Night PM

A brainless product management app that sits on top of AI engines.

Night PM is a lightweight, file-based productivity system for managing products, organizing todos, and capturing thoughts as they come. It runs zero inference -- all intelligence comes from whichever AI CLI you bring (Claude, Gemini, Codex, or OpenCode). Every feature is an MCP tool, every piece of data is a plain file.

Why Night PM?

Most PM tools lock your data in proprietary databases and charge for AI features on top. Night PM takes the opposite approach:

• No inference, no LLM costs. Night PM is a UI and toolset. You bring your own AI engine (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, OpenCode) and your own API keys.
• Everything is a file. Projects are folders. Todos, calendar events, contacts, and thoughts are JSON files. Documents are Markdown. AI engines can read and write them directly.
• All features are MCP tools. Every action (add a contact, create a todo, schedule an event) is exposed as an MCP tool that any compatible AI CLI can call.

Features

• VS Code-like interface with a file tree sidebar, tabs, and specialized views
• Quick Thought overlay (Shift+Cmd+Y) -- pops up over any app, captures a thought, and the AI categorizes it into contacts, todos, events, or accomplishments
• Multi-turn AI conversations in the thoughts overlay and the AI console
• Calendar views (month, week, day) with recurring event support and an all-calendars aggregated view across projects
• Todos view with status tracking (created / blocked / done) and date-range filtering
• Contacts view with relationship mapping and duplicate detection
• Ideas board for half-baked thoughts (card-based with tags)
• Secrets vault for private notes (never used in document generation)
• Standups -- ask the AI to generate a standup summary from recent tasks and events
• Project identity (project.nipm) -- defines project name, description, your role, and tags; injected into every AI conversation
• Nested project discovery -- AI can discover all projects in your directory tree and switch between them
• Markdown editor (TipTap) with an AI chat side panel for document editing assistance
• Multi-provider support -- switch between Claude, Gemini, Codex, and OpenCode from settings
• Per-project MCP -- each project can define its own MCP server connections
• Settings autosave -- all changes persist immediately, no manual save button
• Inline file creation -- right-click a folder to create a doc, file, folder, or project with an inline name input
• Auto-refresh file tree -- file explorer updates automatically when files change on disk, including renames in nested folders
• Light and dark themes

Quick Start

Prerequisites

You need at least one AI CLI installed:

Provider	Install
Claude Code	npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code or docs
Gemini CLI	npm install -g @google/gemini-cli or GitHub
Codex	npm install -g @openai/codex or GitHub
OpenCode	See opencode.ai

Install and Run

git clone https://github.com/northclock/night-pm.git
cd night-pm
npm install
npm start

On first launch, Night PM detects which AI CLIs are available and prompts you to choose a default provider.

Create a Project

1. Click Open in the sidebar and select a directory, or click + New Project to scaffold one.
2. You can also right-click any folder in the file tree and select New Doc, New File, New Folder, or New Project. Names are entered inline in the tree (no popup dialog).
3. A project is identified by its project.nipm file and contains these files:

my-project/
  project.nipm         # Project identity (name, description, whoAmI, tags)
  info.md              # Project context (Markdown)
  calendar.json        # Events (with recurring event support)
  todos.json           # Tasks
  contacts.json        # People
  thoughts.json        # Thought log
  ideas.json           # Half-baked ideas
  secrets.json         # Private notes (excluded from doc generation)
  docs/                # Documents (Markdown files)

4. Double-click a project folder or right-click it and select Set as Active Project.
5. Press Shift+Cmd+Y anywhere to open the Quick Thought overlay.

How It Works

You type a thought
        |
        v
   AI Engine (Claude / Gemini / Codex / OpenCode)
        |
        v
   MCP Tools (calendar_add_event, contact_add, todo_add_task, idea_add, ...)
        |
        v
   Plain JSON files on disk
        |
        v
   Night PM renders the views

Example: Capturing a new contact

1. Press Shift+Cmd+Y. Type: "Today I met Luis. He's a cool engineer from Boston. :)"
2. The AI recognizes this is a new contact and calls contact_add.
3. You see Luis in the contacts view.
4. Later, type: "Luis is also a music producer."
5. The AI calls contact_update and appends the info.

Example: Creating a task

1. Type: "I need to talk to Luis about the visualization feature."
2. The AI calls todo_add_task.
3. Later, type: "I talked to Luis about it."
4. The AI calls todo_update_task to mark it done.

Example: Standup generation

1. Type: "Give me a standup update."
2. The AI calls standup_generate which gathers recent tasks and today's events.
3. You get a formatted standup summary.

AI Providers

Night PM supports four AI providers. Each one has its own configuration section in Settings.

Provider	MCP Support	Session Resume	Multi-turn
Claude	Native (in-process SDK server)	Yes	Yes
Gemini	Via CLI config (~/.gemini/settings.json)	Yes (--resume)	Yes
Codex	Via config	Yes (resumeThread)	Yes
OpenCode	Via config	Yes (session API)	Yes

Switch providers from Settings > Provider.

MCP Tools

Night PM exposes 28+ MCP tools for AI engines to manage project data:

Calendar

Tool	Description
calendar_list_events	List all events
calendar_add_event	Add an event (title, description, start, end, allDay, recurrence)
calendar_update_event	Update an event by ID (including recurrence)
calendar_delete_event	Delete an event by ID

Todos

Tool	Description
todo_list_tasks	List tasks, filter by status and/or date range (startDate, endDate)
todo_add_task	Add a task (title, description, dueDate, status)
todo_update_task	Update a task by ID
todo_delete_task	Delete a task by ID

Contacts

Tool	Description
contact_list	List all contacts
contact_search	Search by name (partial, case-insensitive)
contact_add	Add a contact (checks for duplicates)
contact_update	Update a contact by ID
contact_delete	Delete a contact by ID

Thoughts

Tool	Description
thought_list	List all recorded thoughts
thought_add	Record a new thought

Project

Tool	Description
project_info	Read project info from project.nipm and info.md
project_info_update	Update project identity (name, description, whoAmI, tags)
project_list	List all available projects (recursive tree with nested projects)
project_set_active	Set the active project by path

Ideas

Tool	Description
idea_list	List all ideas
idea_add	Add a half-baked idea (title, description, tags)
idea_update	Update an idea by ID
idea_delete	Delete an idea by ID

Secrets

Tool	Description
secret_list	List all secrets
secret_add	Add a private secret (never used for document generation)

Standups

Tool	Description
standup_generate	Generate a standup summary from recent tasks and calendar events

MCP Server (HTTP/SSE)

Night PM automatically starts an MCP server on http://127.0.0.1:7777/sse when the app launches. Any MCP-compatible app can connect to it over SSE — no separate install or build step.

Go to Settings > MCP Server to see the status, port, and copy-pastable configs for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and others.

Example config for Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "night-pm": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:7777/sse"
    }
  }
}

If port 7777 is in use, the server picks the next available port. Check Settings for the actual URL.

Project Identity (project.nipm)

Each project has a project.nipm file (JSON with custom extension) that identifies it:

{
  "name": "Product A",
  "description": "Mobile app for retail",
  "whoAmI": "Senior PM leading the mobile team",
  "created": "2026-03-07T...",
  "tags": ["product", "mobile"]
}

The whoAmI field tells the AI who you are in the context of this project, so it can tailor its responses. This context is automatically injected into every AI conversation (thoughts, console, document chat).

Project Instructions

Each project can include instructions that get prepended to the AI's system prompt:

my-project/.nightpm/
  AGENT.md       # Shared instructions (all providers)
  CLAUDE.md      # Claude-specific override
  GEMINI.md      # Gemini-specific override
  CODEX.md       # Codex-specific override
  OPENCODE.md    # OpenCode-specific override

The shared AGENT.md is loaded first, then the provider-specific file (if it exists) is appended. Edit these from Settings > Project Instructions.

Testing

Night PM includes integration tests for every AI provider using Vitest.

npm test              # Run all tests
npm run test:gemini   # Gemini only
npm run test:codex    # Codex only
npm run test:claude   # Claude only
npm run test:opencode # OpenCode only
npm run test:watch    # Watch mode

Create a .env file at the project root with your API keys:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your-key
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key
# For Claude with Vertex AI:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
export CLOUD_ML_REGION=global
export ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID=your-project
# Or for Claude with API key:
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key

Project Structure

night-pm/
  src/
    main.ts                           # Electron main process
    main/
      engine.ts                       # Provider orchestrator + project context loader
      detect-providers.ts             # CLI availability detection
      settings.ts                     # Persistent settings (non-secret)
      keychain.ts                     # OS keychain for API keys
      mcp-tools.ts                    # In-process MCP tools (28+ tools, Claude SDK)
      mcp-http.ts                     # HTTP/SSE MCP server (localhost)
      file-io.ts                      # JSON/text file helpers
      providers/
        types.ts                      # AIProvider interface
        claude.ts                     # Claude Code adapter
        gemini.ts                     # Gemini CLI adapter
        codex.ts                      # Codex adapter
        opencode.ts                   # OpenCode adapter
      windows.ts                      # Window management
      shortcuts.ts                    # Global hotkeys
      ipc-handlers.ts                 # Filesystem + dir watcher IPC
    preload.ts                        # Context bridge
    renderer/
      App.tsx                         # Root component
      store.ts                        # Zustand state
      types.ts                        # Shared types
      hooks/
        useTheme.ts                   # Theme persistence
        useFileWatcher.ts             # File change watcher
      components/
        Layout/                       # App shell, title bar
        Sidebar/                      # File tree, project browser
        TabBar/                       # Open file tabs
        ContentArea/                  # File type routing
        Editor/                       # TipTap markdown editor + DocChatPanel
        Calendar/                     # Calendar views (month/week/day) + AllCalendarsView
        Todos/                        # Todo list view
        Contacts/                     # Contacts view
        Thoughts/                     # Thought overlay + list
        Ideas/                        # Ideas board view
        Secrets/                      # Secrets vault view
        ProjectInfo/                  # Project identity editor
        AIConsole/                    # Direct AI console
        Settings/                     # Settings panel (autosave)
        ProviderSetup/                # First-run provider picker
        ui/                           # shadcn/ui primitives
    test/
      setup.ts                        # Env loader
      harness.ts                      # Message capture utilities
      __mocks__/electron.ts           # Electron stubs
      claude.test.ts                  # Claude provider tests
      gemini.test.ts                  # Gemini provider tests
      codex.test.ts                   # Codex provider tests
      opencode.test.ts                # OpenCode provider tests

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Electron + Vite + Electron Forge
• UI: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, shadcn/ui, Allotment (split panes), TipTap (rich text)
• State: Zustand
• AI SDKs: @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk, @openai/codex-sdk, @opencode-ai/sdk
• MCP: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk (HTTP/SSE server), Claude SDK's createSdkMcpServer (in-process)
• Security: Electron safeStorage (OS-level encryption for API keys)
• Testing: Vitest (provider integration tests)
• Icons: Phosphor Icons

Contributing

We welcome contributions. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting a PR.

License

MIT