task(1)

NAME

task - A command line todo manager.

SYNOPSIS

task [subcommand] [args]

DESCRIPTION

Task is a command line todo list manager. It maintains a list of tasks that you want to do, allowing you to add/remove, and otherwise manipulate them. Task has a rich list of subcommands that allow you to do various things with it.

At the core, task is a list processing program. You add text and additional related parameters and task redisplays the information in a nice way. It turns into a todo list program when you add due dates and recurrence. It turns into an organized todo list program when you add priorities, tags (one word descriptors), project groups, etc. Task turns into an organized to do list program when you modify the configuration file to have the output displayed the way you want to see it.

SUBCOMMANDS

add [tags] [attrs] description: Adds a new task to the task list.
log [tags] [attrs] description: Adds a new task that is already completed, to the task list.
annotate ID description: Adds an annotation to an existing task.
denotate ID description: Deletes an annotation for the specified task. If the provided description matches an annotation exactly, the corresponding annotation is deleted. If the provided description matches annotations partly, the first partly matched annotation is deleted.
info ID: Shows all data and metadata for the specified task.
ID With an ID but no specific command, task runs the "info" com: mand.
undo Reverts the most recent action.
shell Launches an interactive shell with all the task commands avail: able.
duplicate ID [tags] [attrs] [description]: Duplicates the specified task and allows modifications.
delete ID: Deletes the specified task from task list.
start ID: Marks the specified task as started.
stop ID: Removes the start time from the specified task.
done ID [tags] [attrs] [description]: Marks the specified task as done.
projects: Lists all project names that are currently used by pending tasks, and the number of tasks for each.
tags Show a list of all tags used.
summary: Shows a report of task status by project.
timesheet [weeks]: Shows a weekly report of tasks completed and started.
history: Shows a report of task history by month. Alias to history.monthly.
history.annual: Shows a report of task history by year.
ghistory: Shows a graphical report of task status by month. Alias to ghistory.monthly.
ghistory.annual: Shows a graphical report of task status by year.
calendar [ y | due [y] | month year [y] | year ]: Shows a monthly calendar with due tasks marked.
stats Shows task database statistics.
import file: Imports tasks from a variety of formats.
export Exports all tasks in CSV format. This command is an alias to: the export.csv command. Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.
export.ical: Exports all tasks in iCalendar format. Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.
color [sample]: Displays all possible colors, or a sample.
version: Shows the task version number
help Shows the long usage text.
show [all | substring]": Shows all the current settings in the task configuration file. If a substring is specified just the settings containing that substring will be displayed.
config [name [value | '']]: Add, modify and remove settings directly in the task configuration. This command either modifies the 'name' setting with a new value of 'value', or adds a new entry that is equivalent to 'name=value':

task config name value; This command sets a blank value. This has the effect of suppressing any default value:

task config name ''; Finally, this command removes any 'name=...' entry from the .taskrc file:

task config name

MODIFYING SUBCOMMANDS

ID [tags] [attrs] [description]: Modifies the existing task with provided information.
ID /from/to/: Performs one substitution on task description and annotation for fixing mistakes.
ID /from/to/g: Performs all substitutions on task description and annotation for fixing mistakes.
edit ID: Launches an editor to let you modify all aspects of a task directly. Use carefully.
append [tags] [attrs] description: Appends information to an existing task.
prepend [tags] [attrs] description: Prepends information to an existing task.

REPORT SUBCOMMANDS

A report is a listing of information from the task database. There are several reports currently predefined in task. The output and sort behavior of these reports can be configured in the configuration file. See also the man page taskrc(5).

active [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria that are started but not completed.
all [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria.
completed [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria that are completed.
minimal [tags] [attrs] [description]: Provides a minimal listing of tasks with specified criteria.
ls [tags] [attrs] [description]: Provides a short listing of tasks with specified criteria.
list [tags] [attrs] [description]: Provides a more detailed listing of tasks with specified criteria.
long [tags] [attrs] [description]: Provides the most detailed listing of tasks with specified criteria.
newest [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows the newest tasks with specified criteria.
oldest [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows the oldest tasks with specified criteria
overdue [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all incomplete tasks matching the specified criteria that are beyond their due date.
recurring [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all recurring tasks matching the specified criteria.
waiting [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all waiting tasks matching the specified criteria.
next [tags] [attrs] [description]: Shows all tasks with upcoming due dates matching the specified criteria.

ATTRIBUTES AND METADATA

ID Tasks can be specified uniquely by IDs, which are simply the: index of the task in a report. Be careful, as the IDs of tasks may change after a modification to the database. Always run a report to check you have the right ID for a task. IDs can be given to task as a sequences, for example,
task del 1,4-10,19
+tag|-tag: Tags are arbitrary words associated with a task. Use + to add a tag and - to remove a tag from a task. A task can have any quantity of tags
project:<project-name>: Specifies the project to which a task is related to.
priority:H|M|L|N: Specifies High, Medium, Low and No priority for a task.
due:<due-date>: Specifies the due-date of a task.
recur:<frequency>: Specifies the frequency of a recurrence of a task.
until:<end-date-of-recurrence>: Specifies the Recurrence end-date of a task.
fg:<color-spec>: Specifies foreground color.
bg:<color-spec>: Specifies background color.
limit:<number-of-rows>: Specifies the desired number of tasks a report should show, if a positive integer is given. The value 'page' may also be used, and will limit the report output to as many lines of text as will fit on screen. This defaults to 25 lines, if ncurses is not installed or enabled.
wait:<wait-date>: Date until task becomes pending.

ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS

Attribute modifiers improve filters. Supported modifiers are:: before (synonyms under, below) after (synonyms over, above) none
any
is (synonym equals)
isnt (synonym not)
has (synonym contain)
hasnt
startswith (synonym left) endswith (synonym right) word
noword
For example:: task list due.before:eom priority.not:L

SPECIFYING DATES AND FREQUENCIES

DATES: Task reads dates from the command line and displays dates in the reports. The expected and desired date format is determined by the configuration variable dateformat in the task configuration file.

Exact specification
task ... due:7/14/2008

Relative wording

task ... due:today
task ... due:yesterday
task ... due:tomorrow

Day number with ordinal

task ... due:23rd

End of week (Friday), month and year

task ... due:eow
task ... due:eom
task ... due:eoy

Next occurring weekday

task ... due:fri
FREQUENCIES: Recurrence periods. Task supports several ways of specifying the frequency of recurring tasks.

daily, day, 1d, 2d, ...
Every day or a number of days.

weekdays

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and skipping weekend days.

weekly, 1w, 2w, ...

Every week or a number of weeks.

biweekly, fortnight

Every two weeks.

quarterly, 1q, 2q, ...

Every three months, a quarter, or a number of quarters.

semiannual

Every six months.

annual, yearly, 1y, 2y, ...

Every year or a number of years.

biannual, biyearly, 2y

Every two years.

COMMAND ABBREVIATION

All task commands may be abbreviated as long as a unique prefix is used. E.g.: $ task li
is an unambiguous abbreviation for: $ task list
but: $ task l
could be list, ls or long.

SPECIFYING DESCRIPTIONS

Some task descriptions need to be escaped because of the shell and the special meaning of some characters to the shell. This can be done either by adding quotes to the description or escaping the special character:: $ task add "quoted ' quote"
$ task add escaped \' quote
The argument -- (a double dash) tells task to treat all other args as description:: $ task add -- project:Home needs scheduling

CONFIGURATION FILE AND OVERRIDE OPTIONS

Task stores its configuration in a file in the user's home directory: ~/.taskrc . The default configuration file can be overridden with

task rc:<path-to-alternate-file>: Specifies an alternate configuration file.
task rc.<name>:<value> ...: Specifies individual configuration file overrides.

EXAMPLES

For examples please see the task tutorial man page at: man task-tutorial
or the online documentation starting at: <http://taskwarrior.org/wiki/taskwarrior/Simple>

FILES

~/.taskrc User configuration file - see also taskrc(5).

~/.task The default directory where task stores its data files. The location: can be configured in the configuration file.
~/.task/pending.data The file that contains the tasks that are not yet done.
~/.task/completed.data The file that contains the completed "done" tasks.
~/.task/undo.data The file that contains the information to the "undo" command.

CREDITS & COPYRIGHTS

This man page was originally written by P.C. Shyamshankar, and has been modified and supplemented by Federico Hernandez.

Thank also to T. Charles Yun.

task is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.txt for more information.

REPORTING BUGS

Bugs in task may be reported to the issue-tracker at: <http://taskwarrior.org>

docs.sk

comprehensive documentation repository

See also