project-management-integrations

Project Management Integrations for MUI Apps

Gantt charts, Kanban boards, scheduling, and resource management libraries that compose with MUI's theme, layout, and component slots.

MUI X does not ship a native Gantt component (roadmap item, not yet available). Use these libraries for the timeline and MUI for everything around it.

---

Gantt Chart Libraries

SVAR React Gantt — Best Free Option (MIT)

npm install wx-react-gantt

Free MIT core:

• Interactive drag-and-drop task editing on timeline
• Task dependencies (FS, SS, EE, SE)
• Hierarchical/summary tasks with collapsible groups
• Customizable task bars, tooltips, grid columns, time scale
• Multiple zoom levels, keyboard navigation, light/dark themes
• Full TypeScript, React 19 compatible, Vite/Next.js
• 10,000+ task performance

SVAR PRO (~$524/dev perpetual) adds:

• Working-day calendars per project/task/resource
• Baselines (original plan vs current)
• Auto-scheduling (tasks shift when dependencies change)
• Split tasks, undo/redo, rollups, slack visualization
• Export to PDF, PNG, Excel
• Import/export MS Project files

MUI integration:

import { Gantt } from 'wx-react-gantt';
import Paper from '@mui/material/Paper';
import Button from '@mui/material/Button';
import Dialog from '@mui/material/Dialog';

function ProjectGantt({ tasks, links }) {
  const [editTask, setEditTask] = useState(null);

  return (
    <Paper sx={{ height: 600, overflow: 'hidden' }}>
      {/* MUI toolbar above Gantt */}
      <Box sx={{ display: 'flex', gap: 1, p: 1, borderBottom: 1, borderColor: 'divider' }}>
        <Button size="small" onClick={handleZoomIn}>Zoom In</Button>
        <Button size="small" onClick={handleZoomOut}>Zoom Out</Button>
        <DateRangePicker slotProps={{ textField: { size: 'small' } }} />
      </Box>

      {/* Gantt handles timeline rendering */}
      <Gantt
        tasks={tasks}
        links={links}
        onTaskDblClick={(task) => setEditTask(task)}
      />

      {/* MUI Dialog for task editing */}
      <Dialog open={!!editTask} onClose={() => setEditTask(null)} maxWidth="sm" fullWidth>
        <TaskEditForm task={editTask} onSave={handleSave} />
      </Dialog>
    </Paper>
  );
}

DHTMLX React Gantt — Enterprise (Paid)

npm install @dhx/react-gantt

• Renders 30,000+ tasks smoothly
• Auto-scheduling, critical path calculation
• Resource management with histogram (PRO)
• Working time calendars at project/task/resource levels
• Undo/redo with Valtio or Redux
• Official MUI examples in docs using MUI Button, Divider, ButtonGroup, icons
• Standard: free (limited); PRO: ~$699/dev; Team: ~$1,299

Bryntum Gantt — MS Project Feature Parity (Paid)

• MS Project-equivalent scheduling engine (ChronoGraph)
• Critical path with early/late dates, free slack, total slack
• Baselines: any number of snapshots
• Progress line visualization
• Resource assignment column with multi-select picker
• CSS variables align to MUI theme tokens
• ~$680-940/dev perpetual
• SaaS/OEM requires separate license — contact before committing

Syncfusion React Gantt — Free for Small Teams

• Free Community License for <$1M revenue, ≤5 devs, ≤10 employees
• Critical path with enableCriticalPath prop
• Resource view, filtering, split tasks, undo/redo
• Part of 1,900+ component suite
• Export PDF/CSV/Excel

FullCalendar Premium — Resource Scheduling ($480/dev/yr)

• Free MIT: day/week/month calendar, drag-and-drop
• Premium: Resource Timeline (horizontal, Gantt-like), Vertical Resource view
• Best for contractor availability/booking views, not dependency Gantt

---

Feature Comparison Matrix

Feature	SVAR Free	SVAR PRO	DHTMLX PRO	Bryntum	Syncfusion Community
Cost	Free MIT	~$524/dev	~$699/dev	~$680/dev	Free (<$1M)
React native	✓	✓	✓	Wrapper	Wrapper
Drag/drop	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Dependencies	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Critical path	—	—	✓	✓	✓
Baselines	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
Auto-scheduling	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
Resource mgmt	—	—	✓	✓	✓
Working calendars	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
MS Project import	—	✓	—	—	—
Export PDF/Excel	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
Undo/redo	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
MUI theming	✓	✓	✓ documented	✓	CSS vars
SaaS/OEM allowed	✓ MIT	✓	✓	Need OEM	Needs paid
Max tasks	10K+	10K+	30K+	30K+	Large

---

Kanban Board Libraries

dnd-kit — Modern Standard (MIT Free)

npm install @dnd-kit/core @dnd-kit/sortable @dnd-kit/utilities

The successor to react-beautiful-dnd. Community standard for React DnD.

import {
  DndContext,
  DragOverlay,
  closestCorners,
  PointerSensor,
  KeyboardSensor,
  useSensor,
  useSensors,
} from '@dnd-kit/core';
import { SortableContext, verticalListSortingStrategy } from '@dnd-kit/sortable';
import { useSortable } from '@dnd-kit/sortable';
import { CSS } from '@dnd-kit/utilities';
import Paper from '@mui/material/Paper';
import Card from '@mui/material/Card';
import Typography from '@mui/material/Typography';
import Avatar from '@mui/material/Avatar';
import Chip from '@mui/material/Chip';
import Stack from '@mui/material/Stack';

// Sortable card using MUI Card
function KanbanCard({ task }: { task: Task }) {
  const { attributes, listeners, setNodeRef, transform, transition, isDragging } = useSortable({
    id: task.id,
  });

  const style = {
    transform: CSS.Transform.toString(transform),
    transition,
    opacity: isDragging ? 0.5 : 1,
  };

  return (
    <Card
      ref={setNodeRef}
      style={style}
      {...attributes}
      {...listeners}
      sx={{
        p: 1.5, mb: 1, cursor: 'grab',
        '&:hover': { borderColor: 'primary.main', boxShadow: 2 },
        border: '1px solid', borderColor: 'divider', borderRadius: 2,
      }}
    >
      <Typography variant="body2" fontWeight={600}>{task.title}</Typography>
      <Stack direction="row" spacing={1} sx={{ mt: 1 }} alignItems="center">
        <Chip label={task.priority} size="small" color={priorityColor(task.priority)} />
        <Avatar src={task.assignee.avatar} sx={{ width: 24, height: 24 }} />
      </Stack>
    </Card>
  );
}

// Kanban column
function KanbanColumn({ column, tasks }: { column: Column; tasks: Task[] }) {
  return (
    <Paper
      sx={{
        width: 280, minHeight: 400, p: 1, borderRadius: 2,
        bgcolor: 'action.hover',
      }}
    >
      <Stack direction="row" justifyContent="space-between" alignItems="center" sx={{ mb: 1, px: 1 }}>
        <Typography variant="subtitle2">{column.title}</Typography>
        <Chip label={tasks.length} size="small" />
      </Stack>

      <SortableContext items={tasks.map((t) => t.id)} strategy={verticalListSortingStrategy}>
        {tasks.map((task) => (
          <KanbanCard key={task.id} task={task} />
        ))}
      </SortableContext>
    </Paper>
  );
}

// Board with drag between columns
function KanbanBoard({ columns, tasks }: KanbanBoardProps) {
  const sensors = useSensors(
    useSensor(PointerSensor, { activationConstraint: { distance: 8 } }),
    useSensor(KeyboardSensor),
  );

  const [activeId, setActiveId] = useState<string | null>(null);

  return (
    <DndContext
      sensors={sensors}
      collisionDetection={closestCorners}
      onDragStart={({ active }) => setActiveId(active.id as string)}
      onDragEnd={handleDragEnd}
      onDragOver={handleDragOver}
    >
      <Stack direction="row" spacing={2} sx={{ overflowX: 'auto', p: 2 }}>
        {columns.map((col) => (
          <KanbanColumn
            key={col.id}
            column={col}
            tasks={tasks.filter((t) => t.columnId === col.id)}
          />
        ))}
      </Stack>

      {/* Ghost clone while dragging */}
      <DragOverlay>
        {activeId && (
          <Card sx={{ p: 1.5, boxShadow: 8, borderRadius: 2, opacity: 0.9 }}>
            <Typography variant="body2">{findTask(activeId)?.title}</Typography>
          </Card>
        )}
      </DragOverlay>
    </DndContext>
  );
}

Pattern: Intercept onDragEnd to call ASP.NET Core PATCH endpoint for column/order change. Use DragOverlay with MUI elevation for smooth animated ghost.

react-mui-scheduler — MUI-Native Calendar (MIT Free)

npm install react-mui-scheduler

• Month/week/day/timeline views built on @mui/material
• Event grouping by resource
• Search bar, date picker, view switcher in toolbar
• Localization: 8 languages
• Best for appointment/availability calendars (contractor scheduling, event booking)

Pragmatic Drag and Drop (Atlassian) — MIT Free

npm install @atlaskit/pragmatic-drag-and-drop

• Powers Jira and Trello's drag-and-drop
• Lower-level API than dnd-kit, purpose-built for production kanban at scale
• MIT open-source since 2024

---

Recommended Stack by Use Case

Use Case	Library	License
Contractor project timeline (internal)	SVAR Gantt Free	MIT
Full MS Project-equivalent Gantt in SaaS	Bryntum OEM or DHTMLX PRO	Paid
Free Gantt for early SaaS <$1M revenue	Syncfusion Community	Free
Resource booking / availability calendar	FullCalendar Premium + MUI	$480/yr
Kanban task board (Jira-style)	dnd-kit + MUI Cards	MIT
Contractor appointment scheduler	react-mui-scheduler	MIT
Flexible timeline (bookings, media)	gantt-schedule-timeline-calendar	Freemium

---

Architecture: Gantt + MUI DataGrid Sidebar

The most powerful project management UI combines a Gantt timeline with a companion DataGrid.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  MUI AppBar Toolbar                                     │
│  [Zoom In] [Zoom Out] [View: Gantt|Kanban|Calendar]     │
│  [DateRangePicker]                              [Export] │
├───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┤
│  MUI X DataGrid       │  Gantt Timeline (SVAR/DHTMLX)   │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  │  ┌─────────────────────────────┐│
│  │ Task | Status    │  │  │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░  Project Alpha   ││
│  │ Alpha| ● Active  │◄─┼──│ ▓▓▓▓░░░░░  Task 1          ││
│  │ Beta | ○ Draft   │  │  │   ▓▓▓▓▓░░  Task 2  ──────►││
│  │ Gamma| ● Active  │  │  │       ▓▓▓  Task 3          ││
│  └─────────────────┘  │  └─────────────────────────────┘│
├───────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┤
│  MUI Drawer (right) — Task Detail Form                  │
│  [RHF Form] [Resource Autocomplete] [Time Entry Grid]   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Implementation:

1. Left panel: MUI X DataGrid with status chips, assignee avatars, priority bars
2. Right panel: Gantt timeline synchronized to DataGrid selection
3. Sync: Click DataGrid row → scroll Gantt to task; click Gantt bar → select DataGrid row
4. Detail drawer: MUI Drawer with RHF form, resource Autocomplete, sub-DataGrid of time entries
5. Toolbar: MUI GridToolbarContainer with zoom controls, view switches, DateRangePicker

function ProjectManagementView({ tasks, links }) {
  const [selectedTaskId, setSelectedTaskId] = useState<string | null>(null);
  const [drawerOpen, setDrawerOpen] = useState(false);
  const ganttRef = useRef<GanttAPI>(null);
  const gridApiRef = useGridApiRef();

  // Sync: DataGrid row click → Gantt scroll
  const handleGridRowClick = useCallback((params: GridRowParams) => {
    setSelectedTaskId(params.id as string);
    ganttRef.current?.scrollToTask(params.id);
  }, []);

  // Sync: Gantt bar click → DataGrid selection
  const handleGanttTaskClick = useCallback((task: Task) => {
    setSelectedTaskId(task.id);
    gridApiRef.current?.selectRow(task.id);
    gridApiRef.current?.scrollToIndexes({ rowIndex: findRowIndex(task.id) });
  }, []);

  return (
    <Box sx={{ display: 'flex', height: 'calc(100vh - 64px)' }}>
      {/* Left: DataGrid */}
      <Box sx={{ width: 400, borderRight: 1, borderColor: 'divider' }}>
        <DataGrid
          apiRef={gridApiRef}
          rows={tasks}
          columns={taskColumns}
          onRowClick={handleGridRowClick}
          rowSelectionModel={selectedTaskId ? [selectedTaskId] : []}
        />
      </Box>

      {/* Right: Gantt */}
      <Box sx={{ flex: 1 }}>
        <Gantt
          ref={ganttRef}
          tasks={tasks}
          links={links}
          onTaskClick={handleGanttTaskClick}
          onTaskDblClick={(task) => { setSelectedTaskId(task.id); setDrawerOpen(true); }}
        />
      </Box>

      {/* Detail Drawer */}
      <Drawer
        anchor="right"
        open={drawerOpen}
        onClose={() => setDrawerOpen(false)}
        PaperProps={{ sx: { width: 480 } }}
      >
        {selectedTaskId && (
          <TaskDetailForm
            taskId={selectedTaskId}
            onSave={() => { refetchTasks(); setDrawerOpen(false); }}
          />
        )}
      </Drawer>
    </Box>
  );
}

The Gantt library handles only timeline rendering and dependency logic. MUI handles all surrounding UI — dialogs, forms, notifications, navigation, theming, and data tables. Result: unified, branded experience matching your design system.