taskwarrior/doc/man/task.1

.TH task 1 2010-07-10 "task 1.9.3" "User Manuals"

.SH NAME
task \- A command line todo manager.

.SH SYNOPSIS
.B task [subcommand] [args]

.SH DESCRIPTION
Task is a command line todo list manager. It maintains a list of tasks that you
want to do, allowing you to add/remove, and otherwise manipulate them.  Task
has a rich list of subcommands that allow you to do various things with it.

At the core, task is a list processing program. You add text and additional
related parameters and task redisplays the information in a nice way.  It turns
into a todo list program when you add due dates and recurrence. It turns into an
organized todo list program when you add priorities, tags (one word descriptors),
project groups, etc.  Task turns into an organized to do list program when you
modify the configuration file to have the output displayed the way you want to
see it.

.SH SUBCOMMANDS

.TP
.B add [tags] [attrs] description
Adds a new task to the task list.

.TP
.B log [tags] [attrs] description
Adds a new task that is already completed, to the task list.

.TP
.B annotate ID description
Adds an annotation to an existing task.

.TP
.B denotate ID description
Deletes an annotation for the specified task. If the provided description matches an
annotation exactly, the corresponding annotation is deleted. If the provided description
matches annotations partly, the first partly matched annotation is deleted.

.TP
.B info ID
Shows all data and metadata for the specified task.

.TP
.B ID
With an ID but no specific command, task runs the "info" command.

.TP
.B undo
Reverts the most recent action.

.TP
.B shell
Launches an interactive shell with all the task commands available.

.TP
.B duplicate ID [tags] [attrs] [description]
Duplicates the specified task and allows modifications.

.TP
.B delete ID
Deletes the specified task from task list.

.TP
.B start ID
Marks the specified task as started.

.TP
.B stop ID
Removes the
.I start
time from the specified task.

.TP
.B done ID [tags] [attrs] [description]
Marks the specified task as done.

.TP
.B projects
Lists all project names that are currently used by pending tasks, and the
number of tasks for each.

.TP
.B tags
Show a list of all tags used.  Any special tags used are highlighted.

.TP
.B summary
Shows a report of task status by project.

.TP
.B timesheet [weeks]
Shows a weekly report of tasks completed and started.

.TP
.B history
Shows a report of task history by month.  Alias to history.monthly.

.TP
.B history.annual
Shows a report of task history by year.

.TP
.B ghistory
Shows a graphical report of task status by month.  Alias to ghistory.monthly.

.TP
.B ghistory.annual
Shows a graphical report of task status by year.

.TP
.B calendar [ y | due [y] | month year [y] | year ]
Shows a monthly calendar with due tasks marked.

.TP
.B stats
Shows task database statistics.

.TP
.B import \fIfile
Imports tasks from a variety of formats.

.TP
.B export
Exports all tasks in the default format.  This is an alias to the command export.yaml.
Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.

.TP
.B export.csv
Exports all tasks in CSV format.
Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.

.TP
.B export.ical
Exports all tasks in iCalendar format.
Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.

.TP
.B export.yaml
Exports all tasks in YAML 1.1 format.
Redirect the output to a file, if you wish to save it, or pipe it to another command.

.TP
.B merge path/to/second/undo.data
Merges two task databases by comparing the modifications that are stored in the
undo.data files. The location of the second undo.data file must be passed on as argument.

.TP
.B color [sample | legend]
Displays all possible colors, a named sample, or a legend containing all
currently defined colors.

.TP
.B version
Shows the task version number

.TP
.B help
Shows the long usage text.

.TP 
.B show [all | substring]"
Shows all the current settings in the task configuration file. If a substring
is specified just the settings containing that substring will be displayed.

.TP
.B config [name [value | '']]
Add, modify and remove settings directly in the task configuration.
This command either modifies the 'name' setting with a new value of 'value',
or adds a new entry that is equivalent to 'name=value':

    task config name value

This command sets a blank value.  This has the effect of suppressing any
default value:

    task config name ''

Finally, this command removes any 'name=...' entry from the .taskrc file:

    task config name

.SH MODIFYING SUBCOMMANDS

.TP
.B ID [tags] [attrs] [description]
Modifies the existing task with provided information.

.TP
.B ID /from/to/
Performs one substitution on task description and annotation for fixing mistakes.

.TP
.B ID /from/to/g
Performs all substitutions on task description and annotation for fixing mistakes.

.TP
.B edit ID
Launches an editor to let you modify all aspects of a task directly.
Use carefully.

.TP
.B append [tags] [attrs] description
Appends information to an existing task.

.TP
.B prepend [tags] [attrs] description
Prepends information to an existing task.

.SH REPORT SUBCOMMANDS

A report is a listing of information from the task database. There are several
reports currently predefined in task. The output and sort behavior of these
reports can be configured in the configuration file. See also the man page taskrc(5).

.TP
.B active [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria
that are started but not completed.

.TP
.B all [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria.

.TP
.B completed [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all tasks matching the specified criteria
that are completed.

.TP
.B minimal [tags] [attrs] [description]
Provides a minimal listing of tasks with specified criteria.

.TP
.B ls [tags] [attrs] [description]
Provides a short listing of tasks with specified criteria.

.TP
.B list [tags] [attrs] [description]
Provides a more detailed listing of tasks with specified criteria.

.TP
.B long [tags] [attrs] [description]
Provides the most detailed listing of tasks with specified criteria.

.TP
.B newest [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows the newest tasks with specified criteria.

.TP
.B oldest [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows the oldest tasks with specified criteria

.TP
.B overdue [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all incomplete tasks matching the specified criteria
that are beyond their due date.

.TP
.B recurring [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all recurring tasks matching the specified criteria.

.TP
.B waiting [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all waiting tasks matching the specified criteria.

.TP
.B next [tags] [attrs] [description]
Shows all tasks with upcoming due dates matching the specified criteria.

.SH ATTRIBUTES AND METADATA

.TP
.B ID
Tasks can be specified uniquely by IDs, which are simply the index of the
task in a report. Be careful, as the IDs of tasks may change after a
modification to the database. Always run a report to check you have the right
ID for a task. IDs can be given to task as a sequences, for example,
.br
.B
task del 1,4-10,19

.TP
.B +tag|-tag
Tags are arbitrary words associated with a task. Use + to add a tag and - to
remove a tag from a task. A task can have any quantity of tags.

Certain tags (called 'special tags'), can be used to affect the way tasks are
treated.  For example, is a task has the special tag 'nocolor', then it is
exempt from all color rules.  The supported special tags are:

    +nocolor     Disable color rules processing for this task
    +nonag       Completion of this task suppresses all nag messages
    +nocal       This task will not appear on the calendar

.TP
.B project:<project-name>
Specifies the project to which a task is related to.

.TP
.B priority:H|M|L|N
Specifies High, Medium, Low and No priority for a task.

.TP
.B due:<due-date>
Specifies the due-date of a task.

.TP
.B recur:<frequency>
Specifies the frequency of a recurrence of a task.

.TP
.B until:<end-date-of-recurrence>
Specifies the Recurrence end-date of a task.

.TP
.B fg:<color-spec>
Specifies foreground color.

.TP
.B bg:<color-spec>
Specifies background color.

.TP
.B limit:<number-of-rows>
Specifies the desired number of tasks a report should show, if a positive
integer is given.  The value 'page' may also be used, and will limit the
report output to as many lines of text as will fit on screen.  This defaults
to 25 lines, if ncurses is not installed or enabled.

.TP
.B wait:<wait-date>
Date until task becomes pending.

.SH ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS
Attribute modifiers improve filters.  Supported modifiers are:

.RS
.B before     (synonyms under, below)
.br
.B  after      (synonyms over, above)
.br
.B  none
.br
.B  any
.br
.B  is         (synonym equals)
.br
.B  isnt       (synonym not)
.br
.B  has        (synonym contains)
.br
.B  hasnt
.br
.B  startswith (synonym left)
.br
.B  endswith   (synonym right)
.br
.B  word
.br
.B  noword
.RE

For example:

.RS
task list due.before:eom priority.not:L
.RE

.SH SPECIFYING DATES AND FREQUENCIES

.SS DATES
Task reads dates from the command line and displays dates in the
reports.  The expected and desired date format is determined by the
configuration variable
.I dateformat
in the task configuration file.

.RS
.TP
Exact specification
task ... due:7/14/2008

.TP
Relative wording
task ... due:today
.br
task ... due:yesterday
.br
task ... due:tomorrow

.TP
Day number with ordinal
task ... due:23rd
.br
task ... due:3wks
.br
task ... due:1day
.br
task ... due:9hrs

.TP
Start of (work) week (Monday), calendar week (Sunday or Monday), month and year
.br
task ... due:sow
.br
task ... due:soww
.br
task ... due:socw
.br
task ... due:som
.br
task ... due:soy

.TP
End of (work) week (Friday), calendar week (Saturday or Sunday), month and year
.br
task ... due:eow
.br
task ... due:eoww
.br
task ... due:eocw
.br
task ... due:eom
.br
task ... due:eoy

.TP
Next occurring weekday
task ... due:fri
.RE

.SS FREQUENCIES
Recurrence periods. Task supports several ways of specifying the
.I frequency
of recurring tasks.

.RS
.TP
daily, day, 1d, 2d, ...
Every day or a number of days.

.TP
weekdays
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and skipping weekend days.

.TP
weekly, 1w, 2w, ...
Every week or a number of weeks.

.TP
biweekly, fortnight
Every two weeks.

.TP
quarterly, 1q, 2q, ...
Every three months, a quarter, or a number of quarters.

.TP
semiannual
Every six months.

.TP
annual, yearly, 1y, 2y, ...
Every year or a number of years.

.TP
biannual, biyearly, 2y
Every two years.
.RE


.SH COMMAND ABBREVIATION
All task commands may be abbreviated as long as a unique prefix is used. E.g.

.RS
$ task li
.RE

is an unambiguous abbreviation for

.RS
$ task list
.RE

but

.RS
$ task l
.RE

could be list, ls or long.

.SH SPECIFYING DESCRIPTIONS
Some task descriptions need to be escaped because of the shell
and the special meaning of some characters to the shell. This can be
done either by adding quotes to the description or escaping the special
character:

.RS
$ task add "quoted ' quote"
.br
$ task add escaped \\' quote
.RE

The argument \-\- (a double dash) tells task to treat all other args
as description:

.RS
$ task add -- project:Home needs scheduling
.RE

.SH CONFIGURATION FILE AND OVERRIDE OPTIONS
Task stores its configuration in a file in the user's home directory:
~/.taskrc . The default configuration file can be overridden with

.TP
.B task rc:<path-to-alternate-file>
Specifies an alternate configuration file.

.TP
.B task rc.<name>:<value> ...
Specifies individual configuration file overrides.

.SH EXAMPLES

For examples please see the task tutorial man page at

.RS
man task-tutorial
.RE

or the online documentation starting at

.RS
<http://taskwarrior.org/wiki/taskwarrior/Simple>
.RE

.SH FILES

.TP
~/.taskrc User configuration file - see also taskrc(5).

.TP
~/.task The default directory where task stores its data files. The location
can be configured in the configuration file.

.TP
~/.task/pending.data The file that contains the tasks that are not yet done.

.TP
~/.task/completed.data The file that contains the completed "done" tasks.

.TP
~/.task/undo.data The file that contains the information to the "undo" command.

.SH "CREDITS & COPYRIGHTS"
task was written by P. Beckingham <paul@beckingham.net>.
.br
Copyright (C) 2006 \- 2010 P. Beckingham

This man page was originally written by P.C. Shyamshankar, and has been modified
and supplemented by Federico Hernandez.

Thank also to T. Charles Yun.

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 taskrc(5),
.BR task-tutorial(5),
.BR task-faq(5)
.BR task-color(5)

For more information regarding task, the following may be referenced:

.TP
The official site at
<http://taskwarrior.org>

.TP
The official code repository at
<git://tasktools.org/task.git/>

.TP
You can contact the project by writing an email to
<support@taskwarrior.org>

.SH REPORTING BUGS
.TP
Bugs in task may be reported to the issue-tracker at
<http://taskwarrior.org>