todotxt-mode README

"todotxt-mode" is an extension for working with todo.txt formatted files. It includes formatting of the different task "axes": priority, project and context, as well as a number of commands for automating and simplifying useful tasks and common workflows.

This extension was inspired by the todo-txt VS Code extension and borrows some ideas and features from it, but takes it in a direction to make it easier to implement a GTD-like process using todo.txt-formatted files.

Features

Highlighting

The extension uses decorators to highlight tags of task items.

• Syntax highlighting of task priority ((A)), creation date, context (@label) and project (+label) tags
• Priority format can vary among A, B and C-Z levels
• Syntax higlighting of metadata tags (key:value1)
• Additional formatting for due:YYYY-MM-DD date for past, present and future dates

Task Management

Commands that help manage the task list include

• Mark tasks as complete
• Sort tasks by project, priority, context, creation date, due date or metadata tag
• Stable sort so tasks without the sort key are not affected
• Reformat task tags to a consistent sequence

File Workflow Commands

There are a number of commands in the extension to support a GTD-like workflow.

• Move tasks from any file to the main Todo file (used when processing the Inbox file)
• Move tasks to the Waiting file
• Move tasks to the Someday file
• Move completed tasks to the Archive file

Todo.txt enhancements

The extension also includes a few enhancements that, while not part of the todo.txt spec, can be useful.

• Optional delimiter to break file into tasks section and notes section
• Save selection to a note and add to a task as a note:<file> metadata tag, with preview

• Highlight a section of a Markdown file that contains tasks

Extension Settings

Commands

Command	Description
todotxt-mode.toggleCompletion	Toggle a task as complete
todotxt-mode.sortByContext	Sort all/selected tasks by context - @label
todotxt-mode.sortByPriority	Sort all/selected tasks by priority - (A)
todotxt-mode.sortByProject	Sort all/selected tasks by project - +label
todotxt-mode.sortByTag	Sort all/selected tasks by metadata tag - key:value
todotxt-mode.sortByCreationDate	Sort all/selected tasks by creation date
todotxt-mode.sortByDueDate	Sort all/selected tasks by due date - due:YYYY-MM-DD
todotxt-mode.formatTasks	Format tasks with all tags in consistent order at end of the line
todotxt-mode.archiveTasks	Move completed tasks to the Done file
todotxt-mode.moveTasksToTodo	Move selected tasks to the Todo file
todotxt-mode.moveTasksToWaiting	Move selected tasks to the Waiting file
todotxt-mode.moveTasksToSomeday	Move selected tasks to the Someday file
todotxt-mode.moveTasksToProject	Move selected tasks to a Markdown project file
todotxt-mode.createTaskNote	Create a Markdown note file from the selected note text
todotxt-mode.incrementPriority	Increment priority of selected tasks
todotxt-mode.decrementPriority	Decrement priority of selected tasks
todotxt-mode.removePriorities	Remove all priorities from tasks

Styles

Setting	Description	Default
todotxtmode.contextStyle.light.color	Color of context field in light mode	rgb(40, 161, 86)
todotxtmode.contextStyle.dark.color	Color of context field in dark mode	rgb(40, 161, 86)
todotxtmode.highPriorityStyle.light.color	Color of high priority field in light mode	rgb(240, 226, 25)
todotxtmode.highPriorityStyle.dark.color	Color of high priority field in dark mode	rgb(240, 226, 25)
todotxtmode.mediumPriorityStyle.light.color	Color of medium priority field in light mode	rgb(201, 189, 22)
todotxtmode.mediumPriorityStyle.dark.color	Color of medium priority field in dark mode	rgb(201, 189, 22)
todotxtmode.lowPriorityStyle.light.color	Color of low priority field in light mode	rgb(170, 160, 21)
todotxtmode.lowPriorityStyle.dark.color	Color of low priority field in dark mode	rgb(170, 160, 21)
todotxtmode.projectStyle.light.color	Color of project field in light mode	rgb(25, 172, 230)
todotxtmode.projectStyle.dark.color	Color of project field in dark mode	rgb(25, 172, 230)
todotxtmode.tagStyle.light.color	Color of tag field in light mode	rgb(179, 58, 172)
todotxtmode.tagStyle.dark.color	Color of tag field in dark mode	rgb(179, 58, 172)
todotxtmode.creationDateStyle.light.color	Color of creation date field in light mode	rgb(200, 130, 0)
todotxtmode.creationDateStyle.dark.color	Color of creation date field in light mode	rgb(200, 130, 0)
todotxtmode.pastDateStyle.light.color	Color of past due date field in light mode	rgb(177, 58, 28)
todotxtmode.pastDateStyle.dark.color	Color of past due date field in dark mode	rgb(177, 58, 28)
todotxtmode.presentDateStyle.light.color	Color of present due date field in light mode	rgb(219, 216, 26)
todotxtmode.presentDateStyle.dark.color	Color of present due date field in dark mode	rgb(219, 216, 26)
todotxtmode.futureDateStyle.light.color	Color of future due date field in light mode	rgb(118, 194, 31)
todotxtmode.futureDateStyle.dark.color	Color of future due date field in dark mode	rgb(118, 194, 31)
todotxtmode.completedStyle.textDecoration	Text decoration for completed tasks	line-through
todotxtmode.completedStyle.opacity	Opacity for completed tasks	0.5

Files

There are a few special files identifed for certain commands

Setting	Description	Default
todotxtmode.todoFilename	Name of main todo text file	todo.txt
todotxtmode.doneFilename	Name of archive file for completed tasks	done.txt
todotxtmode.somedayFilename	Name of file for someday/maybe tasks	someday.txt
todotxtmode.waitingFilename	Name of file for waiting tasks	waiting.txt

Keybindings

The extension ships with only one keybinding assigned but any of the commands can be bound to keyboard shortcuts in the usual manner with VS Code.

Command	Default Keybinding
extension.toggleCompletion	ctrl+shift+x
extension.incrementPriority	ctrl+shift+a
extension.decrementPriority	ctrl+shift+z

Other Settings

The remaining settings define various behavior of the extension including which files should have this extension activate.

Setting	Descripiton	Default
todotxtmode.sortCompletedTasksToEnd	Alwasy place completed tasks at end of list when sorting	true
todotxtmode.sectionDelimiterPattern	Regex pattern to delimit todo tasks section from other parts of the file	^--$
todotxtmode.todoFilePattern	Regex pattern of filenames to apply todotxt-mode commands	^.*\\.txt$
todotxtmode.excludeDecorationsFilePattern	Regex pattern of filenames to exclude todotxt-mode decorations	^done\\.txt$
todotxtmode.markdownFilePattern	Regex pattern of Markdown filenames to apply todotxt-mode commands using markdownDecorationBeginPattern and markdownDecorationEndPattern	^.*\.(md|markdown)$
todotxtmode.markdownDecorationBeginPattern	Regex pattern of range in Markdown files to decorate	^#+\\s+Tasks\\s*$
todotxtmode.markdownDecorationEndPattern	Regex pattern of range in Markdown files to decorate	^$
todotxtmode.removePriorityFromCompletedTasks	Remove the priority tag from completed tasks	false
todotxtmode.noteFilenameFormat	Format for new note filenames. Can contain strftime-style format specifiers. The string '[Todo]', if used, will be selected.	[Todo]-Note-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.md
todotxtmode.replaceNoteTextWithNoteTag	Automatically replace note text with the note tag when creating a note for a task	false
todotxtmode.addCreatedAt	Add the creation date when creating a task	false

Release Notes

See CHANGELOG