boardsare

Boardsare is a proposed open-standard concept for modeling and syncing the state of collaborative boards across physical and digital environments. It provides a common data model for boards, lists, cards, labels, members, checklists, attachments, and comments, together with a lightweight API surface. The goal is to enable interoperable board workflows across apps, devices, and services while preserving a unified history and real-time updates.

The model specifies a JSON-based serialization and reference API surface (REST or GraphQL) and supports real-time synchronization through events delivered over WebSocket or server-sent events. It emphasizes offline-first behavior, uncomplicated conflict resolution by versioning, and extensibility via plug-ins and custom fields.

Boardsare emerged in collaborative-software circles in the mid-2020s as a response to fragmentation among task boards, design boards, and project maps. While not a formal standard, several projects claim compatibility with its schemas, and some platforms publish developer guides that reference its concepts.

Typical implementations offer client libraries, web and mobile SDKs, and a server component for permissions, storage, and history. Use cases range from project management and product design to education and research, wherever teams require synchronized multi-user editing and consistent audit trails.

Reception has been mixed. Proponents emphasize interoperability and lower integration costs, while critics warn that without formal governance the data model can diverge across ecosystems, creating fragmentation, security challenges, and data-ownership concerns.

Related topics include Kanban, Trello-style boards, Jira, and general collaboration standards.