # External PostgreSQL (supply DATABASE_URL in .env)

> docker compose --env-file .env up -d --scale postgres=0

>

> # AWS S3 instead of MinIO (set STORAGE_PROVIDER=s3 in .env)

> docker compose --env-file .env up -d --scale minio=0

>

> # Without the AI agent (reduces resource usage)

> docker compose --env-file .env up -d --scale ai-agent=0

> ```



---



### Upgrading to a new version



From the directory where your `docker-compose.yml` and `.env` live, run the upgrade

script published with each release — it refreshes `docker-compose.yml` and the

Caddyfile (with backups) and restarts the stack:



```bash

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca/releases/latest/download/upgrade.sh -o upgrade.sh

bash upgrade.sh

```



Database migrations run automatically on API startup. See [deploy/README.md](deploy/README.md#upgrading-to-a-new-version) for pinning a specific version or passing through `--scale` flags.



---



### Option 3 — Local development



```bash

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Paca-AI/paca.git && cd paca



# Start infrastructure dependencies (PostgreSQL + Valkey)

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.dev.yml up -d postgres valkey



# Or start the full dev stack in containers

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

```



See [docs/guides/local-development.md](docs/guides/local-development.md) for running services on the host for active development.



---



## MCP Server — Connect Any AI Agent to Paca



Paca ships an [MCP (Model Context Protocol)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server that gives any compatible AI agent direct, structured access to your workspace — projects, tasks, sprints, documents, members, and more. No scraping, no custom APIs to wire up.



The server is published as **`@paca-ai/paca-mcp`** on npm. You run it with `npx`; your MCP client handles the rest.



### Claude Desktop



1. Open (or create) the Claude Desktop config file:

   - **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

   - **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`



2. Add the `paca` entry:



```json

{

  "mcpServers": {

    "paca": {

      "command": "npx",

      "args": ["-y", "@paca-ai/paca-mcp"],

      "env": {

        "PACA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",

        "PACA_API_URL": "http://localhost:8080"

      }

    }

  }

}

```



3. Restart Claude Desktop. Claude now has access to all Paca tools and can answer requests like:

   - *"List all active sprints in project X"*

   - *"Create a task for implementing OAuth and assign it to sprint 3"*

   - *"Add a comment to task #42 with my progress update"*



### Other MCP-Compatible Clients



Any client that speaks MCP works. Typical configuration:



```json

{

  "name": "paca",

  "command": "npx",

  "args": ["-y", "@paca-ai/paca-mcp"],

  "env": {

    "PACA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",

    "PACA_API_URL": "http://your-paca-instance:8080"

  }

}

```



### Environment Variables



| Variable | Required | Default | Description |

|:--|:--|:--|:--|

| `PACA_API_KEY` | Yes | — | API key from your Paca instance (Settings → API Keys) |

| `PACA_API_URL` | No | `http://localhost:8080` | URL of your Paca API |



### Available Tools



The server exposes tools across these categories:



| Category | Tools |

|:--|:--|

| Projects | `list_projects`, `get_project`, `create_project`, `update_project`, `delete_project` |

| Tasks | `list_tasks`, `get_task`, `create_task`, `update_task`, `delete_task`, + more |

| Sprints | `list_sprints`, `create_sprint`, `update_sprint`, `complete_sprint`, + more |

| Documents | `list_documents`, `get_document`, `create_document`, `update_document`, `delete_document` |

| Members & Roles | `list_project_members`, `add_project_member`, `list_project_roles`, + more |

| Task Types & Statuses | `list_task_types`, `create_task_type`, `list_task_statuses`, + more |

| Views & Custom Fields | `list_views`, `create_view`, `list_custom_fields`, `create_custom_field`, + more |

| Attachments | `list_task_attachments`, `get_attachment_download_url`, `delete_task_attachment` |

| Activity & Comments | `list_task_activities`, `add_task_comment`, `update_task_comment`, `delete_task_comment` |

| Plugin tools | Installed plugins can register additional tools at runtime |



For a complete reference and advanced configuration (agent-mode, plugin tools, programmatic usage), see [docs/guides/mcp-server-setup.md](docs/guides/mcp-server-setup.md).



---



## Claude Code — `/paca` skills



If you use [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code), install the Paca skill set and manage your entire Paca workspace through natural-language slash commands — without leaving your editor and without creating local files. Every command reads your Paca documentation first to understand the project before acting.



Skills are defined in the [`skills/`](skills/) directory using the [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io/specification) format — one subdirectory per skill, each with a `SKILL.md` containing YAML frontmatter and instructions. The install script strips the frontmatter and writes the body to `~/.claude/commands/` for use as Claude Code slash commands.



### Install



Run this once in your terminal to install all skills globally:



```bash

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Paca-AI/paca/master/scripts/install-claude-skill.sh | bash

```



Then connect the Paca MCP server to Claude Code:



```bash

claude mcp add paca \

  --env PACA_API_KEY= \

  --env PACA_API_URL= \

  -- npx -y @paca-ai/paca-mcp

```



Run `/paca-setup` inside a Claude Code session for a guided interactive walkthrough instead.



### Available commands



| Command | What it does |

|:--|:--|

| `/paca ` | General task, doc, and sprint operations in plain English |

| `/paca-epic ` | Turn requirements into an epic with child stories and a spec doc |

| `/paca-clarify ` | Identify ambiguities, ask questions, and update the spec in Paca |

| `/paca-breakdown ` | Decompose a task into independent, estimable sub-tasks |

| `/paca-sprint` | Plan a sprint from the backlog against capacity and goals |

| `/paca-estimate ` | Estimate story points and write them back to tasks |

| `/paca-prioritize` | Score and set priorities across the backlog |

| `/paca-do ` | Execute a task, update its status, and keep docs current |

| `/paca-test ` | Derive test cases, run them, and record results as a comment |

| `/paca-doc ` | Write or update documentation in Paca Docs |

| `/paca-setup` | Interactive MCP connection wizard |



For full setup options and command reference, see [docs/guides/claude-code-skill.md](docs/guides/claude-code-skill.md).



---



## Architecture



```

apps/web          React + TanStack Start + shadcn/ui — user interface

apps/mcp          @paca-ai/paca-mcp — MCP server for AI agent integration

services/api      Go + Gin — core business logic and REST API

services/realtime Node.js + Socket.IO — real-time event fan-out

services/ai-agent Python + FastAPI + OpenHands SDK — AI agent orchestration

apps/e2e          Playwright — end-to-end test suite



skills/           Agent Skills — /paca slash commands for Claude Code



PostgreSQL        Persistent store

Valkey            Cache + async event streams between services

```



See [docs/architecture/overview.md](docs/architecture/overview.md) for detail.



---



## The "Paca" Story



The name is a small pun on the Japanese word **"Baka" (ばか)** — "silly."



In the early days, we jokingly called our AI assistants "silly" when they hallucinated. And building a serious project management platform as a free, open-source alternative to multi-billion-dollar tools might also seem a bit silly.



But Paca is built from conviction: human-AI collaboration in a real Scrum team should be accessible to every team, everywhere — not locked behind a vendor's pricing model. We think that's worth being a little foolish about. 🦙✨



---



## Documentation



| Document | Description |

|:--|:--|

| [docs/architecture/overview.md](docs/architecture/overview.md) | High-level system architecture |

| [docs/guides/getting-started.md](docs/guides/getting-started.md) | Getting started (install, Docker, local dev) |

| [docs/guides/local-development.md](docs/guides/local-development.md) | Contributor dev environment setup |

| [docs/guides/mcp-server-setup.md](docs/guides/mcp-server-setup.md) | Connect AI agents via MCP |

| [docs/guides/claude-code-skill.md](docs/guides/claude-code-skill.md) | `/paca` skill for Claude Code — manage Paca from your editor |

| [docs/plugins/](docs/plugins/) | Plugin system: backend (WASM) and frontend |

| [deploy/README.md](deploy/README.md) | Full deployment reference |

| [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) | How to contribute |

| [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md) | Security policy |



---



## Star History



[![Star History Chart](https://api.star-history.com/chart?repos=paca-ai/paca&type=date&legend=top-left)](https://www.star-history.com/?repos=paca-ai%2Fpaca&type=date&legend=top-left)



---



## License



Distributed under the **Apache License 2.0**. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.