feat(kanban): v1.3.0 — tmux split pane rendering, smart terminal width detection

Board auto-opens in a tmux split pane when tmux is available, giving the
display tool a real TTY with proper terminal dimensions. Any keypress
closes the pane. Falls back to inline rendering when not in tmux.

Replace the 3-step termW() fallback (stdout/COLUMNS/80) with a 5-step
detection chain: stdout.columns → $COLUMNS → tmux pane_width → parent
TTY via stty → 120 default. Remove the --width flag and
Object.defineProperty monkey-patch hack.

Closes #10

Co-Authored-By: Magus <magus@madappgang.com>

Crafted with agentic harness Magus (https://github.com/MadAppGang/magus)

Author: erudenko

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

@@ -442,8 +442,8 @@
         "ref": "main",
         "sha": "af9911e626dd1406295b20c8e4d80f52ff3d8266"
       },
-      "description": "Kanban board view for task management. v1.2.0: Word-wrapped titles, full-width boards, even column distribution. Visual board with 5 columns, task dependencies (cycle-safe), priority indicators, WIP limits. Shares tasks.json with GTD plugin \u2014 works standalone or alongside GTD.",
-      "version": "1.2.0",
+      "description": "Kanban board view for task management. v1.3.0: Auto-open board in tmux split pane with real TTY, smart terminal width detection chain (stdout/COLUMNS/tmux/parent-TTY/120), remove --width hack. Visual board with 5 columns, task dependencies (cycle-safe), priority indicators, WIP limits. Shares tasks.json with GTD plugin \u2014 works standalone or alongside GTD.",
+      "version": "1.3.0",
       "author": {
         "name": "Jack Rudenko",
         "email": "i@madappgang.com",

plugins/kanban/commands/board.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ KANBAN_LIB="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/kanban-lib.sh"
 bash -c "source \"${KANBAN_LIB}\" && CWD=\"${CWD}\" kanban_init"
 
 # Build display args
-DISPLAY_ARGS="board"
+DISPLAY_ARGS=""
 FILTER_CONTEXT=""   # e.g. "@code" or ""
 FILTER_PROJECT=""   # e.g. "5" (numeric ID) or ""
 COMPACT=false       # true if --compact
@@ -36,10 +36,11 @@ COMPACT=false       # true if --compact
 [ -n "$FILTER_PROJECT" ] && DISPLAY_ARGS="$DISPLAY_ARGS --project $FILTER_PROJECT"
 [ "$COMPACT" = "true" ] && DISPLAY_ARGS="$DISPLAY_ARGS --compact"
 
-TERM_WIDTH=$(tput cols 2>/dev/null || echo 80)
-bun run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/kanban-display.ts" $DISPLAY_ARGS --file "$GTD_FILE" --width "$TERM_WIDTH"
+bun run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/kanban-display.ts" board $DISPLAY_ARGS --file "$GTD_FILE"
 ```
 
+The display tool automatically opens in a tmux split pane when tmux is available. Any keypress closes the pane.
+
 ## After Showing the Board
 
 - Point out any columns that exceed the WIP limit (default 3 tasks in-progress)

plugins/kanban/lib/table.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  *   Output:     print
  */
 
+import { execSync } from "child_process";
+
 // ── ANSI helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 export const S = {
@@ -54,11 +56,64 @@ export function fg(style: string, text: string): string {
 
 // ── Text utilities ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-/** Terminal width. Checks stdout, COLUMNS env var, defaults to 80. */
+/**
+ * Terminal width detection chain.
+ *
+ * Tries, in order:
+ *   1. process.stdout.columns (works when stdout is a TTY)
+ *   2. $COLUMNS env var (set by some shells / wrappers)
+ *   3. tmux pane_width (most accurate when inside a tmux pane)
+ *   4. Parent process TTY via stty (works when our own stdout is piped)
+ *   5. Fallback to 120 (reasonable default for modern terminals)
+ *
+ * Every shell-out is wrapped in try/catch so failures fall through silently.
+ */
 export function termW(): number {
-  return process.stdout.columns
-    || (process.env.COLUMNS ? parseInt(process.env.COLUMNS) : 0)
-    || 80;
+  // 1. Direct stdout columns
+  if (process.stdout.columns && process.stdout.columns > 0) {
+    return process.stdout.columns;
+  }
+
+  // 2. $COLUMNS env var
+  const envCols = process.env.COLUMNS ? parseInt(process.env.COLUMNS, 10) : 0;
+  if (envCols > 0) return envCols;
+
+  // 3. tmux pane width (only when TMUX env is set)
+  if (process.env.TMUX) {
+    try {
+      const w = parseInt(
+        execSync("tmux display-message -p '#{pane_width}'", { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"] })
+          .toString()
+          .trim(),
+        10,
+      );
+      if (w > 0) return w;
+    } catch { /* not in tmux or tmux unavailable */ }
+  }
+
+  // 4. Parent process TTY via stty
+  try {
+    const ppid = process.ppid ?? process.env.PPID;
+    if (ppid) {
+      const ttyName = execSync(`ps -o tty= -p ${ppid}`, { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"] })
+        .toString()
+        .trim();
+      if (ttyName && ttyName !== "?" && ttyName !== "??") {
+        const devPath = ttyName.startsWith("/dev/") ? ttyName : `/dev/${ttyName}`;
+        const sttyOut = execSync(`stty size < ${devPath}`, {
+          stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
+          shell: "/bin/sh",
+        })
+          .toString()
+          .trim();
+        const cols = parseInt(sttyOut.split(/\s+/)[1], 10);
+        if (cols > 0) return cols;
+      }
+    }
+  } catch { /* no parent TTY or stty failed */ }
+
+  // 5. Fallback
+  return 120;
 }
 
 /** Remove all ANSI escape codes from text. */

plugins/kanban/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "kanban",
-  "version": "1.2.0",
+  "version": "1.3.0",
   "description": "Kanban board view for task management. Works with the same tasks.json as the GTD plugin. Provides board visualization, task dependencies, status flow, and optional MCP sync.",
   "author": { "name": "Jack Rudenko", "email": "i@madappgang.com", "company": "MadAppGang" },
   "license": "MIT",

plugins/kanban/tools/kanban-display.ts

@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
  *   --project <id>           Filter board by project ID
  *   --compact                Compact board display
  *   --mode simple|regular|modern   Board rendering mode (default: regular)
- *   --width <n>              Override terminal width
  */
 
+import { execSync } from "child_process";
 import {
   S,
   fg,
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function wordWrap(text: string, maxWidth: number): string[] {
   return lines;
 }
 
-/** Resolve effective terminal width (respects --width override via COLUMNS env). */
+/** Resolve effective terminal width. */
 function getTermWidth(): number {
   return termW();
 }
@@ -892,15 +892,56 @@ function cmdAdded(taskId: string, title: string): void {
 
 // ── CLI Entry Point ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+/**
+ * When running the "board" command without a TTY (e.g. from Claude Code's Bash tool)
+ * and tmux is available, re-exec ourselves inside a tmux split pane so we get a real
+ * TTY with proper terminal width. The pane waits for a keypress then closes.
+ */
+function maybeReopenInTmux(args: string[]): boolean {
+  if (args[0] !== "board") return false;
+  if (process.stdout.isTTY) return false;
+  if (!process.env.TMUX) return false;
+
+  // Determine split direction based on current pane count
+  let paneCount = 1;
+  try {
+    paneCount = parseInt(
+      execSync("tmux list-panes | wc -l", { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"] }).toString().trim(),
+      10,
+    ) || 1;
+  } catch { /* default to 1 */ }
+
+  const splitDir = paneCount <= 1 ? "-h" : paneCount <= 2 ? "-v" : "-h";
+  const splitSize = paneCount <= 2 ? "50%" : "40%";
+
+  // Re-invoke ourselves with the same args inside a tmux split pane
+  const script = process.argv[1];
+  const escapedArgs = args.map(a => `'${a.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`).join(" ");
+  const cmd = `bun run '${script}' ${escapedArgs}; bash -c 'read -n1 -s -r'`;
+
+  try {
+    const paneId = execSync(
+      `tmux split-window ${splitDir} -l '${splitSize}' -P -F '#{pane_id}' "${cmd.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`,
+      { stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"] },
+    ).toString().trim();
+    execSync(`tmux select-pane -t '${paneId}' -T 'kanban-board'`, { stdio: "ignore" });
+  } catch {
+    return false; // tmux split failed, fall through to inline rendering
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
 function main(): void {
   const args = process.argv.slice(2);
   const command = args[0];
 
+  // If board command in non-TTY tmux context, reopen in a split pane and exit
+  if (maybeReopenInTmux(args)) return;
+
   let filePath = `${process.cwd()}/.claude/gtd/tasks.json`;
   let filterContext: string | undefined;
   let filterProject: string | undefined;
   let compact = false;
-  let widthOverride: number | undefined;
   let boardMode: "simple" | "regular" | "modern" = "regular";
 
   // Parse global options (non-positional)
@@ -911,7 +952,6 @@ function main(): void {
       case "--filter":  filterContext = args[++i]; break;
       case "--project": filterProject = args[++i]; break;
       case "--compact": compact = true; break;
-      case "--width":   widthOverride = parseInt(args[++i]); break;
       case "--mode": {
         const m = args[++i];
         if (m === "simple" || m === "regular" || m === "modern") boardMode = m;
@@ -921,19 +961,6 @@ function main(): void {
     }
   }
 
-  // Override terminal width if specified
-  if (widthOverride) {
-    // Override stdout.columns via Object.defineProperty so termW() picks it up
-    try {
-      Object.defineProperty(process.stdout, "columns", {
-        get: () => widthOverride,
-        configurable: true,
-      });
-    } catch {
-      process.env.COLUMNS = String(widthOverride);
-    }
-  }
-
   const store = loadStore(filePath);
 
   switch (command) {
@@ -998,8 +1025,7 @@ Options:
   --filter <@context>       Filter board by context
   --project <id>            Filter board by project ID
   --compact                 Compact board display
-  --mode simple|regular|modern  Board rendering mode (default: regular)
-  --width <n>               Override terminal width`);
+  --mode simple|regular|modern  Board rendering mode (default: regular)`);
       break;
   }
 }