Unfinished Todo Highlighter

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An Obsidian plugin that automatically highlights files containing unfinished Markdown tasks (- [ ]) in the File Explorer. The highlight disappears when every task in the file is completed.

Tasks created with plugins such as Typing Assistant are supported as long as they use Obsidian's standard Markdown task syntax.

Features

• Automatically detects unfinished tasks across the entire vault or within a selected folder
• Highlights the file name, background, or both
• Configurable highlight color and background opacity
• Optional glow, bold text, and colored dot indicator
• Updates automatically when tasks are edited or completed and when files are created, deleted, or renamed
• Shows all unfinished tasks in a synchronized vault-wide summary note
• Links every task group to its source note
• Completing a task in the summary checks it in the source note without removing the completed source line
• Displays the number of matching notes in the status bar
• Supports both desktop and mobile Obsidian

Installation

1. Open the latest version on the Releases page.
2. Download these three files:
   • manifest.json
   • main.js
   • styles.css
3. Open your Obsidian vault folder.
4. Create the folder .obsidian/plugins/unfinished-todo-highlighter/ inside the vault.
5. Place the three downloaded files in that folder.
6. Restart Obsidian or refresh the installed community plugins list.
7. Open Settings → Community plugins and enable Unfinished Todo Highlighter.

The resulting folder structure should look like this:

Vault/
└── .obsidian/
    └── plugins/
        └── unfinished-todo-highlighter/
            ├── manifest.json
            ├── main.js
            └── styles.css

Settings

Open Settings → Unfinished Todo Highlighter to configure:

• Highlight color
• Background, file name, or both
• Background opacity
• Glow effect
• Bold file names
• Colored dot indicator
• Target folder, or the entire vault when left blank
• Path of the unfinished task summary note
• Status bar note count

If you also use the File Color plugin, the automatic highlight may override its color on files that contain unfinished tasks.

Task Detection

The plugin detects unfinished standard Markdown tasks such as:

- [ ] Unfinished task

Completed tasks such as - [x] are ignored. Checkbox examples inside fenced code blocks are also ignored.

All processing takes place locally inside your vault. The plugin does not send data to any external service.

Unfinished Task Summary

Open the Command Palette and run Unfinished Todo Highlighter: To Do未達成リストを作成または開く. You can also use the 作成・開く button in the plugin settings. The plugin creates the configured note when it does not exist and adds this dynamic block:

```unfinished-todos
```

The summary always scans the entire vault, independently of the optional target folder used for File Explorer highlighting. Source notes are ordered from oldest to newest. A YYYY-MM-DD date in the file name is used when available; otherwise, the file creation time is used.

• Checking a task in the summary changes the original task from [ ] to [x].
• The completed line remains in the source note and disappears from the summary.
• Checking a task directly in its source note also removes it from the summary automatically.
• The source note name is an internal link that opens the original note.
• The configured summary note automatically opens in Reading view.
• Leaving the summary restores the tab's previous Editing or Reading view.

The summary is a dynamic view rather than a second copy of the task data. The source note remains the single source of truth.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run build

The release workflow builds and uploads the three files required by Obsidian: manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css.

License

MIT License