Fluent Tasks

Obsidian plugin: a three-pane, drag-and-drop task manager inspired by Microsoft To Do, Todoist, and TickTick. Version 1.0.59 (manifest.json). Desktop and mobile (isDesktopOnly: false). Minimum Obsidian 1.8.7.

Architecture documentation: ARCHITECTURE.md.

What it stores

All lists are stored as ordinary Markdown files inside your vault:

• Folder: TodoData/ (constant DATA_FOLDER in src/types.ts)
• One list = one file TodoData/<ListName>.md
• Each task is a standard Markdown checklist line with an embedded JSON metadata comment:

- [ ] Buy groceries %%{"id":"...","starred":false,"steps":[],"note":"","createdAt":"..."}%%

• Sidebar groups and list ordering: TodoData/.metadata.json
• Dedicated linked notes: TodoData/<ListName>/<Title5>_<ListName>_<GroupName>_<taskId>.md with YAML frontmatter title: "<TaskTitle>"
• Plugin options: Obsidian plugin data (accentColor, modal/sidebar toggles, Quick List grid settings, backup toggles, undo durations, task weight mode, center align tasks mode, step collapse toggle, task separator width)

There is no cloud lock-in or external server dependency. All data remains 100% local in your Obsidian vault.

Key Features

• XML Copy-All for AI Prompts: Top-right copy button in the floating task detail modal that extracts and formats the entire task's content into structured, well-formed XML tags (<Title>, <Item_N>, <Item_N_Excluded>, <Details>, <Why>, <LinkedNote>, <DueDate>). Checked/completed items are semantically labeled as Excluded (discarded/ruled-out proposals), ready for direct pasting into LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini). Includes visual checkmark feedback and clipboard toast notifications.
• Auto-Collapsing Completed Subtasks with Settings Toggle: Completed checklist items in floating detail modal automatically collapse into clean single-line strikethrough previews with instant click-to-expand (∨/∧). Includes a dedicated toggle in settings (collapseCompletedSteps, default: true) allowing users to choose between compact collapsed view or expanded multi-line textareas.
• Hairline Task Separator & Standardized Categorized Settings: Configurable subtle hairline gradient divider (taskSeparatorWidth, 20–100%) cleanly separating task cards without altering layout spacing or row height. Plugin settings are structured into 6 clear, standardized sections with uniform prefixes (Appearance, Sidebar, Board, Details, Data, and Debug) for effortless search and intuitive configuration.
• Interactive Drag Sidebar Integration, Smooth Auto-Scroll & In-Flight Wheel Scrolling: When dragging tasks or lists, automatically expands the left sidebar and highlights/reveals the target list. Supports rolling the mouse wheel in-flight while holding left-click drag to smoothly scroll lists without having to drag all the way down to container boundaries, alongside continuous rAF edge auto-scrolling.
• List Navigation History (Alt+Left / Alt+Right): In-memory session history stack enabling effortless traversal across recently viewed lists. Jump backwards and forwards seamlessly via Alt + ← / Alt + →, Alt + Left/Right click (triggering strictly on release to prevent duplicate jumps), or mouse side buttons (Back / Forward).
• In-Modal Subtask Search (Ctrl+F): Dedicated search inside the subtasks floating modal (TaskStepsModal) with auto-focus, subtle soft-accent backdrop highlighting, and centered viewport scrolling.
• Lists & Groups: Create custom lists and organize them into collapsible groups. Different groups can have lists with identical display names, with automated sibling collision disambiguation (name(1)). Drag-and-drop lists into groups or reorder them freely. Press F2 to rename hovered or active lists.
• Star Mode (Smart Aggregation): Dedicated virtual Star Mode aggregating all starred tasks across all lists into a single unified view. Toggling stars in Star Mode directly updates the task's originating list with live setting reactivity.
• In-List Task Search (Ctrl+F): Fast in-page search bar triggered by Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on macOS) or the more options menu. Scopes search strictly to the active list, supporting deep matching across titles, checklist steps, and notes, with keyboard navigation (↑/↓/Enter) and automatic scroll-to-task highlighting.
• Task Management & Priority Weight Scoring: Inline task creation, completion toggles, star/pin priority, drag-and-drop task reordering, and moving tasks between lists via hierarchical submenus with fuzzy search fallback. Optional 1-9 priority score weighting with stepper controls and dynamic stable sorting.
• Linked Notes & Frontmatter Synchronization: One-click linked note creation per task. Files use identifiable, tab-friendly paths (<Title5>_<ListName>_<GroupName>_<taskId>.md) starting with the first 5 sanitized characters of the task title so notes are immediately readable in truncated Obsidian tabs. Two-way synchronizes the task title via the note's YAML frontmatter title property. Renaming a list or task automatically updates note paths with full auto-healing. Automatic migration of legacy notes.
• More Options Menu & Batch Operations: Clean three-dots header menu consolidating list search, multi-select mode, backup manager, shortcuts guide, and display alignment. Multi-select supports batch star/unstar and batch deletion.
• Center-Align Tasks Mode: Toggle center alignment for task titles, steps counters, and wrapped multi-line text directly from the more options menu or plugin settings.
• Subtasks & Floating Detail Modal: Dedicated detail panel and floating modal for step checklists with XML copy-all button for AI consumption, automatic prune of empty steps on Enter, blur, or image removal, and full vertical drag-and-drop step reordering with zero-loss safety reconciliation. Detail footer controls feature condensed spacing with scaled-down action icons and softened note placeholders for a sleek, distraction-free card. Right-click any task to instantly access context actions with single-key shortcuts: Add side step (A), Star task (S), Move to (M), and Delete task (D).
• Image Attachments, Lightbox & Automatic Cleanup: Paste screenshots directly via Ctrl+V or drag-and-drop into task titles, notes, and subtasks. Features a unified top thumbnail strip with a subtle divider line across title, detail, and sidesteps, with hover shortcuts (Ctrl+C to copy to clipboard, Ctrl+X to cut), single-click full-screen lightbox preview with an Open original in Obsidian action, multi-layer Escape key isolation, and automatic garbage collection of orphan image attachments when references drop to zero.
• Focused Lists Quick Board & Drag Reordering: Configure top priority lists as header selector buttons and quick pills with interactive horizontal drag-and-drop reordering, drag-hover highlighting, drop-to-move, and persistent configuration auto-saving.
• Header List Title Mode & Customizable List Size: Option to display the active list name prominently inside the Obsidian leaf header bar (.view-header-title), saving vertical canvas height, alongside configurable main list title font sizing (small, medium, large).
• Compact Quick Add & Lossless Auto-Commit: Streamlined, squished task input box that smoothly expands when active, accompanied by robust draft auto-commit flushing edits on blur, modal close, and app shutdown to prevent data loss.
• Global Undo & Redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y): Full action-level undo and redo tracking task priority weight changes, why/methodology rationales, title renames, subtask edits, star/completion toggles, creations, deletions, and moves. Features intelligent 2.5s rapid change merging, non-intrusive focus isolation that never interferes with Obsidian note editing, and top-right acrylic feedback notifications.
• Card Blank-Space Click to Edit & Selection Preservation: Clicking empty margin or card space around centered titles, checklist steps, notes, or add-step inputs immediately focuses the text field with smart start/end caret positioning, while seamlessly preserving active text selections and drag-selection interactions without caret jumping.
• Non-Intrusive Sidebar Coexistence: Preserves Obsidian core tools (Search, File Explorer, Bookmarks, and third-party panels) by preventing unintended sidebar collapse when activating sidebar tools.
• In-List Search Non-Intrusive Navigation: When searching tasks in floating UI mode, selecting a search result smoothly centers and highlights the task in the list without prematurely popping open the detail modal.
• Multi-Tier Deletion Undo: Instant floating toast undo mechanism for deleted tasks (single or batch), subtasks, and lists, with configurable undo timer in settings.
• Due Dates & Recurrence: Schedule tasks with smart presets (today, tomorrow, next week) and flexible recurrence rules (daily, weekdays, weekly, custom). Overdue recurring tasks automatically roll over.
• Quick Modals & Dashboard Grid: Access Quick List board (Ctrl+Shift+L or command) and Quick Task popup for rapid task capture and navigation. Dynamically adapts viewport padding, margins, and column layouts to user font sizes.
• Automatic & Manual Backups: Built-in Backup Manager with automatic daily snapshots, manual export, import, and backup history management.
• Hide Left Sidebar (Floating UI Mode): Optional setting to hide the left sidebar list view completely for a distraction-free experience. When active, navigates lists via the Quick List floating modal, featuring persistent top-right status reminders if a hotkey has not yet been assigned.
• Internationalization: Full bilingual support defaulting to English, with automatic Chinese localization when Obsidian runs in Chinese.

Install and build

From Community Plugins / BRAT

Search for Fluent Tasks in Obsidian Settings -> Community Plugins, or install via BRAT using the repository URL https://github.com/2607044640/fluent-tasks.

Manual Build

Requires Node.js. From the plugin directory:

npm install
npm run build

Copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/fluent-tasks/, then reload Obsidian and enable Fluent Tasks.

Open the UI

Commands

Static commands (fluent-tasks:):

• open-all-views: Open all three panels
• open-sidebar: Open the task list sidebar
• open-main-view: Open the main task list view
• open-detail-view: Open the task detail view
• search-all-tasks: Global task search modal
• search-current-list: Search tasks within current list
• rename-hovered-list-or-group: Rename hovered or active list / group (F2)
• open-quick-list-modal: Open Quick List modal board
• open-quick-task-modal: Open Quick Task modal popup
• open-backup-modal: Open Backup Manager modal
• toggle-task-star-hover: Toggle star on hovered task
• undo-action: Undo last task action (Ctrl+Z)
• redo-action: Redo last task action (Ctrl+Y)
• navigate-list-back: Navigate to previous list (Alt+Left)
• navigate-list-forward: Navigate to next list (Alt+Right)

Dynamic commands:

• z-jump-to-list-<hash>: Dedicated jump command per list file path

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.