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Why Markdown-first

condash exists because no off-the-shelf project tracker gives you all three of these at once:

  1. The files are yours — editable in the editor you use, diffable in git, grep-able from a shell.
  2. The dashboard is a view, not a second database — close it and the files don't move; delete it and the files don't move.
  3. Writing is cheap — no form, no required fields, no migration. You type Markdown.

A README looks like this

---
date: 2026-04-10
kind: project
status: now
apps:
  - notes.vcoeur.com
branch: feat/session-cookie-auth
---

# Migrate auth to session-cookie hybrid

## Goal

Drop the JWT dependency without breaking existing sessions.

## Steps

- [x] Audit session-cookie usage
- [~] Implement hybrid read path
- [ ] Migration script for existing tokens

Legacy bold-prose headers are still accepted.

Every piece earns its keep:

  • The YAML frontmatter parses straight into the metadata block.
  • ## Steps checkboxes work in any Markdown tool.
  • git diff shows exactly what changed when you flip a step.
  • rg "session cookie" finds it in 30 ms.

What you give up

  • No real-time multi-user collaboration. A small team works on one shared tree — each on their own checkout, one shared remote — and git handles conflicts like any other text file.
  • No web sharing — generate a PDF or publish a static site.
  • No time tracking, invoicing, or dependency graphs. Use a real PM product if you need those.
  • Mobile reading is fine via git/Markdown viewers; the dashboard itself is desktop-only.

When this fits

  • Solo developer juggling several apps and wanting one tracker.
  • Engineering logbook — dated READMEs that outlive sprints and employers.
  • A workspace shared with an AI agent that already speaks files (Claude Code, for example).
  • Post-mortem tracker for incidents with timelines and links.

More

The full pitch — four scenarios in detail, the design tradeoffs, the non-goals — lives at https://condash.vcoeur.com/explanation/why-markdown/.