Task Board Plugin for Obsidian

A powerful Kanban-style task board for Obsidian that automatically organizes tasks from your vault's tasks folders. Features include recursive subfolder scanning, tag-based organization, multi-select filtering, and drag-and-drop support.

Features

• 📋 Kanban Board View: Visual task management with status columns (To Do, In Progress, Done, Archive)
• 🔍 Recursive Scanning: Automatically finds tasks in all subfolders of your task directories
• 🏷️ Tag-Based Organization: Organize tasks by tags with one click
• 🔘 Multi-Select Tag Filter: Filter tasks by multiple tags simultaneously
• 🎯 Priority Indicators: Visual priority levels (High, Medium, Low)
• 📂 Main Tab View: Opens in the main workspace, not the sidebar
• ⚡ Quick Actions: Change status, priority, and open tasks directly from the board
• 🔄 Auto-Refresh: Automatically updates when tasks are modified

Installation

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release of the plugin

2. Extract the files to your vault's .obsidian/plugins/task-board/ folder

3. The folder structure should look like:

   .obsidian/plugins/task-board/
   ├── main.js
   ├── manifest.json
   └── styles.css
   

4. Restart Obsidian

5. Go to Settings → Community Plugins

6. Find "Task Board" and click Enable

From Obsidian Community Plugins (Coming Soon)

1. Open Obsidian Settings
2. Go to Community Plugins
3. Search for "Task Board"
4. Click Install, then Enable

Quick Start

1. Create Your First Task

Create a markdown file in any tasks folder (or subfolder) with frontmatter:

---
status: todo
tag: feature
priority: high
---

# Implement user authentication

Add login and signup functionality to the application.

2. Open the Task Board

• Click the 📋 layout board icon in the left ribbon, or
• Run the command: "Task Board: Open Task Board" (Ctrl/Cmd + P)

3. Organize Your Tasks

Use the toolbar to:

• Sort tasks by priority, tag, title, or folder
• Filter by multiple tags using the checkbox filter
• Organize tasks into folders by tag

Task File Format

Tasks are markdown files with YAML frontmatter:

---
status: todo | in-progress | done | archive
tag: your-tag-name
priority: high | medium | low
---

# Task Title

Task description and details...

Frontmatter Fields

Field	Required	Default	Description
status	No	todo	Task status column
tag	No	untagged	Tag for filtering and organization
priority	No	medium	Task priority level

Folder Structure Example

vault/
├── Project A/
│   └── tasks/
│       ├── feature-request.md
│       └── bug-fix.md
└── Project B/
    └── tasks/
        ├── archive/
        │   └── old-task.md
        └── current/
           └── new-task.md

Using the Task Board

Board Controls

Button	Action
Sort by	Choose sort criteria (Priority, Tag, Title, Folder)
↑/↓	Toggle sort direction (ascending/descending)
📁 Organize	Move all tasks into folders named after their tags
🔄	Refresh the board
✕ Clear	Clear all tag filters

Tag Filter

The multi-select tag filter appears below the header:

• Checkboxes: Select one or more tags to filter tasks
• All: Select all tags (show all tasks)
• None: Clear all selections
• Count: Shows number of tasks per tag

Task Card Actions

Action	How
Open task	Click the task title
Change priority	Click the colored priority dot (🔴🟡🟢)
Change status	Right-click the task card
Drag and drop	Drag card to another column (coming soon)

Status Columns

Default columns: To Do → In Progress → Done → Archive

Customize in Settings: Task Board Settings → Status columns

Commands

Command	Description
Task Board: Open Task Board	Open the task board in main tab
Task Board: Organize tasks by tag	Move all tasks to tag-based folders
Task Board: Organize tasks in current folder by tag	Organize tasks in the current file's folder

Settings

Access settings at: Settings → Task Board

Task folder names

Names of folders to scan for tasks (comma-separated). Default: tasks

Examples:

• tasks - Scans any folder named "tasks"
• tasks, todo, issues - Scans multiple folder names

Status columns

Order and names of status columns (comma-separated). Default: todo, in-progress, done, archive

Default status

Status for tasks without frontmatter. Default: todo

Organizing Tasks by Tag

The "Organize by tag" feature automatically moves task files into subfolders:

Before

tasks/
├── task1.md (tag: TAG1)
├── task2.md (tag: archive)
└── task3.md (tag: TAG1)

After

tasks/
├── TAG1/
│   ├── task1.md
│   └── task3.md
└── archive/
    └── task2.md

Use this to keep your task folders organized automatically!

Tips & Best Practices

1. Use Consistent Tags: Stick to a set of standard tags for better filtering
2. Archive Completed Tasks: Move done tasks to archive status to keep board clean
3. Use Priorities: Mark urgent tasks as high priority for visibility
4. Nested Folders: The plugin scans infinitely deep - organize tasks however you like
5. Multiple Projects: Each project can have its own tasks folder

Troubleshooting

Tasks not appearing?

• Ensure files are in a folder named tasks (or your configured folder names)
• Check that files have .md extension
• Click the 🔄 refresh button

Plugin won't enable?

• Check that main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css are in the plugin folder
• Restart Obsidian after manual installation

Changes not saving?

• Ensure you have write permissions in your vault
• Check Obsidian's file sync status

Development

Build from Source

cd .obsidian/plugins/task-board
npm install
npm run build

Reload Plugin

obsidian plugin:reload id=task-board

License

MIT License

Support

• Report issues on GitHub