todo.txt-flavoured Markdown

Details
Full Name

todo.txt-flavoured Markdown Task Lists

Also known as

Enhanced Markdown Tasks, Markdown with todo.txt conventions

Core Concepts:

Markdown task lists

Standard GitHub-flavoured markdown syntax (- [ ] uncompleted, - [x] completed)

Priority markers

Uses todo.txt priority notation (A), (B), © where (A) is highest priority

Project tags

Prefixed with + to group related tasks (e.g., +website, +semantic-anchors)

Context tags

Prefixed with @ to indicate location/tool/context (e.g., @computer, @home, @research)

Key-value metadata

Structured data pairs like due:YYYY-MM-DD, priority:high, or custom fields

Date tracking

Creation dates and completion dates in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD)

Human readability

Plain text format that remains readable without special tools

Tool-agnostic

Can be processed by both markdown renderers and todo.txt tools

Searchable and filterable

Easy to grep/search by tags, priorities, or metadata

Pattern Structure:

- [ ] (Priority) Task description +project @context key:value
- [x] YYYY-MM-DD (Priority) Completed task +project

Example Usage:

- [ ] (A) Review PR for +website @computer due:2024-02-03
- [x] 2024-02-01 (B) Update documentation +docToolchain
- [ ] (C) Research new feature +semantic-anchors @research
- [ ] Call team meeting @phone +project-planning due:2024-02-05
- [x] 2024-01-30 Fix bug in authentication +backend @computer
Key Proponents

Combines GitHub-flavoured Markdown task lists with Gina Trapani’s todo.txt format

Original References:

  • GitHub-flavoured Markdown task lists

  • todo.txt format specification by Gina Trapani

When to Use:

  • Task management in markdown documentation

  • Project planning and tracking in README files

  • GitHub issues and pull request descriptions requiring structured task lists

  • Personal productivity systems using plain text

  • Documentation that combines narrative with actionable tasks

  • When you need both human readability and programmatic parsing

  • Team collaboration where tasks need clear priorities and contexts

  • Generating consistent task list formats with LLMs

Benefits:

  • Leverages two well-established, widely recognized standards

  • Renders nicely in GitHub, GitLab, and other markdown viewers

  • Remains fully functional in plain text editors

  • Enables rich metadata without sacrificing readability

  • Facilitates both manual and automated task tracking

Current Status:

  • The underlying todo.txt format is alive and canonical at todotxt.org (Gina Trapani): one task per line, priorities as (A), projects as +project, contexts as @context

  • The prior is thin twice over: todo.txt itself is a single-maintainer niche ecosystem from the plain-text-productivity scene, and the Markdown-flavoured combination this anchor describes is a project-level convention on top — paste the concrete conventions into the prompt rather than relying on the name