.TH task-tutorial 5 2010-10-07 "task 1.9.3" "User Manuals" .SH NAME task-tutorial \- A tutorial for the task(1) command line todo manager. .SH DESCRIPTION This tutorial contains a narrative and a series of commands that lead you through different scenarios and illustrate the capabiliries of taskwarrior. We will begin with basic usage, and progress to the more powerful features. It is recommended that you work through these examples alongside this tutorial. Taskwarrior has many features and you will probably not use them all, but there are likely to be several capabilities that work well with your style of managing tasks. Everyone has different usage patterns. .SH BASIC USAGE Let's get started. We're planning a party, and there is a lot of work to do, so let's capture these tasks, by using the 'add' command. .br .RS $ task add Select a free weekend in November .br $ task add Select and book a venue .br $ task add Come up with a guest list .br $ task add Mail invitations .br $ task add Select a caterer .RE The '$' prompt shows that these are commands that you type (don't include the $ symbol yourself), and lines without the prompt are those displayed by taskwarrior. Let's take a look at our tasks so far. .br .RS $ task list .RE Now I've already ordered a cake, so rather than 'add' this, I'm going to 'log' it. This just means that I want to keep track of the task, but I've already done it. It saves me a step. .br .RS $ task log Order a special cake .RE As for those invitations, I'm going to need to design them first. And I'm also going to need print them. Here we are duplicating a task and making a substitution. Notice how the commands can be abbreviated, provided they are still unique. .br .RS $ task 4 duplicate /Mail/Design/ .br $ task 4 dup /Mail/Print/ .br $ task list .RE That looks good - but now I think of it, I already have my guest list, so I can mark that one as done. $ task 3 done $ task list And that's basic usage, and you already know enough to be productive using taskwarrior. If you stopped here, you would be perfectly able to manage your task list. But if you want to see what it can really do, keep reading... .SH PROJECTS Remember to pay the rent at the end of the month. $ task add Pay teh rent on teh 31st Oh, that was sloppy, but it can be fixed with a global substitution. $ task 7 /teh/teh/g $ task list We can now use projects to separate home chores from the party preparation. Let's assign that last task to the 'home' project. Note that a task may only belong to one project. $ task 7 project:home And we will put those first six tasks in the 'party' project. See how we specify a range of tasks? Taskwarrior will want to confirm bulk changes like this, but we'll accept all changes here. $ task 1-6 project:party Now that we have multiple projects, as shown here, we can use project as a filter for the list report. You can see again that we can abbreviate 'list' and 'project', but when we abbreviate 'party', we are filtering all the projects that begin with 'par'. $ task projects $ task list project:home $ task li pro:par .SH PRIORITIES Priorities are another way to organize tasks. You can use priority values of high, medium and low, and taskwarrior knows these as H, M or L. $ task 1-3,5 priority:H $ task list You can remove priorities by specifying a blank value. $ task 3 pri: .SH TAGS A task may only have one project, but it may have any number of tags, which are just single words associated with the task. $ task list I can go to the print shop at the mall, and do all the invitation tasks, so let's tag them all. $ task 3,5,6 +mall The long report shows tags, too, $ task long and I can use tags as a filter to any report too. $ task list +mall I made a mistake - I can't mail out the invitations at the mall, so let's remove that tag. $ task 3 -mall .SH MODIFICATIONS Task 7 is not worded correctly, so I can modify that by specifying a task ID and a new description. This is also considered a bulk change, and so requires confirmation. $ task 7 Pay rent at the end of the month We'll need music. I can prepend to that. I can append to that. $ task add music $ task 8 prepend Select some $ task 8 append for after dinner $ task list I can also go straight into an editor and modify anything. $ task edit Sometimes the command will confuse the shell. In this case, what would happen if there was a file named 'bands' in the current directory? $ task add Hire a band? The shell would expand that wildcard, so to avoid that, you can escape the wildcard, or quote the whole description. $ task add Hire a band\\? $ task add "Hire a band?" You can also use the minus minus operator which tells taskwarrior to stop being clever and interpret the rest of the arguments as a task description. Otherwise, that +dj would be interpreted as a tag. $ task add -- Hire a band\\? +dj We don't need a band, so the easiest way to get rid of that task is to undo the last change. Taskwarrior has a complete undo stack, so you can undo all the way back to the beginning. $ task undo The undo operation gets rid of the task completely, but I could also have just deleted the task, then the deletion itself would be tracked, and also undo-able. $ task 1 delete $ task undo .SH INFO During that undo operation, taskwarrior displayed metadata that is associated with the task. You can display this with the info command, and its shortcut. $ task 1 info $ task 1 There are also statistics that taskwarrior gathers, which I can display. $ task stats .SH ANNOTATIONS Annotations are little notes that can be added to a task. There can be any number, and each has a time stamp. $ task 1 annotate the 12th looks good $ task 1 annotate or the 13th $ task list You can choose to display annotations in different ways. $ task list rc.annotations:full $ task list rc.annotations:sparse $ task list rc.annotations:none Annotations can be removed by providing a matching pattern. $ task 1 denotate 13th $ task list .SH CONFIGURATION There is a 'show' command, that is used to display the active configuration. There are hundreds of settings that can be changed, and every one has a sensible default. $ task show If you want a complete list of all the settings and their meanings, read the man page. $ man taskrc The 'config' command is used to modify the settings, and in this case the configuration variable 'answer' is given the value of forty-two. $ task config answer forty-two The 'show' command indicates that the value was changed, and also that the variable is unrecognized. The show command performs a detailed check on your configuration, and alerts you to several kinds of problem. The config command can also remove a value. $ task show answer $ task config answer A very powerful feature is the ability to override the configuration variables temporarily. Here I am requesting an ascending sort on the description field only. $ task rc.report.list.sort=description+ list .SH DEFAULTS There is a default command, which can be set to anything, in this case it is set to the 'list' report. Then running taskwarrior with no command name runs the default command. $ task config default.command list $ task I can also specify a default priority and project, which means that any tasks added will use them, unless an alternative is provided. $ task config default.priority H $ task config default.project Work $ task add New task $ task list Let's just revert those changes, to clean up. $ task undo $ task config default.priority $ task config default.project .SH ALIASES You can create aliases to effectively rename commands. $ task config alias.zzz list $ task zzz You can abbreviate those, too. $ task z .SH COLOR All the examples so far have been shown with color turned off. How about some color? $ task config color on $ task list What you see is the result of a set of color rules being applied to the tasks. There is a hierarchy of color rules that colorize a task based on the metadata Here is an example of an explicit override to the color rules where a specific task is given a red background. $ task 1 bg:on_red $ task list $ task 1 bg: Taskwarrior supports 256 colors on certain terminal emulators, and this shows the range of colors available. $ task color This is how to show a color sample. $ task color white on red Or samples of all the active color settings. $ task color legend Themes are a simple way to use coordinated color schemes so by including a color theme into the configuration file, you can see some striking effects. For a blue theme, add this line to your .taskrc file: include /usr/local/share/doc/task/rc/dark-blue-256.theme For a red theme: include /usr/local/share/doc/task/rc/dark-red-256.theme For a general dark theme: include /usr/local/share/doc/task/rc/dark-256.theme Here is a color rule that specifies a dark blue background for all tasks that are part of the 'party' project, and uses bold to identify any tasks with the keyword 'invitations' in the description. $ task "rc.color.project.party=on rgb001" rc.color.keyword.invit=bold list There is a man page with a writeup of all the color capabilities. $ man task-color .SH ACTIVE TASKS I'm selecting a venue, so let's indicate that task 2 is active by starting it. See how active tasks are affected by the color rules. $ task 2 start $ task list There is an active report that shows only active tasks, and you can mark any active task as inactive, by stopping it. $ task active $ task 2 stop .SH DUE DATES Due dates can be specified as dates, durations into the future or past, by mnemonic, ordinal of day of week. Some of these dates are in the past, so now you see there are overdue tasks. Due dates have different colors for due, imminent, today and overdue values. $ task 1 due:7/31/2010 $ task 1 due:2wks $ task 1 due:-2wks $ task 1 due:eom $ task 2 due:8th $ task 2 due:sunday $ task 5 due:eow You can also choose the format - for input and output. $ task rc.dateformat.report:Y-M-DTH:N:SZ list .SH CALENDAR When tasks have due dates, you can see them on the calendar. $ task calendar Taskwarrior provides sample holiday files. You can create your own, or use one of the samples to show holidays on the calendar. Try adding this line to your ~/.taskrc file: include /usr/local/share/doc/task/rc/holidays-US.rc Then: $ task calendar You can see the whole year, see due tasks as well, and see the holidays: $ task cal 2010 $ task rc.calendar.details:full cal $ task rc.calendar.holidays:full cal .SH RECURRENCE Remember the task we added to pay the rent? We're going to need to do that every month. Recurring tasks allow us to set up a single task that keeps coming back, just as you'd expect. $ task 7 info $ task 7 due:eom recur:monthly $ task 7 You can also limit the extent of the recurrence. Let's make sure the task doesn't recur after the lease ends. $ task 7 until:eoy And there is a recurring report that shows you only the recurring tasks. $ task recurring To illustrate a point, let's set up a recurring annual task as a reminder to pay taxes, and put the due date in the past. This will cause task to fill in the gaps, and create a series of severely overdue tasks. $ task add Pay taxes due:4/15/2007 recur:yearly $ task long Deletions to recurring tasks can be escalated to include all the recurrences of a task. $ task 11 delete # y y $ task list .SH SHELL You can use the shell command to create a more immersive environment. Any task command you run outside the shell can also be run inside the shell, without the need to prefix every command with "task". $ task shell task> projects task> tags task> list task> quit .SH SPECIAL TAGS You've seen tags, but there are also 'special tags' that have effects on individual tasks. The 'nocolor' special tag causes the color rules to be bypassed. $ task 6 +nocolor $ task list Special tags are highlighted by the 'tags' command. $ task tags There are others - the 'nonag' special tag prevents the generation of nag messages when you work on low priority tasks when there are more important ones. $ task 6 -nocolor The 'nocal' special tag will prevent a task from appearing on the calendar. .SH WAITING When you have a task with a due date that is far out into the future, you may want to hide that task for a while. $ task add Look for new apartment due:eoy $ task list You can provide a wait date for a task, and it will remain hidden until that date. It will no longer be cluttering your task list, but it is still there, and visible using the 'waiting' report. When the wait date comes, the task will just pop back into the list. $ task 10 wait:12/1/2010 $ task list $ task waiting To illustrate this, let's set up a task with a very short wait time of five seconds. $ task add Do something in a few seconds $ task 11 wait:5s $ task list It's gone. (wait 5 seconds) $ task list And it's back. Now we delete it. $ task 11 rc.confirmation:no delete ---------------------------------------- Dependencies ---------------------------------------------- task list pro:party Taskwarrior supports dependencies. Let's take a look at the party planning tasks, and assign dependencies. task 3 depends:6 Let's see. I can't mail invitations until they are printed. task 6 dep:5 I can't print them until I design them. task 2 dep:1 I need to select a weekend before a location. task 5 dep:1,2 Design depends on location and weekend. task 4 dep:1 And the caterer needs to know where. task long pro:party All my tasks are blocked except task 1. That makes sense. task 5 dep:-1 Hmm, that double dependency isn't right. task blocked Here are the blocked tasks. task unblocked and the opposite, the unblocked tasks. task 1 info If we look at task 1 closely, we can see that it is blocking task 2 info 2 and 4. And if we look at task 2, we see that it is blocked by 1, and blocking 5. This is called a dependency chain, which is a string of tasks that are all connected not only by their project, but by dependencies. Now we understand that task 1 should be done first, but you may still violate the laws of physics if you wish. Let's complete task 2 and see what happens. task 2 done (y) Taskwarrior realizes what you are doing, and offers to fix task 1 info the dependency chain to reflect what you have done. ---------------------------------------- Reports --------------------------------------------------- task minimal Taskwarrior has a good many reports. There is the bare minimum. task ls The simple. task list The standard. task long The kitchen sink. task all The packrat. task completed Nostalgia. task recurring Groundhog day. task waiting Surprises. task blocked Wedged. task unblocked Unencumbered. task oldest Ancient history. task newest Contemporary. task timesheet Corporate. task next And "what should I work on next?" This one can be useful because it pulls a few of the highest priority tasks from all the projects. It's the report we should all be using. ---------------------------------------- Custom Report --------------------------------------------- You can even define your own custom report. Let's quickly create a custom report - we'll call it foo - and I can choose from a long list of fields to include in the report, but I want to see the ID, the date when I entered the task, and the description. I can specify the labels for those columns, the sort order of the report, and I can filter. cat >> ~/.taskrc report.foo.description=My own report report.foo.columns=id,entry,description report.foo.labels=ID,Entered,Description report.foo.sort=entry+,description+ report.foo.filter=status:pending task help | grep foo Custom reports also show up on the help output. task show report.foo I can inspect the configuration. task foo And they can be run just like the other reports. ---------------------------------------- Charts ---------------------------------------------------- task history The history report gives monthly totals of tasks added, task history.annual completed and deleted. There is also an annual version. task ghistory There is a graphical monthly... task ghistory.annual and annual version. task summary There is a project summary report that shows progress in all the projects. ---------------------------------------- Advanced Filters ------------------------------------------ task list Filters are a very powerful tool. First here is an task list invit unfiltered list, which shows all tasks. Now again, but with the text 'invit', which acts as a filter on the description field. task list description.contains:invit This is the equivalent form using attribute modifiers. In this example we are filtering on descriptions that contain the word fragment. Here we are using the 'contains' modifier, but there are many others. task list desc.word:the All tasks containing the whole word 'the'. See how annotations are also searched? task list desc.noword:invitations Here is a list of all tasks that do not contain the whole word 'invitations'. task list pro:party Here list all tasks in the 'party' project. task list pro.is:party And the full equivalent. task list pro.not:party Here list tasks that are not in the 'party' project. I could have also used 'isnt' here - there are several synonyms for modifiers, so that the filter can be written so that it reads naturally. task list pro:party pri.over:L Here the 'over' modifier is filtering on priorities that sort higher than 'Low', and also filtering on the 'party' project. There are two terms in this filter. task list pro:party limit:2 Same again, but only show me the first two tasks. task list limit:page Now all tasks, but just show the first page of tasks. I don't have a page full of tasks here, but you get the idea. task all status:pending Now you can see how some of the built-in reports work. The 'list' report is just all tasks, filtered so that only the pending tasks are shown. task all status:waiting The 'waiting' report is similarly defined. ---------------------------------------- Import/Export --------------------------------------------- task export.csv You can export your tasks. Here you see all tasks being exported in CSV format. task export.csv venue Let's just export one task in CSV format... task export.vcalendar venue Or in VCalendar format... task export.yaml venue Or YAML. cat file.text I can also import. Here I am importing simple lines of task import file.text text. Taskwarrior recognizes the format and confirms. cat file.yaml Here is a YAML example. Taskwarrior can read several task import file.yaml formats, including old versions task data. Using YAML, you can round-trip the data without loss. task new limit:2 Here are the imported tasks. ---------------------------------------- Help ------------------------------------------------------ .SH HELP You'll find a quick reference page built in, with the 'help' command, or perhaps you'll want to take a look at the several man pages installed. .br .RS $ task help .RE .SH "CREDITS & COPYRIGHTS" task was written by P. Beckingham . .br Copyright (C) 2006 \- 2010 P. Beckingham This man page was originally written by Federico Hernandez. task is distributed under the GNU General Public License. See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.txt for more information. .SH SEE ALSO .BR task(1), .BR taskrc(5), .BR task-faq(5), .BR task-color(5), .BR task-sync(5) For more information regarding task, the following may be referenced: .TP The official site at .TP The official code repository at .TP You can contact the project by writing an email to .SH REPORTING BUGS .TP Bugs in task may be reported to the issue-tracker at