Case study · Kodokyo

Building Kodokyo, an AI-native project OS.

How we built an AI-native project operating system that replaces Slack, Jira, Asana, Float, and ClickUp in a single platform — with agentic AI, real-time messaging, video huddles, browser extensions, voice-first AI, and SOC 2 compliance across 83 database tables and 285 API routes.

Database tables

285

API routes

AI agent tools

MCP tools

Client

Kodokyo (internal product)

Industry

Project Management · AI

Services

Full-stack development, AI integration

The challenge

Tool fragmentation is killing teams.

Agencies and remote teams are drowning in tool fragmentation. Decisions happen in Slack, status updates live in Jira, plans sit in Asana, and documentation rots in Google Docs. The result: 5+ hours per team member per week lost to context switching, information silos, and stale documentation.

What's wrong with Slack

Communication without context

Conversations are disconnected from the work they reference — decisions vanish into scroll-back
No task management — teams copy-paste action items into separate tools, losing attribution
Per-user pricing ($8.75+/user/mo) makes adding contractors and guests a budget decision
No client-facing portal — agencies create separate guest channels that leak internal context
No built-in video with recording/transcription — requires Zoom or Google Meet as yet another tool

What's wrong with Jira

Complexity that slows teams down

Overly complex configuration — custom workflows, schemes, and permission systems require a dedicated admin
No real-time messaging — comments are async-only, forcing teams back to Slack for quick decisions
Rigid task views — board and backlog only; no Timeline/Gantt, Calendar, or Live Document views
No client portal — clients can't view progress or approve deliverables without a Jira license
AI features are bolted-on afterthoughts, not native agentic tools that take real actions

What's wrong with Asana

Project management without depth

No real-time chat — task comments don't replace the need for a messaging tool, so teams still need Slack
No time tracking built in — requires third-party integrations like Harvest or Toggl
No video calls or huddles — scheduling still requires external tools
Per-user pricing ($10.99+/user/mo) at scale makes enterprise adoption prohibitively expensive
No automations engine with webhooks — limited rule triggers and no custom inbound/outbound integrations

Our fix

How Kodokyo fixes every pain point.

Chat disconnected from work: Channels scoped to orgs, clients, projects, and tasks — conversations live where the work happens

No task management in chat: AI extracts tasks from any message with one click, including title, description, and priority

Per-user pricing: Team-based pricing ($49/$149/$349/team/mo) — add unlimited members without per-seat fees

No client portal: Token-based client portal with project viewing, approval workflows, satisfaction ratings, and project intake forms

No built-in video: LiveKit-powered huddles with screen sharing, recording, Deepgram transcription, and AI meeting summaries

Complex admin overhead: Centralized 4-tier permissions (Owner/Admin/Member/Guest) with project-level roles — no separate admin required

Limited task views: 9 views: Kanban, List, Board, Timeline/Gantt, Calendar, Dashboard, Messages, Sprints, Live Document

AI as an afterthought: Agentic AI assistant "Kodo" with 8 server-side tools — creates tasks, manages teams, sends invites via natural conversation

No time tracking: Built-in live timer, manual entries, billable/non-billable flags, project budgets, and per-client billing rates

No automations with webhooks: 5 triggers, 6 actions, JSONB configs, anti-loop protection, execution logs, and custom webhook endpoints

Stale documentation: AI-maintained Living Documents with change proposals, version history, and auto-generation from task data

No async standup support: Zero-input daily standups auto-generated from activity logs — no forms, no manual reporting

Our solution

An AI-native project operating system.

Kodokyo is built for agencies and remote teams. Every feature was designed from scratch to eliminate tool switching and put AI at the center of how work gets done.

Agentic AI with 39 Tools + MCP

Powered by Anthropic Claude with 39 server-side tools and a Claude Code MCP server exposing 21 additional tools. The AI Chief of Staff doesn't just answer questions — it creates tasks, manages teams, sends invites, generates proposals and invoices, files Drive folders, and updates statuses through natural conversation.

AI task generation with auto time-estimation
Zero-input daily standups from activity logs
AI project health checks and audio daily briefings
Voice-first input (hold-to-speak) and meeting Q&A
Message-to-task extraction with one click
Decision Engine: auto-captures decisions from chat

Slack-Grade Messaging

Full real-time messaging powered by Ably WebSockets. Channels scoped to organizations, clients, projects, tasks, and DMs. Every conversation is anchored to the work it concerns — no more searching through disconnected chat threads.

Threaded replies with emoji reactions
Typing indicators and online/away/offline presence
Pinned messages, bookmarks, and Save for Later
@mentions with autocomplete and notifications
Full-text message search across all channels
File sharing with Cloudflare R2 storage

9 Task Views + Sprint Planning

Full project management with Kanban, List, Board, Timeline/Gantt, Calendar, Dashboard, Messages, Sprints, and Live Document views. Drag-and-drop reordering, subtasks, dependencies, recurring tasks, custom fields, and sprint planning with velocity tracking.

Sprint lifecycle: planning → active → completed
Custom fields per project (text, number, date, select, checkbox)
Recurring tasks with auto-creation on completion
Section-based task grouping with colors
Bulk operations (move, assign, status change)
Task activity audit trail with cursor pagination

Video Huddles with Recording & Transcription

LiveKit-powered WebRTC huddles with audio, video, screen sharing, and in-huddle chat. Huddles can be recorded to MP4 via LiveKit Egress, transcribed with Deepgram Nova-2 (speaker diarization), and recap emails sent automatically to all participants.

AI meeting summary on huddle end
Deepgram transcription with speaker timestamps
Post-huddle recap emails via Resend
Popup window UI with BroadcastChannel sync

Client Management & Portal

Full client CRM with per-client billing rates, project scoping, and activity tracking. The token-based client portal lets clients view progress, approve deliverables, rate satisfaction, and submit new projects via intake forms — all without needing an account.

Project intake forms with AI task scaffolding (8-15 tasks)
Client satisfaction tracking with 1-5 star ratings
Approval workflows with accept/reject and notes
Configurable portal access with token expiration

Billing, Automations & Integrations

Full Stripe integration with checkout, billing portal, webhook processing, and subscription management. Sales pipeline (proposals + SOWs + invoices with AI drafting), retainer hour allocation, automations engine with 5 triggers and 6 actions, plus GitHub, GitLab, Figma, Google Calendar, Drive, Gmail, and Sheets integrations.

AI-drafted proposals + SOWs + invoices with sequential numbering
Retainer billing with allocated hours and AI time estimation
Automation execution logs with anti-loop protection
Domain-Wide Delegation for Google Workspace teams

Enterprise & Compliance

SSO/SAML and OIDC for enterprise identity. SOC 2 posture with audit logging, security event tracking, and data retention policies. Two-tier Google Workspace model: org Drive + per-user accounts, with admin-once Domain-Wide Delegation that removes per-user OAuth friction.

SSO/SAML + OIDC providers
SOC 2 audit log table + immutable security events
Custom profile fields per client and project (admin-configurable)
Platform admin dashboard for cross-org management

Browser Extensions + Voice AI

Chrome, Firefox, and Safari extensions ship a "Save to Kodokyo" web clipper with dual screenshot modes (Quick Capture + Perfect Capture using rrweb). Voice-first AI: hold-to-speak input across the AI assistant + zero-config daily audio briefings spoken aloud to your team.

Multi-browser extensions: Chrome / Firefox / Safari
Quick + Perfect Capture screenshot modes
Hold-to-speak voice input across AI surfaces
Audio daily briefings via Deepgram TTS pipeline

Technical deep dive

Architecture and infrastructure.

Frontend stack

Next.js 16 with App Router, React 19, and TypeScript. Three isolated route groups (marketing, app, portal) with independent layouts. 10 Zustand stores for state management with zero prop drilling.

shadcn/ui with Radix primitives (new-york style)
Tailwind CSS 4 with OKLCH accent color system
Tiptap 3 rich text editor for Live Documents
Recharts for analytics dashboards
@dnd-kit for drag-and-drop task reordering
cmdk command palette with global keyboard shortcuts

Backend & infrastructure

110+ API endpoints deployed on Vercel serverless functions. Neon PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM for type-safe database access. Cloudflare R2 for S3-compatible object storage with presigned URLs.

Auth.js v5 with JWT sessions and Google OAuth
Ably for all real-time: chat, presence, typing
LiveKit Cloud for WebRTC video huddles + Egress recording
Deepgram Nova-2 for transcription with speaker diarization
Stripe for subscriptions, checkout, billing portal
Resend for transactional email and huddle recap delivery
Centralized permission system with role-based maps
JSONB configs for flexible automation rules

AI architecture

Stream-first architecture using Anthropic Claude with native tool_use across 39 server-side tools. Detects tool_use stop reasons, executes tools server-side (max 5 rounds), then streams the final response. A separate Claude Code MCP server exposes 21 tools.

Tasks: create / update / list / delete / comment / status
Teams: add / remove members, create teams, invite via email
Clients & Projects: create, update, brief, custom fields
Sales pipeline: draft proposals, SOWs, invoices
Drive: create folders, list, search, copy, move, trash
Meetings: analyze recordings, extract action items
Decisions: capture decisions from chat with rationale
MCP server: 21 tools for Claude Code IDE integrations

Database design (83 tables)

Neon PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM. Multi-tenant architecture with organization-scoped data isolation. Key domain areas:

Auth & Users — accounts, sessions, OAuth links
Organizations — members, invites, teams, 4-tier roles, SSO/SAML
Clients & Projects — CRM, budgets, billing rates, custom fields
Tasks — status lifecycle, dependencies, recurrence, sprints
Documents — living documents, version history, AI proposals
Chat — channels, messages, reactions, threads, pins
Huddles — sessions, participants, recordings, transcriptions
Meeting Intelligence — recordings, action items, soundbites
Sales Pipeline — proposals, SOWs, invoices
Retainer Billing — billing items with allocated hours
Decision Engine — formal decision records auto-captured
Audit & Compliance — SOC 2 audit logs, security events

Key features

Twelve feature pillars.

AI Chat Panel

Floating, draggable, resizable AI panel with streaming responses. Context-aware — knows which page, project, client, or team the user is viewing. Persists position and size via localStorage.

Living Documents

Per-project AI-maintained documents with change proposals, version history, and auto-generation from task data. Documentation that never goes stale.

Automations Engine

5 triggers and 6 actions with JSONB configs. Anti-loop protection, execution logging, and custom webhook support for external integrations.

Time Tracking

Live timer widget, manual entries, billable/non-billable flags. Per-client billing rates with project budget tracking and hour caps.

Multi-Tenant Orgs

4-tier role system (Owner, Admin, Member, Guest) with project-level roles. Email invitations with 7-day expiry and guest scoping to specific resources.

Centralized Permissions

Role-to-permission maps replace scattered inline checks. AI tool executors mirror API route permission checks for consistent authorization.

Huddle Recording & Transcription

Record huddles to MP4 via LiveKit Egress. Transcribe with Deepgram Nova-2 speaker diarization. Auto-send recap emails with transcript preview to all participants.

Integrations

GitHub, GitLab, Figma, and Google Calendar integrations. Custom inbound/outbound webhooks with signing secrets for secure automation.

Smart Notifications & Focus Mode

Priority-grouped notifications (Urgent, Important, Earlier) with smart scoring. Focus Mode/DND with configurable durations, countdown timer, and auto-status.

Sprint Planning & Velocity

Time-boxed sprints with planning/active/completed lifecycle, goal tracking, velocity display, dedicated board view with mini kanban columns.

Workload Heatmap

GitHub-style activity heatmap showing task completions and hours tracked per team member. Load indicators with interactive tooltips.

Command Palette & Shortcuts

Universal Cmd+K palette with quick actions, global search, inline task creation, recent items, and theme toggle. Global keyboard shortcuts across all pages.

Results

Five tools, replaced.

5→1

Tools replaced

Slack + Jira + Asana + Float + ClickUp consolidated

AI features

Triage, standups, briefings, decisions, proposals

AI tools (Agent + MCP)

39 Chief-of-Staff + 21 Claude Code MCP

SOC 2

Compliance posture

Audit logs, security events, SSO/SAML, enterprise

For teams

Unified workspace — chat, tasks, docs, video, time tracking in one tab
AI handles task creation, prioritization, and status updates via natural conversation
Auto-generated standup reports with zero manual input — pulls from activity logs
Smart notification grouping (Urgent/Important/Earlier) reduces alert fatigue
Focus Mode with DND and countdown timer prevents context-switching
Cmd+K command palette with global search, quick actions, and keyboard shortcuts
Working hours and timezone settings for distributed team coordination
Sprint planning with velocity tracking and burndown visualizations

For agencies

Client portal with token-based access — no client accounts needed
AI generates 8-15 tasks from client project intake forms automatically
Profitability reporting with revenue vs. cost per client/project
Client satisfaction tracking with 1-5 star ratings and feedback
Team-based pricing scales without per-seat cost anxiety
Full client CRM with per-client billing rates and billing summaries
Huddle recordings with Deepgram transcription and recap emails to clients
Project templates — save and reuse structures across clients

Lessons learned

What we'd tell our past selves.

AI tool-use needs permission mirroring

Every AI tool executor must replicate the same permission checks as the corresponding REST API route. We built a centralized permission system early, which made this straightforward instead of a security nightmare.

Real-time is table stakes, not a feature

Designing for Ably WebSocket channels from day one meant presence, typing indicators, and live updates came naturally. Retrofitting real-time would have been a multi-month project.

Route groups save your sanity

Next.js route groups let us isolate marketing, app, and portal layouts completely. Each has its own auth model, sidebar, and design language — without fighting a single monolithic layout.

Drizzle ORM + Neon = serverless bliss

Type-safe database access with schema push (no migration files in dev) and serverless connection pooling eliminated entire categories of deployment headaches. 83 tables, zero migration drift.

Built with

Technology stack.

Next.js 16.1React 19.2TypeScriptAnthropic ClaudeMCPDrizzle ORMNeon PostgreSQLAblyLiveKitRecall.aiStripeDeepgramResendTailwind CSS 4shadcn/uiTiptap 3rrwebYjsCloudflare R2Auth.js v5SSO/SAML

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