Core Concepts¶
TaskNotes follows the "one note per task" principle, where each task lives as a separate Markdown note with structured metadata in YAML frontmatter.
The Note-Per-Task Approach¶
Individual Markdown notes replace centralized databases or proprietary formats. Each task file can be read, edited, and backed up with any text editor or automation tool.
Task Structure¶
A TaskNotes task is a standard Markdown file with YAML frontmatter:
---
tags:
- task
title: Review quarterly report
status: in-progress
priority: high
due: 2025-01-15
scheduled: 2025-01-14
contexts:
- "@office"
projects:
- "[[Q1 Planning]]"
---
## Notes
Key points to review:
- Revenue projections
- Budget allocations
## Meeting Notes
Discussion with finance team on 2025-01-10...
The frontmatter contains structured, queryable properties. The note body holds freeform content—research findings, meeting notes, checklists, or links to related documents.
Obsidian Integration¶
Since tasks are proper notes, they work with Obsidian's core features:
- Backlinks: See which notes reference a task
- Graph View: Visualize task relationships and project connections
- Tags: Use Obsidian's tag system for additional categorization
- Search: Find tasks using Obsidian's search
- Links: Reference tasks from daily notes, meeting notes, or project documents
This approach creates many small files. TaskNotes stores tasks in a configurable folder (default: TaskNotes/Tasks/) to keep them organized.
YAML Frontmatter¶
Task properties are stored in YAML frontmatter, a standard format with broad tool support.
Property Types¶
TaskNotes uses several property types:
| Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Text | title: Buy groceries |
Single text value |
| List | tags: [work, urgent] |
Multiple values |
| Date | due: 2025-01-15 |
ISO 8601 date format |
| DateTime | scheduled: 2025-01-15T09:00 |
Date with time |
| Link | projects: ["[[Project A]]"] |
Obsidian wikilinks |
| Number | timeEstimate: 60 |
Numeric values (minutes) |
Field Mapping¶
Property keys are configurable. If your vault uses deadline instead of due, you can map TaskNotes to use your existing field names without modifying your files.
Custom Fields¶
Add any frontmatter property to your tasks. User-defined fields work in filtering, sorting, and templates. Define custom fields in Settings → Task Properties to include them in task modals and views.
Bases Integration¶
TaskNotes v4 uses Obsidian's Bases core plugin for its main views. Bases provides:
- Filtering: Query tasks using AND/OR conditions
- Sorting: Order tasks by any property
- Grouping: Organize tasks by status, priority, project, or custom fields
- Views: Task List, Kanban, Calendar, and Agenda are all Bases views
Views are stored as .base files in TaskNotes/Views/. These files contain YAML configuration that defines the view's query and display settings. You can duplicate, modify, or create new views by editing these files.
Enabling Bases¶
Bases is a core plugin included with Obsidian 1.10.1+:
- Open Settings → Core Plugins
- Enable "Bases"
- TaskNotes views will now function
Methodology-Agnostic Design¶
TaskNotes provides tools without enforcing a specific productivity methodology. The same features support different approaches:
Getting Things Done (GTD)¶
- Contexts (
@home,@office,@phone) for location/tool-based grouping - Projects for multi-step outcomes
- Status workflows for next actions, waiting, and someday/maybe
- Calendar integration for time-specific commitments
Time-Based Planning¶
- Calendar views for scheduling and time-blocking
- Scheduled dates for when to work on tasks
- Time tracking for logging work sessions
- Pomodoro timer for focused work intervals
Project-Centric Workflows¶
- Project links connecting tasks to project notes
- Dependencies for task sequencing
- Subtasks created from project context menus
- Filtering by project in all views
Kanban / Agile¶
- Kanban view with customizable columns
- Swimlanes for two-dimensional organization
- Drag-and-drop status changes
- Custom status values for your workflow stages