Todo.txt - Task tracking for command line lovers

A plain text task manager

What's todo.sh?

todo.sh is a powerful shell script that adds to, edits, sorts and searches your todo.txt file from the command line. Mark items as complete and archive them into a done.txt file with todo.sh as well.

todo.sh Screencast

See todo.sh in action here:

Note: In the setup shown, I've aliased todo.sh to t to reduce typing.

Download todo.sh

Download the full todo.sh package. (Or, just get todo.sh or view the browser-friendly todo.sh) See the CHANGELOG for what's new.

Installation

Unzip todo.zip. Using the text editor of your choice, edit the section of the .todo file that reads:
```
# Your todo.txt directory
TODO_DIR="/Users/gina/Documents/todo"  
```
Replace "/Users/gina/Documents/todo" to wherever your todo.txt lives.

Mac users, here's help viewing/editing files and folders that start with a dot.

[hide this message]

By default, Mac OS X's Finder does not display system configuration files - those that start with a dot, like the .todo configuration file. If you want to browse these files in Finder, you must unhide them. To do so, in the Terminal, type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

Hit Enter. Then type:

killall Finder

This will list dot files in Finder, .todo and .bash_profile. (See below for more info on that.) To hide the files again, execute the same commands, but replace TRUE with FALSE. This AppleScript is useful for toggling back and forth quickly.
Make the todo.sh script exectuable:
```
$ chmod +x todo.sh
```
Move the .todo configuration file to your home directory:
```
mv .todo ~/.
```
Backup your todo.txt before using todo.sh. Type ./todo.sh to see the usage message.

Alternate Versions

todo.py
A Python version of todo.sh authored by Shane Koster.

Tips and tricks

Access todo.sh from anywhere in the file tree. Add the following to your ~/.bashrc file (~/.bash_profile for Mac users, ~/.profile for Cygwin users):
```
PATH=$PATH:"/path/to/your/todo/scripts"
```
Avoid typing todo.sh every time. Add the following to your ~/.bashrc file (~/.bash_profile for Mac users, ~/.profile for Cygwin users):
```
alias t='todo.sh -d /path/to/your/.todo'
```
Then you simply type t add laundry from anywhere in your file tree to add a task.
Windows SlickRun integration. Set up a SlickRun keyword to execute todo.sh commands without being in a Cygwin window.
```
MagicWord: td
Filename/URL: cmd.exe
Parameters: /c bash --login -i -c "todo.sh $i$" 
```
Display your todo list on your desktop. Windows users, Samurize gets the job done. Mac users will want GeekTool.
IM your todo.txt. Use the todobot.pl to instant message your todo.sh commands from any AIM client.
Access your remote server's todo.txt via ssh. If you have a shell account on remote.server.com, alias your todo.sh commands to do the same thing as usual but prepend "ssh username@remote.server.com" to them. Something like:
ssh username@remote.server.com todo.sh list
Which displays the remote todo list.
Set up a tickler system to work with todo.txt. Mailing list member Tannie wrote an tickler.sh script which moves items you have to do in the future to todo.txt.
Integrate todo.txt with a calendar using the Unix program remind.
Get your todo's via email using postfix.

Platform compatibility

Todo.sh has been tested on:

Cygwin for Windows
Mac OS X 10.4 Terminal
Ubuntu 5.10 / Sed 4.1.4 / Grep 2.5.1 / Cat 5.2.1 / wc 5.2.1

Let us know if you're using todo.sh successfully anywhere else.

Developers

If you're interested modifying or enhancing todo.sh, join the mailing list to discuss or code one of the future development proposals.

A set of (admittedly incomplete and primitive) todo.sh tests are available for testing todo.sh modifications.

Known bugs

Apostrophe's not enclosed in quotes break with the add/append/replace command. That is, todo.sh add "fix lily's bike" works, but todo.sh add fix lily's bike does not.

Author

Unless otherwise noted, all the todo.txt scripts published herein are authored by Gina Trapani and licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Scripts and text originally published as an ongoing Todo.txt series at Lifehacker.com. Special thanks to all the Lifehacker readers who contributed to Todo.sh by fixing code, adding features, reporting bugs and making suggestions.

All software comes as is with no warranty. Do back up your todo.txt before you read another word. Questions, support and help is available in the Todo.txt Mailing list.