Examples of how to use Kanera with AI

Once an AI agent is connected to Kanera through MCP, it can see your real work across boards and act on it. That is the difference between an assistant that guesses from pasted text and one that reasons over live workspace data — cards, assignees, due dates, labels, custom fields, notes, comments, and activity.

The examples below are real workflows. Each shows what to ask, why the agent can do it, and what you get back. Most work with a Read key; the ones that change Kanera are marked and need a Write key.

Put today's work in order

"Show my Up next queue, then move the payments release card to the top and place the documentation review immediately after it." (Write key)

The agent reads the current ranked entries first, resolves the requested cards, and uses entry anchors to make the exact move. It changes the work order without changing due dates, workflow lists, or a Priority custom field. Ask it to show the proposed order before applying a broader reshuffle.

Plan the work, then track it as the code lands

This is the workflow that shows what MCP really unlocks: a coding agent that plans in Kanera, then updates the same card as it does the actual work. Because the agent's editor and Kanera are both reachable through MCP, the tracking card stays accurate on its own — no one switches tabs to tick boxes.

Step 1 — plan into the card. Point the agent at the work and ask it to record the plan where the team can see it:

"Read this repo and the 'Upgrade dependencies' card. Write an implementation plan into the card description, and add a checklist with one item per project that needs updating." (Write key)

The agent inspects the codebase, drafts a plan, updates the card description with it, and builds a checklist item per project. Now the card is the source of truth for the effort, not a throwaway chat.

Step 2 — do the work, and let the agent close out its own checklist. In the same session (or a later one), have the agent implement the change across the projects:

"Work through the checklist on that card. Update the dependencies in each project, and as each one builds and passes, mark its checklist item complete." (Write key)

As the agent finishes each project, it checks off the matching item on the tracking card. Anyone watching the board sees real progress in real time — the checklist fills in as the code actually ships, not when someone remembers to update it. Every check-off is recorded against the API key, so the card doubles as an audit trail of what the agent did and when.

This "plan into the card, then report progress back to the card" loop works for any multi-step effort — dependency upgrades, migrations, refactors, or a feature broken into tasks.

Morning triage in one prompt

"Show me everything assigned to me across the workspace, grouped by urgency. Flag anything overdue, anything with no due date, and anything that hasn't moved in a week."

The bounded work query pulls your whole workspace queue at once. It can filter by due date, overdue state, inactivity, and last movement, then surface the two or three things that need you today. In the app, Home and My Cards provide the human-facing versions of this workflow.

Instant standup update

"Prepare my standup: what I closed yesterday, what I'm working on today, and anything blocked."

The agent reads recent activity and your assigned cards, then drafts a tight update. Paste it into Slack or read it off. The built-in prepare_standup_update prompt does exactly this if your client surfaces prompts.

Board health check for a manager

"Summarize the Roadmap board. Call out blockers, stale cards, cards with no owner, and what's likely to slip this sprint."

An agent with board read access can combine board metadata, bounded card pages, stale-work filters, and selected card histories to review a board the way a lead would — not just listing cards, but reasoning about risk. Great before a planning meeting.

Turn a meeting into cards

"Here are my notes from the customer call. Draft cards for each action item with a title, a Markdown description, and a suggested list. Show me the drafts first — don't create anything yet."

The agent proposes structured cards. You review, edit, then say:

"Create those in the Intake list and label them customer-request." (allowed write action plus board Editor access, or a Write-capable API key/service connection)

This "draft, review, apply" pattern is the safest way to let an agent create work: you always see the plan before anything lands in Kanera.

Cross-board search that understands context

"Find every card, note, or comment mentioning the payments migration, and tell me which are still open."

MCP search covers cards, notes, comments, and attachment filenames across the workspace. The agent doesn't just return matches — it groups them, tells you what's done versus open, and points you at the threads that matter.

Cleanup and hygiene

"List assigned cards in this workspace with no due date and no labels, and suggest a priority label and a realistic due date for each based on the description." (suggestions are read-only; applying them requires an allowed write action and board Editor access, or a Write-capable API key/service connection)

The agent proposes metadata so your board stays reportable. Approve the batch and it can set labels, due dates, and custom field values in one pass.

Keep a card current from an outside discussion

"Add a comment to the 'SSO rollout' card summarizing this email thread, and move it to In Progress." (Write key)

The agent writes a concise summary comment and updates the card's list, so the board reflects reality without anyone re-typing status by hand. Every change is recorded against the API key, so it stays auditable.

If you know the card key, use it directly: "Add this summary to PLAT-42 and mark it complete." Current keys, exact historical keys, and canonical Kanera card links can all be used as MCP card references. A canonical link disambiguates the rare case where the same key is visible in more than one organisation.

Workload balancing across a team

"Across this workspace, show open assigned work per person. Who's overloaded, who has room, and which cards could reasonably move?"

The bounded team-work query returns visible assigned, unassigned, overdue, and stale work across the selected scope. The agent can reason about the whole team's load and propose rebalancing — then, with your approval, reassign specific cards. (reassigning requires an allowed write action and board Editor access, or a Write-capable API key/service connection)

Portfolio status without enumerating every board

"Give me a portfolio summary for this organisation. Show active, overdue, due-soon, unassigned, and recently completed work by workspace and board, then call out the areas that need attention."

The portfolio query returns bounded organisation, workspace, and board rollups directly. The agent can use those aggregates for the first pass, then inspect only the boards or cards that need supporting detail.

Draft from a note you already wrote

"Turn my 'Q3 onboarding revamp' note into a card with a clear title and a Markdown description that lays the steps out as a checklist."

The draft_card_from_notes prompt turns loose thinking in a Kanera note into structured, actionable work.

Tips for getting the most out of it

• Keep unattended credentials narrow. Use a Read API key or service connection for triage, summaries, and search when automation should never make changes. Personal OAuth is read/write-capable, so configure tool permissions and confirmations in the MCP client instead.
• Ask for a plan first. For anything that changes Kanera, request drafts or a proposed plan, review it, then say "apply it."
• Be specific about scope. Name the board, list, workspace, or person so the agent targets the right data.
• Let it work across boards. The biggest wins come from questions a single-board view can't answer — workload, cross-project search, and portfolio-level status.

For setup, API keys, scopes, and the full list of resources and actions the agent can use, see the AI MCP overview.