Pulse - Terminal Task Manager

Stop context switching. Manage your projects where you code.

Pulse is a simple terminal-based task manager designed for developers who live in the command line. It combines a CLI, a TUI, and an MCP server to integrate seamlessly with AI agents.

The Vibe

I built Pulse for myself. Honestly, I wasn't happy with the existing tools. They were either too complex, mess up my projects, or just didn't feel right. I wanted something simple that let me group tasks with tags, move them through states, and most importantly, pause my work and pick it up days later without missing context.

This tool is 90% vibecoded. It's designed to feel good to use.

[!WARNING] Use at your own risk. While I use this daily, it is a personal project built for vibes first, stability second. Expect bugs, breaking changes, and occasional chaos.

Why Pulse?

• 🧠 Stay in Flow: Keep a record of your tasks across sessions. Start a big feature today, pause, and pick it up days later without missing context.
• 🛠️ Flexible: Control it your way—use the simple CLI, the interactive TUI, or let your AI agent handle it via MCP.
• � Version Controlled: Tasks are stored in simple YAML files. Commit them with your code or keep them separate—it's up to you.

Quick Start

1. Install & Usage

For Humans (CLI & TUI): Install globally to use the terminal interface.

bun install -g pulse-tm
pulse ui   # Launch the dashboard
pulse help # See all commands

For Agents (MCP): No global install needed. Just configure your agent (Claude/Cursor) to run:

bunx pulse-tm mcp

2. The "Agentic" Workflow

Pulse shines when paired with AI agents (like Cursor or Claude). Here is the suggested workflow:

Scenario 1: Planning

Ask your agent to read a PRD and plan the work.

Prompt: "Read PRD.md. Use Pulse to create a plan and generate tasks for this feature. Tag them with 'feature-x'."

What happens: The agent uses the MCP server to create a structured list of tasks in Pulse, organized by the tag you specified.

Scenario 2: Execution

Ask your agent to start working.

Prompt: "Work on the next task in 'feature-x'."

What happens: The agent reads the next pending task, writes the code to solve it, and marks the task as done in Pulse.

Documentation

• CLI Reference: Full command-line interface documentation.
• TUI Dashboard: Keyboard shortcuts and usage for the interactive dashboard.
• MCP Server: How to set up Pulse with Claude Desktop or Cursor.
• Development: Contributing to Pulse.

Demo

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.