Which Zeitlines use cases work without a database?

The Gantt project plan and the Markdown-notes timeline both run from files alone. The product roadmap and the Claude-edited roadmap need Postgres, because both write back.

Can one deployment serve several of these at once?

Yes. A deployment lists every timeline it discovers — file-based and database-backed side by side — and you switch between them in the header. Which plugins each one carries is per timeline, so a pricing roadmap and a plain project plan can live in the same install.

What people plan with Zeitlines

Zeitlines renders one thing — items with dates — but the way you feed it changes what it is good for. These four are the paths the project is built around, and each one names what it needs and what it costs you to set up.

Product roadmap

Run a public or internal product roadmap on your own infrastructure: phases across the top, tracks as lanes, and a versioned pricing matrix that external pages can read straight from the API.

Needs a database →

Gantt project plan

A classic project plan with phases, dependencies and milestones, defined in one JSON file that lives in your repository. No sign-up, no database, no per-seat licence.

Runs without a database →

Timeline from Markdown notes

Point Zeitlines at a folder of Markdown files and it builds a timeline from the dates in their frontmatter. Your notes stay the source of truth; the timeline is a view of them.

Runs without a database →

Roadmap edited by Claude

Zeitlines ships an MCP server, so Claude Code can read a timeline, add items, move dates and maintain the pricing matrix. The changes are live the moment the tool call returns.

Needs a database →

Picking one

The dividing question is whether the timeline is written by hand or edited in the browser. A file-backed timeline is reviewed in a pull request like the rest of your repository, which is the right shape when the plan changes rarely and deliberately. A database-backed timeline is dragged around by several people during a planning session, which needs Postgres and gets optimistic locking, live updates and presence in return.

Nothing forces the choice to be permanent: the file format and the database schema describe the same items, and the importer reads a timeline file straight into the database.

Frequently asked questions

Which Zeitlines use cases work without a database?: The Gantt project plan and the Markdown-notes timeline both run from files alone. The product roadmap and the Claude-edited roadmap need Postgres, because both write back.
Can one deployment serve several of these at once?: Yes. A deployment lists every timeline it discovers — file-based and database-backed side by side — and you switch between them in the header. Which plugins each one carries is per timeline, so a pricing roadmap and a plain project plan can live in the same install.