How it works
A private board for product ideas that runs on your own machine. What Idea Board does, what it’s built with, and how far along it is.
The premise
Idea Board keeps every product idea on one screen, in four columns: Spark, Exploring, Building and Shipped. Capture an idea with a keystroke, give it notes and tags, star the ones that matter, and drag it along as it moves. Search covers titles, notes and tags, and finished ideas can be archived out of the way.
It’s a small Node.js server with no dependencies, no accounts and no cloud. Ideas are kept in one JSON file. Run it on your own computer, or install it on a Windows server as a service that starts on boot, with the firewall opened to your local network only.
What’s included
Four stages, with drag and drop and a keyboard alternative in each idea’s detail panel
Keyboard capture and search: ⌘K or N for a new idea, / to search
Tags, stars and an archive, with search across titles, notes and tags
No dependencies, accounts or cloud: one Node.js server and one JSON file
A Windows installer that runs it as a service and opens the port to your local network only
How it’s built
Idea Board is built on Node.js, JavaScript, PowerShell and NSSM.
The repository is 59% PowerShell, 20% JavaScript, 13% CSS, 5% HTML, 3% Shell by volume.
It carries 5 commits since Oct 2026, most recently changed in Oct 2026.
How the work is done
Every project here starts as a written spec, and the spec stays the source of truth once there’s code. The repository keeps a build plan with current status, an append-only decision log of where the code departed from the plan, and a handoff document that describes where things stand, including the unfinished parts.
That’s how one person keeps this many projects moving, and it’s what this page is written from.
Current state
Shipping. Released and usable today.
The source is public, so you can check anything on this page against it.
Next
Run Idea Board
It needs Node 18 or later and nothing else. Run it on your own computer, or install it on a Windows server as a service.
git clone https://github.com/dmoore-dwmmholdings/idea-board && cd idea-board && npm start
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmoore-dwmmholdings/idea-board/main/install.sh | bash
The board has no login: anyone who can reach its port can read and edit your ideas. It listens on 127.0.0.1 unless you change it, and the Windows installer opens the port to your local subnet only. Keep it that way.
Questions, or something it doesn’t do yet? Email dmoore@