Nudge

A task manager for Obsidian, backed by a single todo.txt file. Desktop-only (macOS). Passive by design — items just surface in Today when their due date arrives; there are no OS notifications.

See SPEC.md for the full design.

Features

• Custom view with a Today filter plus one list per +project tag.
• A configurable Default list (default Inbox), always pinned under Today.
• Structured create/edit modal — no hand-typed todo.txt syntax. Fields: text, list, due date, priority, link, and a recurrence picker (stored as rec:<RRULE>).
• Completing a recurring item spawns its next occurrence, anchored on the original due date.
• Drag and drop to reorder, move between lists, or drop into Today.
• Fuzzy search across all lists (the magnifying glass in the header, or a configurable hotkey — e.g. Cmd+F — set in the plugin settings): live results as you type, matching item text and link URLs, with matched characters highlighted. Esc returns to the previous view.
• Every change is a read-modify-write against the file, so external edits (e.g. an agent rewriting todo.txt) show up automatically.
• Optional macOS Dock badge (off by default) counting overdue tasks — optionally including tasks due today, which matches the Today view count.

Install (unpacked dev plugin)

1. Build the plugin:

   npm install
   npm run build      # or: npm run dev  (watch mode)
   

2. Copy/symlink the plugin folder into your vault's plugins directory so it contains manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css:

   ln -s "$(pwd)" "<YourVault>/.obsidian/plugins/nudge"
   

3. In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins, disable Restricted mode, then enable Nudge.

Adding items

• The + button in the panel header (on every view, including Today).
• The New task ribbon icon or command.
• A configurable global hotkey (default Cmd+N), set in the plugin settings. It uses a capture-phase listener so it can override Obsidian's own binding for that combo.
• Single-click a row to complete/uncomplete it; use the pencil button to edit.

Creating items via Obsidian URI

The plugin registers a protocol handler so external tools, shortcuts, or links can create tasks:

obsidian://nudge?text=Buy%20milk&list=Groceries&due=2026-07-20&priority=high&link=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com

Arg	Maps to	Notes
text	description	If present, the item is created directly. If omitted, the prefilled modal opens instead.
list	+Project	Whitespace is stripped. Defaults to the configured Default list.
due	due:	YYYY-MM-DD.
priority	(A)/(B)/(C)	Accepts high/med/low or A/B/C (case-insensitive).
link	link:	URL.
rec	rec:	A raw RRULE, e.g. FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=MO.
modal	—	modal=1 opens the prefilled create modal instead of creating directly.

Modes:

• Direct create — when text is provided (and modal is not set): the item is appended (with today's creation date), a notice is shown, and open views refresh.
• Prefilled modal — when text is omitted or modal=1: the create modal opens with the given fields filled in for review.

Encoding notes: URL-encode all values — especially the rec RRULE's ; and =, and :// in links. With multiple vaults, add &vault=<name> to route to the right one.