What Is The Best Workflow To Manage Recurring Tasks In Todo Txt?

Yes—you can definitely hook 'todo.txt' into IFTTT, but it usually needs a little glue. I’ve toyed with this for a while and found there are three practical approaches depending on how hands-on you want to be. The simplest no-code route is to keep your 'todo.txt' in a cloud folder that IFTTT can watch, like Dropbox or Google Drive. Create an applet that triggers on "New file in folder" or "File updated" and then pair that with whatever action you want (push notification, calendar event, smart light blink). The caveat is that IFTTT won’t parse your tasks for you — it just sees the file change. So if you need triggers based on things like a priority '(A)', a context '@home', or a 'due:' tag, you’ll need something to read and parse the file first. That’s where a tiny script or mobile automation comes in. I run a small Python watcher on my laptop that syncs with the Dropbox copy of my 'todo.txt', looks for new lines matching patterns I care about, and sends a POST to IFTTT Webhooks (https://maker.ifttt.com/trigger/{event}/with/key/{key}) with the task details. From there IFTTT can light up my Philips Hue, log to a spreadsheet, or send me a text. If you prefer no scripting, try combining IFTTT with Zapier or Make.com which can read files and do basic parsing — that’s a nice middle ground between full code and pure cloud triggers.

When my todo.txt list starts to look like a chaotic comic crossover, I switch into director mode and give every project a clear stage and cast. I like to treat each project as a short story: one headline milestone, a handful of actionable scenes (tasks), and a place to stash notes. In practice that means using consistent project tokens (+ProjectName), context tags (@home, @office, @phone), and metadata like due:YYYY-MM-DD and created:YYYY-MM-DD. I usually pick short, lower-case project names (for example +website-redesign or +taxes2025) so filters stay tidy and predictable. For structure, I often create a top-level task that represents the project itself and then list subtasks that reference the same +Project tag. For example: (A) 2025-09-01 Plan content outline +website-redesign due:2025-09-07 created:2025-08-28 (B) 2025-09-02 Draft homepage copy +website-redesign @computer t:2h (C) 2025-09-05 Review with designer +website-redesign @meetings This way I can grep for +website-redesign and see the whole arc. If I want visible milestones I add a headline like "Start: Rebuild homepage +website-redesign" and mark it complete when the phase is done. For nested or complex projects I adopt a simple numbering scheme in task text like "1/5: Wireframe header", "2/5: Select images" — it’s low-tech but gives a sense of progress without needing fancy features. The other things that save my sanity: keep one or two contexts for each task (avoid spamming tags), use due: only for real deadlines, and add t: for time estimates so I can batch short tasks. I also use a 'blocked' keyword for tasks waiting on someone else (or depends:TaskID if my tool supports IDs). Tools like the todo.txt CLI, Simpletask, or any editor + grep make it easy to filter by +project or @context. Finally, archive completed items regularly — I keep a monthly archive file — and periodically rename project tags for consistency. It’s surprisingly satisfying to close the final milestone and watch the +project disappear from the active list; it feels like finishing a season of a good series, and I end the session with a little grin and a fresh cup of coffee.

Okay, here's the lowdown from my painfully curious, tinkering brain: the most common reason your todo.txt lines aren’t translating their due dates into Taskwarrior is that Taskwarrior doesn’t natively speak the todo.txt format. If you just run something like 'task import todo.txt', Taskwarrior expects its own JSON export format, not plain todo.txt key:value pairs. That means either you need a converter that turns todo.txt into Taskwarrior JSON or you need to feed Taskwarrior explicit 'task add' commands that include a properly formatted due attribute. When I debug this kind of thing I split the problem into two small checks. First, confirm the raw string in todo.txt: a valid todo.txt due token looks like due:YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., due:2025-09-07). If your file uses slashes (09/07/2025), a different ordering (DD-MM-YYYY), or natural words like due:tomorrow, the importer may not understand it. Second, test Taskwarrior itself by hand: run a single manual command such as task add Buy milk due:2025-09-07 and then list tasks. If Taskwarrior accepts that, the issue is the conversion step. If it rejects it, examine Taskwarrior’s date parsing — it prefers ISO-style dates or full ISO timestamps (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ). Other little gremlins I’ve hit: Windows line endings or a BOM can confuse parsers, stray whitespace or punctuation after the date token (like due:2025-09-07,) can break detection, and some older converter scripts only look for lowercase tokens or exact spacing. My practical workflow is to run a small conversion script (there are community 'todo.txt to Taskwarrior' scripts on GitHub) or write a short Python loop that reads each todo line, extracts the due: token, normalizes to YYYY-MM-DD, and either calls 'task add' or emits Taskwarrior JSON for 'task import'. Try debugging with a single task first, and if you want I can sketch a tiny conversion snippet to run locally — I love these little automation puzzles and it usually takes one edited regex to get everything flowing smoothly.

Oh, absolutely — you can do that, and it's not as scary as it sounds once you break it into steps. I've wrestled with converting a messy Evernote dump into a tidy 'todo.txt' list more than once, and there are three practical routes I usually suggest: export-and-script, export-then-manual-clean, or use a third-party bridge/service. If you want a reliable, repeatable approach I go with export-and-script. From 'Evernote' export your notes as an .enex file (that XML-based export saves titles, content in ENML, tags, created/updated timestamps). Inside the ENML, checkboxes appear as elements — those are your actual tasks if you used checkboxes. I typically write a small script (Python is my go-to) that parses the .enex, extracts each note's title, created date, tags, and then walks the HTML to find each and the surrounding text. Map tags to +project or @context in 'todo.txt' lines, use the created/updated date as the task date if you like, and output lines like: "(A) 2025-09-06 Do laundry +Home @Chores" or just "2025-09-06 Do laundry" for simplicity. If you prefer, convert the .enex to Markdown first with an existing converter and then grep for lines starting with - [ ] or similar. There are a few gotchas I always warn people about: checkbox markup can be inline or separated by paragraphs, attachments (images, PDFs) won't convert to plain text tasks, and you have to decide how to treat incomplete tasks vs completed ones (todo.txt uses a leading 'x' to mark completion). Test on a small export before mass-converting, and keep a backup. If scripting isn't your vibe, there are no-code services like Zapier or IFTTT that can pipe new notes into Todoist or a Google Sheet which you can then export to todo.txt format, but that’s more for ongoing sync than bulk migration. Personally, I like the control of a simple script — it’s faster once set up and you can tailor project/context mapping — but either way, it’s totally doable and kinda satisfying to watch your scattered notes become a streamlined todo list.

Okay, let’s nerd out about this — syncing a plain old 'todo.txt' across Android, iPhone, and desktop is wonderfully simple once you pick the right sync layer and apps, but there are a few little gotchas I’ve learned the hard way. First, pick your sync service. For most folks Dropbox is the path of least resistance because many dedicated todo.txt apps speak Dropbox natively. If you care more about privacy or run your own server, Nextcloud/WebDAV is stellar. Syncthing is great for direct device-to-device sync (no cloud), but iOS support is fiddly compared to Android and desktop. Once you pick a provider, create one canonical file like ~/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt (or the equivalent folder in iCloud Drive / Nextcloud) so every client points to the same path. Next, choose the apps. On Android I use 'Simpletask' (or the Simpletask family) because it understands the todo.txt format, supports Dropbox/WebDAV, and has filtering/undo. On iPhone there’s 'Todo.txt Touch' or any plain text editor that can open files via the Files provider — many iOS apps can edit files inside Dropbox or iCloud Drive. On desktop I alternate between a small GUI (like 'todotxt.net' on Windows or a light editor on macOS) and the command-line tool 'todo.sh' / 'todotxt-cli' when I want power. Point every app to the same file path in your chosen sync service and let the cloud do the heavy lifting. A couple of practical tips from my own messy inbox: always let the sync finish before switching devices to avoid conflicts, and check app settings for atomic saves (some editors rewrite the whole file and can create duplicates). If you expect heavy concurrent editing, consider using Git on top of the file for history and easier conflict resolution, or use Nextcloud’s versioning. Name conventions help: keep one file (not multiple files named todo1.txt/todo2.txt) and use lower-case dot extension like todo.txt. Finally, add automated backups (a daily cron or cloud versioning) and consider small automations — I pipe urgent @today items into my calendar or set phone reminders via shortcuts/Tasker. Once it’s set up, that single plain-text brain is surprisingly calming — like a tidy bookshelf for your tasks.

When my to-do list started bleeding across sticky notes, calendar reminders, and the notes app, I switched to the plain-text 'todo.txt' approach and never looked back. I love that it's just a single .txt file with simple conventions: priorities like (A), projects with +project, contexts with @context, and optional key:value metadata. Depending on whether I'm on my phone, laptop, or a tiny Linux droplet, I reach for different tools — here are the ones I actually use and why they stick. On Android I live in 'Simpletask' (there are a couple of forks; pick the actively maintained one). It syncs via Dropbox or folder sync, shows clear filters for priority, project, and context, and gives you a quick way to tap through priorities without typing parentheses. For iPhone, 'Todo.txt Touch' has a clean interface and the same conventions, so your file stays portable. On Windows, I use 'todotxt.net' (or QTodoTxt if I'm on Linux) for a lightweight GUI that can sort by priority, filter by +project, and bulk edit tags. If I'm messing with automation or want the fastest possible workflow, the original CLI tool 'todo.sh' is unbeatable — you can write tiny scripts to bump priorities, auto-add dates, or produce custom reports. For editing in the context of writing or coding, I sometimes drop the file into VS Code or Sublime Text with simple syntax highlighting or the PlainTasks plugin; that makes batch edits and regex searches painless when I'm pruning an overdone project list. A few practical tips I picked up: keep a consistent metadata key like due:YYYY-MM-DD so filters work predictably; don't bury priorities in the middle of lines — put (A) at the very front; and set up automatic sync (Dropbox, Nextcloud, or Git) so your mobile and desktop views always match. If you want somelike super minimal: a plain text editor plus smart search is enough, but using these apps makes handling tags and priorities feel deliberate rather than chaotic. Personally, mixing a friendly mobile app for quick taps with a CLI or desktop tool for heavy organizing has been the sweet spot for me — fast inputs on the go, powerful edits at the desk, and the reassuring simplicity of a single text file that I can grep or commit anytime. If you want suggestions tailored to your platform or a short setup walkthrough (sync, basic filters, and a couple of handy scripts), tell me what devices you use and I’ll sketch out a step-by-step that matches your habits.

Okay — if I'm treating a plain todo.txt like a tiny vault, I usually pick one of two comfortable paths: file-level encryption with a well-vetted tool, or a locked vault/container that feels like a folder you can carry around. For a single file, symmetric GPG is simple and robust: I run something like gpg -o todo.txt.gpg -c todo.txt to create an AES-encrypted blob and then gpg -d todo.txt.gpg > todo.txt when I need to edit. It’s fast, widely supported, and integrates nicely with editors via vim-gnupg or Emacs’ EasyPG so I can open, edit, and save without wresting with temporary files. If I want multi-file convenience and encrypted filenames (so the names of files don’t leak sensitive hints), I lean toward a fused solution: 'gocryptfs' or 'cryptomator' give me an encrypted mount that I can treat like a normal folder. I mount the vault, edit my todo.txt with any app, then unmount and I’m back to a safe encrypted chunk. For cross-device sync, 'cryptomator' has mobile apps and desktop clients, so it plays nicely with cloud providers without exposing plaintext. Some practical tips I always follow: pick a strong passphrase (use a password manager to generate + store it), back up the encrypted file/container and the key material in at least two places, and be careful with temporary files — many editors create .swp/.tmp files that can leak content unless the editor uses secure deletion or a memory-only buffer. If you want more automation, scripts that decrypt-to-temp, launch editor, then re-encrypt on close are super handy. Personally, I mix GPG for quick notes and a small cryptomator vault for daily todo management — both give me peace of mind and portability.

Honestly, picking a reliable cloud for a tiny todo.txt file usually comes down to two things for me: how conflicts are handled and whether I can get version history easily. Over the years I’ve tried a few setups and learned the hard way that the service’s sync behavior matters more than raw uptime. For an out-of-the-box, low-fuss option I often recommend Dropbox — it has solid delta sync, keeps a pretty accessible file history, and if two devices write at once you usually get a harmless ‘conflicted copy’ instead of losing lines. That makes it friendly for plain-text workflows where you might edit on phone and laptop without thinking about merges. If you care about control or cost, Nextcloud (self-hosted) or a compatible provider gives you the same features but on your own terms: versioning, WebDAV access, and the ability to host backups where you want. Pair Nextcloud with clients that write atomically (they save to a temp file then rename) and you reduce weird partial-write problems that break simple todo.txt parsers. For a zero-cloud, privacy-first option, Syncthing is wonderful — instant, peer-to-peer sync with no third-party storage — but remember Syncthing is not a backup by itself: if you delete something on all peers, it’s gone, so combine it with periodic offsite backups. If you’re willing to get a little technical, a hybrid setup is the most bulletproof: keep syncing via Syncthing or Dropbox for real-time edits, and add an automated backup job that pushes copies to a cheap durable store like Backblaze B2 or S3 (I use rclone to script that). Another neat trick is to commit your todo.txt into a private Git repo (automated via cron or GitHub Actions); Git gives you clear history and easy recovery, and you can encrypt the repo if you’re worried about privacy. On mobile, prefer apps that are known to play nicely with todo.txt (for Android there’s 'Simpletask', for iOS some clients support the format) because they usually handle atomic writes and reduce conflict clutter. So, my personal mix: Dropbox or Nextcloud for day-to-day syncing plus an automated rclone backup to B2/S3 or a private Git push weekly. If you want absolute privacy, Syncthing plus encrypted remote backups is my go-to. Pick whatever fits how careless or careful you are with edits — you’ll sleep easier with at least two layers of redundancy.