mktask

A work task prioritizer built on mkio (config-driven microservice backend) and mkui (config-driven Web Components workspace with dockable panes).

Tasks live in a local SQLite database and show up in a live-updating blotter you can sort, filter, and arrange however you like. Each task carries an importance and an urgency (1–5); the blotter derives a score from them so the most pressing work floats to the top.

A task can be split into child tasks, and a child can be split again, to any depth. The blotter nests children under their parent, each level sorted by score, with carets to fold a subtree away. Completing a task completes everything split from it; reopening a child reopens its ancestors; deleting a task deletes its whole subtree.

Every task gets a Task ID like TKMA00000042: TK, two letters from the username the server runs as (--user), and a sequence number that starts at 00000001, never repeats, and grows past eight digits rather than wrapping (TKMA100000000 follows TKMA99999999).

A task carries references: the things to refer back to while working on it. A reference is a URL (including mailto: and mail-client links), a pasted text snippet (an email, a chat exchange), a file (a screenshot, a PDF), or a link to another task with a relation (blocks, blocked by, relates to). Add a URL or snippet with the Reference button, link tasks with the Link button, or select a task and drop, paste, or pick a file in the Detail pane: an image pastes straight from the clipboard, a pasted URL becomes a URL reference, pasted text a snippet. The References pane follows the selected task (clear the selection to see every reference), with URLs and files as links; selecting a reference previews it in the Detail pane, an image inline. A task link shows on both tasks, worded from each side, and Go to opens the linked task, with its own references, in a Linked Task window. Uploaded files live beside the database in <db>.files/, named by content hash; deleting the last reference to a file, or its task, removes the file.

Quick start

pip install mktask
mktask                    # http://127.0.0.1:8080/

Everything installs via pip; nothing is fetched at runtime.

CLI

mktask [config] [-p PORT] [--host HOST] [-d PATH] [-u USER] [--files DIR] [--version]

• config — path to a mktask.toml. Defaults to ./mktask.toml if present, otherwise the one bundled with the package.
• -p, --port — override the listening port (default 8080).
• --host — override the listening host (default 127.0.0.1).
• -d, --db — database file; .db is appended when there is no extension. :memory: runs without persistence.
• -u, --user — the username whose first two alphanumeric characters, uppercased, prefix new Task IDs (mark → TKMA…; a one-character name is padded with X). Defaults to the OS login name.
• --files — directory for uploaded reference files, served at /files. Defaults to <db>.files beside the database (mktask.db.files/), a temporary directory for :memory:.

The server prints the URL to open once it is listening. If the port is already taken it exits immediately with an error instead of starting.

Customizing

Copy the bundled config out and edit it:

python -c "import mktask, pathlib; print(pathlib.Path(mktask.__file__).parent / 'mktask.toml')"

mktask.toml declares the SQLite tables, the mkio services, and the static routes; static/app.json next to it declares the UI (menus, panes, frames, dialogs). Both are plain config — see the mkio and mkui READMEs for the formats. The one piece of code is mktask/services.py, which the tasks service points at: it assigns Task IDs, runs the complete, reopen, and delete cascades, and manages references (task links are written as a mirrored pair, labels follow the linked task's title, orphaned files are removed). static/refs.js is the one custom widget: the drop box, the preview, and the Linked Task viewer.

Upgrading

Until 1.0, a release may change the database schema without migrating an older database. 0.2.0 did (Task IDs, splitting, and complete replacing done): delete a 0.1.0 mktask.db before starting a newer version. 0.3.0 only adds the task_refs table, which auto_migrate creates in an existing database, so a 0.2.0 database carries over as is.

Development

pip install -e '.[test]'
mktask -d :memory:
python -m pytest

The tests cover the CLI and config loading, Task ID formatting, a real server over HTTP and WebSocket (every task op, splitting and the cascades, the Task ID sequence across restarts and past eight digits, references and task links with their validation and cascades, file upload, dedupe, and cleanup, live delete announcements, the query filter, saved layouts, the port, host, user, and files flags), and the static integrity of app.json against mktask.toml and refs.js.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.