Tutorial

Learn terminal-native product management step by step.

This tutorial walks you through a complete Joy project setup using a practical example: building a recipe app called Cookbox. By the end, you will know how to create items, track progress, manage dependencies, set milestones, and work with your team.

Contents

• TL;DR
• Setting Up a Project - init
• Creating Items - add
• Filtering and Searching - ls, show, find
• Managing Dependencies - deps
• Tracking Progress - status, start, submit, close
• Working with Milestones - milestone
• Audit Trail and Releases - log, release
• AI Tool Integration - ai
• Project Configuration - project, config
• Shell Completions
• Command Reference

TL;DR

mkdir cookbox && cd cookbox && git init
joy init
joy add epic "Recipe Management"
joy add story "Add a recipe" --parent CB-0001 --priority high
joy add task "Set up database" --parent CB-0001 --priority critical
joy start CB-0003
joy deps CB-0002 --add CB-0003
joy milestone add "MVP" --date 2026-04-01
joy milestone link CB-0002 CB-MS-01
joy submit CB-0003
joy close CB-0003
joy

That's the whole loop. Read on for the details.

Setting Up a Project

Create a fresh project:

mkdir cookbox && cd cookbox
git init
joy init

Joy creates a .joy/ directory inside your repo:

.joy/
  project.yaml           Project name, acronym, members, settings
  config.defaults.yaml   Project defaults (committed)
  config.yaml            Personal overrides (gitignored)
  items/                 All your items live here (YAML files)
  milestones/            Milestone definitions
  logs/                  Event log (audit trail)

Everything is plain text, versioned with git. No database, no cloud dependency. If your hard drive survives, your project plan survives.

You can also name your project explicitly:

joy init --name "Cookbox" --acronym CB

Joy also installs a commit-msg hook that enforces item references in every commit message. This is part of the audit trail - every code change must link to a Joy item. More on this in Audit Trail and Releases.

Joining an Existing Project

If you clone a repo that already uses Joy, run the same command:

git clone https://github.com/example/cookbox.git
cd cookbox
joy init

Joy detects the existing project and switches to onboarding mode: it installs the commit-msg hook and sets up your local environment without touching project data.

After onboarding, set up AI tool integration if you use one:

joy ai setup

Creating Items

Start with an epic - the big picture:

joy add epic "Recipe Management"

Joy assigns ID CB-0001 and creates .joy/items/CB-0001-recipe-management.yaml.

Now break it down into smaller pieces:

joy add story "Add a recipe" --parent CB-0001 --priority high
joy add story "Edit a recipe" --parent CB-0001 --priority high
joy add story "List recipes with filters" --parent CB-0001
joy add task "Set up SQLite database" --parent CB-0001 --priority critical --effort 3

Effort

Estimate work with --effort on a 1-7 scale: 1=trivial, 2=small, 3=medium, 4=large, 5=major, 6=heavy, 7=massive. It's optional but helps with planning.

Item Types

All items start with status new. Priorities: extreme, critical, high, medium (default), low.

Filtering and Searching

List all items:

joy ls

Filter to find exactly what you need:

joy ls --type story              # Only stories
joy ls --priority critical       # Only critical items
joy ls --parent CB-0001          # Children of an epic
joy ls --status open             # Only open items
joy ls --mine                    # Assigned to you
joy ls --blocked                 # Items with unfinished dependencies
joy ls --tag ui                  # Items tagged with "ui"

Search by text across all items:

joy find "database"              # Search titles and descriptions

Tags

Tags are free-text labels for cross-cutting categories - things like ui, backend, security, or tech-debt:

joy add task "Fix layout" --tags "ui,urgent"
joy edit CB-0004 --tags "ui,search"

Tags are comma-separated. Using --tags replaces all existing tags. Use --tags "" to clear them.

Views

joy                              # Board view (items grouped by status)
joy ls --tree                    # Hierarchy view (parent/child tree)
joy show CB-0002                 # Full detail view with comments

Managing Dependencies

Dependencies let you express ordering between items. For example, you need the database before you can add recipes.

joy deps CB-0002 --add CB-0005

This means: CB-0002 (Add a recipe) depends on CB-0005 (Set up SQLite database). CB-0005 must be completed first.

joy deps CB-0002                 # List dependencies
joy deps CB-0002 --tree          # Show full dependency tree
joy deps CB-0002 --rm CB-0005   # Remove a dependency

Joy detects circular dependencies and refuses to create them.

Tracking Progress

The status workflow:

new -> open -> in-progress -> review -> closed
         \                      |
          +---> deferred <------+

Move items through the pipeline:

joy status CB-0005 open          # Approve for work
joy start CB-0005                # Shortcut: set to in-progress
joy submit CB-0005               # Shortcut: set to review
joy close CB-0005                # Shortcut: set to closed
joy reopen CB-0005               # Reopen a closed/deferred item

If an item depends on something unfinished, Joy warns you but does not block. When all children of an epic are closed, the epic auto-closes.

Assignments and Comments

joy assign CB-0005               # Assign to yourself (git email)
joy assign CB-0005 pete@phoenix.org  # Assign to someone else
joy comment CB-0005 "Schema looks good, all migrations pass."

When starting an item (joy start), Joy auto-assigns it to you if no one is assigned yet.

Working with Milestones

Milestones mark deadlines and group related work.

joy milestone add "MVP" --date 2026-04-01

Link items to the milestone:

joy milestone link CB-0002 CB-MS-01
joy milestone link CB-0003 CB-MS-01
joy milestone link CB-0005 CB-MS-01

Check progress:

joy milestone show CB-MS-01      # Progress, risks, blocked items
joy milestone ls                 # All milestones with counts
joy roadmap                      # Full roadmap tree view

Children inherit their parent's milestone automatically. If CB-0001 is linked to CB-MS-01, all its children are too - unless they override it.

Audit Trail and Releases

Joy keeps a structured event log that records every action automatically.

joy log                          # Last 20 events
joy log --since 7d               # Last 7 days
joy log --item CB-0005           # Events for a specific item
joy log --limit 50               # Show more entries

Every joy command leaves a trace in .joy/logs/ - one file per day, append-only, timestamped to the millisecond:

2026-03-11T16:14:32.320Z CB-0005 item.created "Set up SQLite database" [mac@phoenix.org]
2026-03-11T16:15:01.440Z CB-0005 item.status_changed "new -> in-progress" [mac@phoenix.org]
2026-03-11T16:42:18.100Z CB-0005 comment.added "Schema looks good" [pete@phoenix.org]
2026-03-11T17:00:00.000Z CB-0005 comment.added "AI review complete" [ai:claude@joy delegated-by:mac@phoenix.org]

These logs are committed to git with your project. Every team member's actions are recorded - a built-in audit trail. When an AI tool acts on behalf of a human, the log shows both identities via delegated-by.

Commit-Msg Hook

Joy installs a commit-msg hook (via joy init) that enforces every commit message references at least one item ID:

git commit -m "feat(db): add migration CB-0005"     # OK
git commit -m "fix typo"                             # REJECTED

The hook reads the project acronym from .joy/project.yaml and checks for the pattern CB-XXXX. For commits that genuinely have no item (CI config, dependency bumps), use the [no-item] tag:

git commit -m "chore: bump dependencies [no-item]"  # OK

In multi-repo setups (umbrella with submodules), each subproject has its own acronym. CI can enforce the same rule with: just lint-commits

Releases

When you ship a version, create a release:

joy release create patch             # Next patch version (default)
joy release create minor             # Next minor version
joy release create major             # Next major version

Joy collects all items closed since the last release, groups them by type, lists contributors, and writes a release snapshot to .joy/releases/. Preview without creating:

joy release show                     # Preview from event log
joy release show v1.0.0              # Show an existing release
joy release ls                       # List all releases

Editing and Deleting

joy edit CB-0002 --priority critical
joy edit CB-0002 --title "Add and validate a recipe"
joy rm CB-0006                       # Delete (asks for confirmation)
joy rm CB-0001 -rf                   # Delete epic and all children

AI Tool Integration

Joy integrates with AI coding tools so they can manage your backlog alongside you.

joy ai setup

This does three things:

1. Checks if your project has Vision.md, Architecture.md, CONTRIBUTING.md (offers to create templates if missing)
2. Installs AI instructions and skills into .joy/ai/
3. Detects your AI tool and configures it with the right permissions and references

After setup, your AI tool knows how to use Joy commands, follows your project conventions, and will offer to help fill in empty documents on first use.

The Trust Model

Joy's AI Governance is built on five pillars: Trustship (who do I trust?), Guardianship (what do I protect against?), Orchestration (how do I steer work?), Traceability (what happened?), and Settlement (what did it cost?).

Together they form the Trust Model - the configuration that governs how humans and AI agents collaborate. It scales naturally: a solo developer has implicit trust (one member, all capabilities, no gates). A team adds explicit trust (members with specific capabilities). An enterprise adds verified trust (gates, cost limits, audit trails). Same workflow, growing accountability.

The rest of this section covers the parts you can use today: identity (Trustship), the event log (Traceability), and capabilities (Trustship). Gates (Guardianship), cost tracking (Settlement), and AI dispatch (Orchestration) are covered in the Solutions documentation.

AI Identity

AI tools are registered as project members with an ai: prefix:

joy project member add ai:claude@joy

When an AI tool uses Joy commands, it identifies itself with the --author flag:

joy comment CB-0005 "Review complete" --author ai:claude@joy
joy add bug "Crash on empty input" --author ai:claude@joy

The event log traces accountability back to the human who started the session:

[ai:claude@joy delegated-by:mac@phoenix.org]

AI members have the same capabilities as human members, with one exception: AI members cannot perform manage actions (adding members, changing capabilities, modifying project settings). Management stays with humans.

If your project has AI members and you run a Joy command without --author, Joy shows a warning reminding you to set your identity explicitly.

Keeping Instructions Current

Run joy ai setup again after a Joy update to get the latest instructions. Joy-owned files are updated, your custom rules are preserved. Run joy ai check at any time to verify:

joy ai check                     # Are AI instructions up to date?

Project Configuration

Joy starts with zero ceremony. No gates, no approvals, no bureaucracy. Add rules only when you need them.

Project Metadata

joy project                      # View project metadata and members
joy project get language          # Get a specific value
joy project set name "Cookbox Pro"   # Set a value (requires manage)
joy project set language de       # Change project language

Settable keys: name, description, language. Read-only: acronym, created.

Members and Capabilities

Joy tracks project members and their capabilities. Members are added automatically during joy init (from git config user.email) or manually:

joy project member add pete@phoenix.org
joy project member add ai:claude@joy --capabilities "implement,review"
joy project member show pete@phoenix.org
joy project member rm pete@phoenix.org

Joy defines eleven capabilities across two groups:

Lifecycle capabilities (what you can do on items): conceive, plan, design, implement, test, review, document

Management capabilities (project-level operations): create, assign, manage, delete

By default, members have capabilities: all. Restrict them when needed - especially for AI members where you want to control what they can do autonomously.

Configuration Layering

Joy uses layered configuration where each layer overrides the one below:

Layer 4: .joy/config.yaml            Your personal project overrides (gitignored)
Layer 3: ~/.config/joy/config.yaml   Your global settings (all projects)
Layer 2: .joy/config.defaults.yaml   Project defaults (committed, shared)
Layer 1: Code defaults               Built-in fallbacks

View the resolved configuration:

joy config                       # Show all resolved values with sources
joy config get workflow.auto-assign  # Get a specific value
joy config set output.emoji true     # Set a personal override

joy config set always writes to your personal .joy/config.yaml - your preferences never affect teammates. Project defaults in config.defaults.yaml set the shared baseline that the whole team inherits.

Key settings:

Shell Completions

Joy supports tab completion for commands, flags, and item IDs. Add one line to your shell config:

source <(COMPLETE=bash joy)

source <(COMPLETE=zsh joy)

source (COMPLETE=fish joy | psub)

After reloading your shell:

joy show CB-<TAB>                # Completes item and milestone IDs
joy sta<TAB>                     # Completes subcommands
joy ls --ty<TAB>                 # Completes flags

Command Reference

Most write commands accept --author <MEMBER> to attribute the action to a specific identity.

See also: joy --help, joy <command> --help