Lific

Lific

Lific is a self-hosted, single-binary issue tracker and planning tool designed for coding agents and human teams — it exposes a web UI, CLI, REST API and MCP tool surface so agents and developers can track plans, issues, comments, and audits on your own server.

Lific is developer tools software teams evaluate for software & gaming. Use this page to review pricing, integration signals, and the best alternatives before you commit.

Free API 70/100
#69 in Developer Tools (69 tools)
Just launched
51 profile views · 6 vendor visits in 30 days

Profile facts come from the vendor source. AiMatch labels unknown pricing or API details instead of estimating them.

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Quick Overview

Best for: Software & Gaming

What it does

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Best fit

Software & Gaming

Pricing snapshot

Free from Free

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Lific

Lific is an open-source, self-hosted issue tracker and planning system tailored for coding agents and human teams. It runs as a single binary (CLI + web UI) and exposes the tracker to agents via MCP (Machine Client Protocol) so agent sessions can read and update issues, plans, pages, comments, and search as persistent tools rather than ephemeral context. The product is targeted at developers and teams who want agent-assisted workflows, project-scoped roles and access control, and an auditable trail of both human and agent activity.

Setup is designed to be fast: lific init creates the config, database, and an API key while registering a background service; lific connect auto-detects installed AI clients and writes MCP configs so agents pick up the tracker after a restart. The web UI is available at localhost:3456 and provides issue lists, kanban boards, documents, modules, and threaded comments.

A free, self-hosted issue tracker built for coding agents. Single binary, native MCP. Plans and issues live on your server instead of in the context window, so work outlives the session.

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Key Features

Single-binary, self-hosted installation

Distribute and run Lific as one binary; install via cargo or grab static releases for Linux and macOS; lific init writes config, creates the DB, prints an API key, and registers a background service.

MCP tool surface for agents

Agents access the full tracker (issues, plans, pages, comments, search) as MCP tools so work persists beyond a session.

lific connect auto-configuration

Detects installed AI clients (examples: OpenCode, Claude Code, Cursor, Zed) and writes MCP configs for selected clients so they connect to the local server.

Web UI and CLI

Provides a web UI at localhost:3456 with issue lists, kanban board, documents, modules, and thread comments; CLI offers equivalent verbs and JSON output for scripting.

Plans tied to issues

Plans are nested trees of steps stored in the tracker with each step tied to a real issue; completing steps closes issues and keeps boards current.

Identifiers that persist

All items receive durable identifiers like APP-42 that can be used in logs, commits, and conversations.

Workable filter for triage

A filter that returns only issues with every blocker resolved so triage can be done without complex graph queries.

Roles, OAuth 2.1, and audit trails

Project-scoped roles (viewer, maintainer, lead), OAuth 2.1 for connected clients, and audit records that show who made changes and through which interface (web, MCP, API, CLI).

CI and scripting-friendly

Commands emit JSON when stdout is not a terminal; the tool is intended to fit into scripts and CI pipelines.

Health checks and diagnostics

lific doctor performs health checks and exits nonzero when setup is broken.

Pricing

Free Tier Available

Free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license; self-hosted distribution (no paid tiers mentioned).

Open Source

Free
  • Apache-2.0 licensed source
  • Self-hosted single binary
  • MCP, REST, CLI, and web UI

Use Cases

Agent-driven development

Provide agents with a persistent tracker via MCP so they can plan, open/close issues, and leave comments as part of long-lived workflows.

Team planning and execution

Create nested plans and tie steps to issues so teams can track progress at both session and quarter scales with role-based access control.

Human + agent collaboration

Humans and agents discuss work in the same threaded comments and mention workflows, sharing an auditable history of decisions and changes.

Scripting and CI integration

Use CLI JSON output and REST/MCP interfaces to integrate tracking into scripts, continuous integration, and developer tooling.

Integrations

OpenCode / Claude Code / Cursor / Zed (MCP clients)

lific connect can detect these AI clients on your machine and write MCP configs so they connect to the local Lific MCP server.

OAuth 2.1 connected clients

Connected tools can sign in through an OAuth 2.1 flow so agent actions are attributed to the correct identity.

REST and MCP APIs

Tracker exposes resources over REST and MCP for programmatic access and integrations.

Benefits

Persistent agent workflows: agents' plans and issues live on your server instead of ephemeral context windows.
Self-hosted, single-binary distribution simplifies deployment and control over data and telemetry.
Tight team controls with project-scoped roles and OAuth 2.1 so actions are attributed and governed.
Unified human and agent collaboration with threaded comments and an auditable change trail.
Rapid onboarding: init, connect, and run in about a minute with background service registration.

Limitations

Full tool surface consumes roughly 5.6k tokens of context (about one long file read), which affects context budget for LLM-based agents.
Official static binaries mentioned for Linux and macOS (x86_64 and arm64); other platforms are not listed.
Connected clients must be restarted after lific connect writes MCP config for them to pick up the new server.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Getting Started

  1. 1 Install Lific: cargo install lific or download a static binary from the releases page for Linux/macOS.
  2. 2 Initialize the instance: run lific init to write config, create the database, and print your API key (and register the background service).
  3. 3 Connect AI clients: run lific connect to detect AI clients and write MCP config for selected clients, then restart those clients to pick up the MCP server.
  4. 4 Verify health: run lific doctor to perform health checks (exits nonzero if setup is broken).

Support

GitHub

Repository and issue tracker; the site invites users to 'Star on GitHub' and references releases for static binaries.

Discord

Community chat referenced on the site for discussion and help.

Docs / Website

Primary documentation and installation instructions are available on the project website (https://lific.dev/).

API

Available: Yes
Documentation:

https://lific.dev/

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