content/projects/t.html @ c2388407ddf9

{% extends "_post.html" %}

{% hyde
    title: "t"
    snip: "A command-line todo list manager for people that want to <em>finish</em> tasks, not organize them."
    created: 2009-09-11 19:03:29
%}

{% block article %}

`t` is a command-line todo list manager for people that want to *finish*
tasks, not organize them.

The code is in a [Mercurial repository][] on [BitBucket][].

[BitBucket]: http://bitbucket.org/

[TOC]

Why t?
------

Yeah, I know, *another* command-line todo list manager. Several others already
exist ([todo.txt][] and [TaskWarrior][] come to mind), so why make another
one?

[todo.txt]: http://ginatrapani.github.com/todo.txt-cli/
[TaskWarrior]: http://taskwarrior.org/projects/show/taskwarrior/

### It Does the Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work

Todo.txt and TaskWarrior are feature-packed. They let you tag tasks, split
them into projects, set priorities, order them, color-code them, and much
more.

**That's the problem.**

It's easy to say "I'll just organize my todo list a bit" and spend 15 minutes
tagging your tasks. In those 15 minutes you probably could have *finished* a
couple of them.

`t` was inspired by [j][]. It's simple, messy, has almost no features, and is
extremely effective at the one thing it does. With `t` the only way to make
your todo list prettier is to **finish some damn tasks**.

[j]: http://github.com/rupa/j2/

### It's Flexible

`t`'s simplicity makes it extremely flexible.

Want to edit a bunch of tasks at once? Open the list in a text editor.

Want to view the lists on a computer that doesn't have `t` installed? Open the
list in a text editor.

Want to synchronize the list across a couple of computers? Keep your task
lists in a [Dropbox][] folder.

Want to use it as a distributed bug tracking system like [BugsEverywhere][]?
Make the task list a `bugs` file in the project repository.

[Dropbox]: https://www.getdropbox.com/
[BugsEverywhere]: http://bugseverywhere.org/

### It Plays Nice with Version Control

Other systems keep your tasks in a plain text file. This is a good thing, and
`t` follows their lead.

However, some of them append new tasks to the end of the file when you create
them. This is not good if you're using a version control system to let more
than one person edit a todo list. If two people add a task and then try to
merge, they'll get a conflict and have to resolve it manually.

`t` uses random IDs (actually SHA1 hashes) to order the todo list files. Once
the list has a couple of tasks in it, adding more is far less likely to cause
a merge conflict because the list is sorted.

Installing t
------------

`t` requires [Python][] 2.5 or newer, and some form of UNIX-like shell (bash
works well). It works on Linux, OS X, and Windows (with [Cygwin][]).

[Python]: {{links.python}}
[Cygwin]: http://www.cygwin.com/

Installing and setting up `t` will take about one minute.

First, [download][] the newest version or clone the Mercurial repository ( `hg
clone http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/` ). Put it anywhere you like.

[download]: http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/get/tip.zip

Next, decide where you want to keep your todo lists. I put mine in `~/tasks`.
Create that directory:

    :::text
    mkdir ~/tasks

Finally, set up an alias to run `t`. Put something like this in your
`~/.bashrc` file:

    :::bash
    alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list tasks'

Make sure you run `source ~/.bashrc` or restart your terminal window to make
the alias take effect.

Using t
-------

`t` is quick and easy to use.

### Add a Task

To add a task, use `t [task description]`:

    :::console
    $ t Clean the apartment.
    $ t Write chapter 10 of the novel.
    $ t Buy more beer.
    $

### List Your Tasks

Listing your tasks is even easier -- just use `t`:

    :::console
    $ t
    9  - Buy more beer.
    30 - Clean the apartment.
    31 - Write chapter 10 of the novel.
    $

`t` will list all of your unfinished tasks and their IDs.

### Finish a Task

After you're done with something, use `t -f ID` to finish it:

    :::console
    $ t -f 31
    $ t
    9  - Buy more beer.
    30 - Clean the apartment.
    $

### Edit a Task

Sometimes you might want to change the wording of a task. You can use `t -e ID
[new description]` to do that:

    :::console
    $ t -e 30 Clean the entire apartment.
    $ t
    9  - Buy more beer.
    30 - Clean the entire apartment.
    $

Yes, nerds, you can use sed-style substitution strings:

    :::console
    $ t -e 9 /more/a lot more/
    $ t
    9  - Buy a lot more beer.
    30 - Clean the entire apartment.
    $

### Delete the Task List if it's Empty

If you keep your task list in a visible place (like your desktop) you might
want it to be deleted if there are no tasks in it. To do this automatically
you can use the `--delete-if-empty` option in your alias:

    :::bash
    alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/Desktop --list todo.txt --delete-if-empty'

Tips and Tricks
---------------

`t` might be simple, but it can do a lot of interesting things.

### Count Your Tasks

Counting your tasks is simple using the `wc` program:

    :::console
    $ t | wc -l
          2
    $

### Put Your Task Count in Your Bash Prompt

Want a count of your tasks right in your prompt?  Edit your `~/.bashrc` file:

    :::bash
    export PS1="[$(t | wc -l | sed -e's/ *//')] $PS1"

Now you've got a prompt that looks something like this:

    :::console
    [2] $ t -f 30
    [1] $ t Feed the cat.
    [2] $

### Multiple Lists

`t` is for people that want to *do* tasks, not organize them. With that said,
sometimes it's useful to be able to have at least *one* level of organization.
To split up your tasks into different lists you can add a few more aliases:

    :::bash
    alias g='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list groceries'
    alias m='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list music-to-buy'
    alias w='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list wines-to-try'

### Distributed Bugtracking

Like the idea of distributed bug trackers like [BugsEverywhere][], but don't
want to use such a heavyweight system? You can use `t` instead.

Add another alias to your `~/.bashrc` file:

    :::bash
    alias b='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir . --list bugs'

Now when you're in your project directory you can use `b` to manage the list
of bugs/tasks for that project. Add the `bugs` file to version control and
you're all set.

Even people without `t` installed can view the bug list, because it's plain
text.

Problems, Contributions, Etc
----------------------------

`t` was hacked together in a couple of nights to fit my needs. If you use it
and find a bug, please let me know.

If you want to request a feature feel free, but remember that `t` is meant to
be simple. If you need anything beyond the basics you might want to look at
[todo.txt][] or [TaskWarrior][] instead. They're great tools with lots of
bells and whistles.

If you want to contribute code to `t`, that's great! Fork the [Mercurial
repository][] on BitBucket or the [git mirror][] on GitHub and send me a pull
request.

[Mercurial repository]: http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/
[git mirror]: http://github.com/sjl/t/

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