t with batteries

t is a command-line todo list manager for people that want to finish tasks, not organize them. But they also too lazy to type t or even forget to type t -f ID even worst forget something important to do...

Why t with batteries?

Yeah, I know, another command-line todo list manager. Several others already exist (todo.txt and TaskWarrior come to mind), so why make another one?

(And I even forked another one...)

It Does the (almost) Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work

Todo.txt and TaskWarrior are feature-packed. They let you tag tasks, split them into projects, set priorities, order them, color-code them, and much more.

That's the problem.

It's easy to say "I'll just organize my todo list a bit" and spend 15 minutes tagging your tasks. In those 15 minutes you probably could have finished a couple of them.

t was inspired by j. It's simple, messy, has almost no features, and is extremely effective at the one thing it does. With t the only way to make your todo list prettier is to finish some damn tasks.

But a task without a due date just a note

For myself I have to assign some due date to task, so I know what I have to do next. Otherwise I overwhelmed with the never ending task list, so I also want to see my task in that order.

It's Flexible

t's simplicity makes it extremely flexible.

Want to edit a bunch of tasks at once? Open the list in a text editor.

Want to view the lists on a computer that doesn't have t installed? Open the list in a text editor.

Want to synchronize the list across a couple of computers? Keep your task lists in a Dropbox folder.

Want to use it as a distributed bug tracking system like BugsEverywhere? Make the task list a bugs file in the project repository.

It Plays Nice with Version Control

Other systems keep your tasks in a plain text file. This is a good thing, and t follows their lead.

However, some of them append new tasks to the end of the file when you create them. This is not good if you're using a version control system to let more than one person edit a todo list. If two people add a task and then try to merge, they'll get a conflict and have to resolve it manually.

t uses random IDs (actually SHA1 hashes) to order the todo list files. Once the list has a couple of tasks in it, adding more is far less likely to cause a merge conflict because the list is sorted.

Installing t

t requires Python 2.5 or newer, and some form of UNIX-like shell (bash works well). It works on Linux, OS X, and Windows (with Cygwin).

Installing and setting up t will take about one minute.

First, download the newest version or clone the this repository (https://github.com/NeverI/t.git). Put it anywhere you like.

Install some dependency:

pip install dateparser humanize

Next, decide where you want to keep your todo lists. I put mine in ~/tasks. Create that directory:

mkdir ~/tasks

Finally, set up an alias to run t. Put something like this in your ~/.bashrc file:

alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list tasks'

Make sure you run source ~/.bashrc or restart your terminal window to make the alias take effect.

Using t

t is quick and easy to use.

Add a Task

To add a task, use t [task description]:

$ t Clean the apartment.
$ t Write chapter 10 of the novel.
$ t Buy more beer.
$

List Your Tasks

Listing your tasks is even easier -- just use t:

$ t
9  - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the apartment.
31 - Write chapter 10 of the novel.
$

t will list all of your unfinished tasks and their IDs.

Finish a Task

After you're done with something, use t -f ID to finish it:

$ t -f 31
$ t
9  - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the apartment.
$

Edit a Task

Sometimes you might want to change the wording of a task. You can use t -e ID [new description] to do that:

$ t -e 30 Clean the entire apartment.
$ t
9  - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the entire apartment.
$

Yes, nerds, you can use sed-style substitution strings:

$ t -e 9 /more/a lot more/
$ t
9  - Buy a lot more beer.
30 - Clean the entire apartment.
$

Delete the Task List if it's Empty

If you keep your task list in a visible place (like your desktop) you might want it to be deleted if there are no tasks in it. To do this automatically you can use the --delete-if-empty option in your alias:

alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/Desktop --list todo.txt --delete-if-empty'

Installing the batteries

I know I sad this task manager is for lazy people.. But we have to put some work before could sit back and watch our masterpiece.

dmenu for your lazy ass task adding, finishing, editing or even deleteting

dmenu is an universal GUI tool for selecting an item from a list.

Our tasks are happened to be a list of items so dmenu (but I think fzf also could fine in the terminal) is perfect. Just need to apply the print input text patch and ready to go...

But lucky for you I just have one a dmenu here with this (and some more) patch.

Now you have to create a shortcut to taskmenu. In i3 something like this:

bindsym $mod+t exec /path/to/taskmenu ~/tasks todo.txt

After that, simply press $mod+t write your task, press enter and your task is saved.ready to mark to fi...

nah... ready to forget about in your deep task list...

Here comes the dbus notification system to rescue you

I am using dunst which is a lightweight keyboard driven notification daemon. But with a little hacking any notification system could be used. (xcfe4 is almost a drop in replace).

Just add this line to the crontab -e:

*/5 * * * * export DISPLAY=:0 && /path/to/taskdunstify /path/to/tasks todo.txt >/dev/null 2>&1

And you got notification from your overdue tasks at every five minutes.

I lied a little bit... You also have to edit the taskdunstify. You must update the path to you t and I also recommend to check the actions, timeout, urgency and everything else. This is a very flexible solution. Make it yours.

Using the batteries

Let see how easy to manage our tasks

Due dates

The hour has to be started with @ and the dates with =

$ t This work must be done before @13:30                   # for today 13:30
$ t This work for =2020-12-15                              # this will create a due date with 00:00 
$ t This work for a specified datetime =2020-12-08 @09:45

I think it is easy, but there is even more

$ t This need to be done =tomorrow @14:00
$ t This needed for =Friday                # this will be the next Friday
$ t This =next_week                        # notice the '_' char, you have to use instead of a space
$ t This is for =Dec-12

Task orders

The tasks first ordered by ascending due date, then ascending created time.

But sometimes you did not want to assign a due date for the task, but wanted to be in a higher place.

Just toss some A somewhere in the task :)

$ t Its a task @13:40
$ t Its an important task AA
$ t Oh, no its a more important task AAA
$ t Its must be done in the first place AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

# so the order will be
Its a task @13:40
Its must be done in the first place AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Oh, no its a more important task AAA
Its an important task AA

maybe this will change to priority -> dueDate -> created

Taskmenu

Here comes the true lazyness

Add a task

Press your shortcut write something and press the enter

List your task

Press your shortcut

Finish a task

Press your shortcut start to type or use the arrow keys, press tab when you find your task and press enter

Edit a task

Press your shortcut select your task with tab modify the text and press enter

Delete a task

Press your shortcut select your task with tab append DD at the end and press enter

Tips and Tricks

t might be simple, but it can do a lot of interesting things.

Count Your Tasks

Counting your tasks is simple using the wc program:

$ t | wc -l
      2
$

Put Your Task Count in Your Bash Prompt

Want a count of your tasks right in your prompt? Edit your ~/.bashrc file:

export PS1='[$(t | wc -l | sed -e"s/ *//")]'" $PS1"

Now you've got a prompt that looks something like this:

[2] $ t -f 30
[1] $ t Feed the cat.
[2] $

Multiple Lists

t is for people that want to do tasks, not organize them. With that said, sometimes it's useful to be able to have at least one level of organization. To split up your tasks into different lists you can add a few more aliases:

alias g='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list groceries'
alias m='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list music-to-buy'
alias w='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list wines-to-try'

Distributed Bugtracking

Like the idea of distributed bug trackers like BugsEverywhere, but don't want to use such a heavyweight system? You can use t instead.

Add another alias to your ~/.bashrc file:

alias b='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir . --list bugs'

Now when you're in your project directory you can use b to manage the list of bugs/tasks for that project. Add the bugs file to version control and you're all set.

Even people without t installed can view the bug list, because it's plain text.

Problems, Contributions, Etc

t was hacked together in a couple of nights to fit my needs. If you use it and find a bug, please let me know.

If you want to request a feature feel free, but remember that t is meant to be simple. If you need anything beyond the basics you might want to look at todo.txt or TaskWarrior instead. They're great tools with lots of bells and whistles.