Tasks

The task line

A task is a line in the day note that starts with a checkbox. You type it like a Markdown task list: a hyphen, a space, the box in brackets, then the text.

- [ ] Write the invoice @paul #work

The character in the brackets is the task's state. There are five:

A few rules for the line:

• The bullet is a hyphen. * [ ] and + [ ] stay ordinary list items.
• A checkbox with nothing after it is not a task yet. It does not appear in the task list until you have written something.
• You do not have to type the hyphen. [ ] or [] at the start of a line becomes - [ ] as soon as you type the space after it, or when the note is saved.
• Inside a fenced code block nothing is a task.

The exact rules are in the format specification.

Priority and "not before"

A task is normal unless it carries a priority marker. The marker is a single character standing on its own, usually at the end of the line:

- [ ] Finish the report !
- [ ] Watch the next episode ~

The character has to stand alone, so "Great news!" keeps its exclamation mark and is not a priority.

A time directly after the checkbox says from when the task is worth showing outside the note:

- [ ] 19:00 Omega 3 #health

This "not before" time applies only to today. Until 19:00 the task list and the home-screen widgets hold the task back; the note always shows it. A task on a later day is not affected, and on a past day every hour has passed. The time is one moment, never a range. A time at the start of a line without a checkbox makes an appointment instead - see Appointments and repeats.

Sub-tasks

Lines indented under a task belong to it, up to the first blank line or the first line that is not indented deeper. Task lines in that block are sub-tasks; everything else is the task's description.

- [ ] Draft the blog post #caliora/tagwerk
  - [x] Picked the topic
  - [ ] Write the outline
  Link the release notes at the end.

• Indent with Tab and Shift+Tab, or with Indent and Outdent in the note's toolbar on a phone.
• Behind the task, the note shows how far the checklist has come, for example 1/2. Only [x] counts as done; [ ] and [/] count as not done; dropped and forwarded sub-tasks are not counted at all.
• Ticking off or dropping the task settles its open sub-tasks with it. Sub-tasks that already have a state of their own keep it.
• When the task moves to another day, the whole block moves with it.

In the task list, open sub-tasks appear indented under their task. The task form lists them under Sub-tasks, where you can tick them off.

What is counted is tasks, not rows: a task with its sub-tasks counts once - in the Overdue and Open headings, on the Tasks tab and in the widget's counter. An open sub-task whose task is already done counts as a task of its own. In the task list it stands indented under its task, which is shown greyed and struck through above it; a tap on that line opens it like any other. In the widget it stands without indentation, also when Show sub-tasks is off.

Ticking off

You can finish a task in several places. They all do the same thing to the note.

• In the note: tap the checkbox. A tap on [ ] or [/] makes it [x]; a tap on [x] takes the tick back to [ ]. With a keyboard, Ctrl+Enter ticks the task the cursor is on.
• With mouse and keyboard: right-click the checkbox (or press Shift+F10 on a task line) for a menu with every state - Open, In progress, Done, Dropped - and Move to day.
• In the task list: tap the checkbox of the row, or swipe the row and choose Done.
• In the task form: set State to Done.
• On Android: tap a task in the home-screen widget. The card that opens offers Done, Drop, In progress and Move to day.

A task that repeats writes its next occurrence when you tick it off or drop it. How that works is described under Repeating tasks.

Readings asked on ticking off

A tag with a colon and nothing behind it - #coldshower: - is waiting for a reading. When you tick off a task that carries one, tagwerk asks for the value in Enter readings and writes it behind the colon, for example #weight:81.4. If you cancel, the task stays open. With a field left empty the sheet says Not every value is filled in. and the button under it reads Finish anyway: the task is done and the tag keeps waiting. Beside it, Save as in progress writes the values you typed and sets the task to In progress. Where two tags or more wait, Enter readings only fills them in bit by bit without ticking anything off. Dropping a task asks nothing.

What a reading may contain and where the numbers end up is described in Tags and search.

Moving to another day

Moving a task writes two lines in two notes. The day it came from keeps a trail; the target day gets an ordinary open task:

- [>] Review the offer @paul >2026-08-12

The trail is the state [>] and the marker > followed by the date. A tap on the marker or on the box opens that day; the trail itself is not opened again, because the task is on the other day now. The copy on 12 August reads - [ ] Review the offer @paul.

• The sub-tasks and the description move with the task and are removed from the old day.
• The copy lands under the same heading it had on the old day. If the target day does not have that heading, it is written there.
• A task that stood under no heading lands before the first heading of the target day, where the day begins. A day without headings gets it at the end.
• A task in progress arrives as - [/]. Readings on its tags stay behind; the copy carries the bare #tag: again.
• If the target day already holds the same line, it is not added a second time.
• Done and dropped tasks cannot be moved - the completion would be lost.

Where to move a task:

• Note (mouse): right-click the checkbox, then Today, Tomorrow, Day after tomorrow, the weekday a week ahead, In a month or Another date....
• Task form: the Move to day row with the same choices. It appears only for open and in-progress tasks.
• Task list: swipe the row and choose To today or Move to day.

Dropping

- [-] marks a task you decided not to do. It stays in the note as a record, leaves the task list and does not go overdue. Drop a task with Dropped in the right-click menu or the form's State, with Drop in the task list's swipe actions, or on the widget card. A repeating task comes back on its next day even when it is dropped.

The task form

The task form shows everything a task carries as fields. It opens when you tap a task in the task list on a phone, when you press Task in the note's toolbar while the cursor is on a task line (the button then reads Edit task), and when you create a task from the task list.

By default every change is written to the note at once and the form only has Close. If you turn off Apply task changes immediately in the settings, the form gets Cancel and Save instead.

The task list

The task list collects every open and in-progress task from every day. In the desktop layout it stands to the right of the note; on a phone it is the Tasks tab, whose badge counts what is due by today, overdue tasks included.

Horizon

The first row of chips sets how far ahead the list looks:

The list has two sections. Overdue holds open tasks from days before today, grouped by day. Open holds today's tasks and the following days within the horizon. Within a day, important tasks come first and low-priority ones last; tasks without a time come before timed ones.

Filters

The second and third rows hold your tags and contacts, the ones you used nearest to today first. A tap on a chip cycles through three states:

1. Only #tag - the list shows only tasks carrying it.
2. Without #tag - the list hides tasks carrying it.
3. Off again.

Several wanted chips widen the list (any of them); an excluded chip always wins. A sub-task counts with its own tags and contacts and those of the tasks it is indented under: Without #tag hides a task together with its sub-tasks, Only #tag shows them with it. The row itself shows only the tags written on its own line. The ... button at the end of a row lists all tags or contacts. A long press (with a mouse: right-click) on a chip opens the overview of that tag or person. If a filter hides everything, Clear filter resets the filters and the horizon.

Held back until later

Tasks with a "not before" time that has not come yet are not in the list. A line at the end of today says how many are waiting, for example One task from 23:55. Tap it to show them; they can be ticked off and moved like any other row.

Acting on a row

• Tap the checkbox to tick the task off.
• Tap the text to open the task. In the desktop layout the note jumps to its line; on a phone the task form opens.
• Swipe the row, hold it, or right-click it (with a mouse, pointing at it is enough) for Done, To today (for a task on another day), Move to day and Drop.
• All to today next to the Overdue heading moves every overdue task to today in one step.
• The + button creates a task: pick the day (For which day?), the heading if the day has any, then fill in the task form.

After each action a bar at the bottom offers Undo for a few seconds.

Free and Pro

Writing, ticking off, moving and dropping tasks is free everywhere - in the note, in the form, on the widget card and on each row of the task list. Without Pro the task list shows the overdue tasks and today's, and the + button works.