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Task Management

What are Tasks?​

Tasks are the core of udctl - your command center for tracking everything you need to do. Whether it's a quick to-do, a long-running project, or a recurring habit, tasks help you stay organized with multiple views, smart filtering, notes, file attachments, and collaboration tools.

Task Statuses​

Every task has one of six statuses to reflect where it stands:

  • Todo - Ready to be worked on
  • In Progress - Currently being worked on
  • Pending - Waiting on something or someone
  • Stale - Hasn't been touched in a while
  • Done - Completed
  • Archived - Finished and filed away

Multiple Views​

udctl gives you several ways to look at your tasks:

  • List View - A traditional, organized task list with customizable sections
  • Kanban Board - Visual columns you can drag tasks between (see Kanban Boards)
  • Calendar View - See tasks on a timeline by deadline
  • Tree View - Explore parent-child task hierarchies
  • Graph View - Visualize relationships between linked tasks
  • Mindmap View - A mind-mapping layout for brainstorming
  • Trash View - See and restore deleted tasks

Creating and Managing Tasks​

Creating a Task​

  1. Click the add button on the task list page
  2. Enter a title (required) and optional details like description, tags, and deadline
  3. The task appears instantly in your list

Editing Tasks​

Open any task to update its title, description (supports markdown), status, tags, deadline, and custom fields. Changes save automatically.

Pinning Tasks​

Pin important tasks to the top of your list for quick access. Pinned tasks stay visible regardless of filters.

Deleting and Restoring​

When you delete a task, it moves to the trash. You can restore it anytime or permanently delete it from the Trash view.

Task Notes​

Add notes to any task to track progress, decisions, or context. Notes support markdown formatting and keep a full edit history - you can revert any note to a previous version if needed.

Task Relationships​

Derived Tasks (Parent-Child)​

Create a new task from an existing one to build hierarchies. The child task links back to its parent, making it easy to break big projects into smaller steps.

Linked Tasks​

Link related tasks together with bidirectional connections. Use the Graph view to visualize how your tasks relate to each other.

Quick Filters​

Filter your task list by:

  • Status - Show only specific statuses
  • Tags - Filter by one or more tags
  • Deadline - Overdue, today, this week, next week, or no deadline

Advanced Queries​

Use a SQL-like query language for powerful filtering:

  • status = 'todo' AND deadline < '2025-06-01'
  • tag:work = 'true' AND cf.priority = 'high'

Type queries in plain English like "show me overdue tasks tagged with work" and the AI translates it into a structured filter.

Sharing and Collaboration​

Generate a public link to any task with an optional expiration date. Great for sharing task details with people outside your team.

Group Sharing​

Share tasks with a group for team collaboration. You control whether group members get read-only or read-write access.

Recurring Tasks​

Set up tasks that create themselves automatically on a schedule. Choose from presets like daily, weekly, or monthly - or write a custom CRON expression for precise control (e.g., every weekday at 9 AM).

Check-in System​

Use check-ins to track recurring activities like habits or regular reviews. Each check-in increments a counter and records the timestamp, giving you a simple way to monitor consistency.

File Attachments​

Attach images, documents, diagrams, or any file to your tasks. Attachments are accessible from the task detail page and can optionally be included when sharing tasks.

CLI Commands​

Manage tasks directly from your terminal:

ud get task                     # List your tasks
ud describe task <id>           # View task details
ud delete task <id>             # Delete a task

# Create / update (no id = create, id = update; status: done to complete)
cat <<'EOF' | ud apply -f -
---
title: My new task
status: todo
---
Description here.
EOF
ud apply -f task.md             # Create/update from a markdown file

# Notes (task_id in frontmatter = note)
cat <<'EOF' | ud apply -f -
---
task_id: <id>
---
A progress note.
EOF
ud get notes --task <id>        # List notes

# Relationships
ud link task <id> <other-id>    # Link two tasks

# Advanced
ud query "status = 'todo'"      # Structured query

Tips for Success​

  1. Use tags consistently - Develop a tagging system (like work, personal, urgent) and stick to it for effective filtering
  2. Try different views - List view is great for daily work, but Kanban and Calendar views can reveal different insights
  3. Break down big tasks - Use derived tasks to split large projects into manageable pieces
  4. Set deadlines thoughtfully - Deadlines help with prioritization, especially when combined with the Calendar view
  5. Add notes as you go - Notes with edit history make it easy to track decisions and progress over time

How Tasks Work with Other Features​

With Kanban Boards​

Tasks appear as cards on kanban boards. Dragging a card between columns automatically updates its status.

With Budgets and Expenses​

Expenses can reference tasks, letting you connect spending to specific work items.

With Scheduled Jobs​

Set up recurring jobs to automatically create tasks on a schedule - perfect for daily standups, weekly reviews, or monthly reports.

With the AI Assistant​

Use natural language to create tasks, query your task list, or generate tasks from images and text.

Getting Started​

  1. Create your first task - Click the add button and give it a title
  2. Organize with tags - Add tags to categorize your tasks
  3. Explore views - Try the List, Kanban, and Calendar views to find what works for you
  4. Set up recurring tasks - Automate repetitive tasks with scheduled jobs