Frequently asked questions
Answers about shadow-planner — pricing, the free tier, where your data is stored, which AI providers work, platforms, and how scenarios, snapshots and the planning agent fit together.
Pricing
Is shadow-planner free?
Yes. Install it from the Microsoft Store, the Snap Store or as a macOS download and use it immediately — no account, no trial period. The free tier allows 1 scenario, 3 projects and 3 employees, and every feature (Gantt, resource utilisation, portfolio, AI assistant, planning agent, snapshots, import/export) is fully available within those limits.
What does the €4,99 purchase include?
A perpetual license that removes the free-tier limits: unlimited scenarios, projects and employees. You pay once, via Stripe Checkout from inside the app. There is no subscription, no renewal and no re-verification — the license never expires.
I was on the old €3/month subscription. What happens to me?
Your subscription was converted to a lifetime license automatically with version 2.0, at no cost. You won't be charged again and nothing changes in the app.
What happens to my data if I never upgrade?
Nothing. Data is never deleted or locked. If you exceed a limit (for example by importing a scenario with more than 3 projects), existing records stay fully visible and editable; you just can't add more until you upgrade.
Data and privacy
Where is my data stored?
Entirely on your machine. shadow-planner runs a local server on 127.0.0.1 and keeps everything in a SQLite database file in your user profile. There is no cloud sync, no remote backup and no telemetry.
Does any data leave my computer?
Only in two cases, both under your control: the one-time Stripe checkout if you upgrade, and requests to a cloud AI provider if you chose one (Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter). In that case only the chat messages and planning briefs you type are sent — never the database. With the default local provider (Ollama) nothing is sent at all.
Is there an audit trail?
Yes. Every write to the database — whether you made it in the UI or the AI assistant did — is recorded in a human-readable audit log with the actor and the change. Each entity also has a History drawer.
AI
Which AI providers are supported?
Four: Ollama (local, default), Anthropic Claude, OpenAI and OpenRouter (one key for hundreds of models). You pick one in the first-run wizard or in Settings, enter a key if the provider needs one, choose a model and test the connection. You can switch at any time.
Do I need an API key?
Not for Ollama — install it, pull a model, and it's free and offline. Cloud providers need your own API key, which the app uses directly from your machine.
Can the AI break my plan?
It's designed not to. Destructive operations (deletes, bulk updates) and date-shift cascades pause with a preview so you can approve or decline before anything is written. The planning agent produces a draft you review; nothing is saved until you click Materialise. And everything is in the audit log.
What is the Planning Agent?
An AI feature that turns a plain-text or Markdown brief into a full plan structure — epics, tasks with dates, dependencies and assignments — for you to review and materialise. See the walkthrough.
Planning features
What is a scenario?
A self-contained planning workspace. All projects, employees, tasks and allocations live inside a scenario. Keep a baseline and experiment in separate scenarios without touching it. A default scenario is created for you on first launch; the free tier has one, the paid tier unlimited.
What are snapshots and templates?
A snapshot is a read-only point-in-time copy of a scenario — take one before a big replanning session so you can compare later. A template is a reusable scenario structure you can bootstrap new scenarios from in seconds.
Which file formats can I import and export?
Import employees from Excel (.xlsx), allocations and actuals from CSV, and whole scenarios from JSON. Export any scenario to JSON, Excel or CSV.
How does resource utilisation work?
Each employee has a capacity (hours per day) and a daily rate. The utilisation view compares capacity against allocations across all projects week by week, highlights over-capacity, lets you adjust with sliders, and rolls up cost automatically.
Platforms
Which platforms are supported?
Windows 10/11 (Microsoft Store), Linux (Snap Store) and macOS on Apple Silicon (direct .dmg download). Store installs update automatically.
Does it work offline?
Yes — fully, including the AI when you use a local model. See offline project planner.
Can several people edit the same plan?
Not at the same time. shadow-planner is a single-user desktop app. Share plans with others via export (Excel, CSV, JSON) or snapshots.
How do I switch between dark and light mode?
The app follows your operating system's appearance setting and updates instantly.
Support
How do I get help or report a bug?
Use the contact form on the home page or open an issue on GitHub.