tasks

name	tasks
description	Create or update the live task dashboard (TASKS.md) in Obsidian. Use when the user wants to view or regenerate the task dashboard — 'show my tasks', 'update TASKS.md', 'open task view'. Do NOT use for: the vault portal/map (use moc), capturing new tasks (add them inside project notes directly), or daily briefing (use daily).

Task Dashboard

Creates or updates a permanent TASKS.md at the vault root using Obsidian Tasks plugin live query blocks. The file is always current : no vault scanning needed. Mark tasks complete directly in Obsidian by clicking the checkboxes.

Usage:

• /tasks : open the full dashboard

---

Step 1: Locate vault root

Read vault.yml from the current working directory. The directory containing vault.yml is the vault root. If vault.yml does not exist, warn the user:

"vault.yml not found : using current working directory as vault root: [path]. Run /onboarding to set up your vault configuration."

Then proceed with cwd as vault root.

.claude is always excluded as a hardcoded literal (not in vault.yml) : it is the plugin host directory and is not user-configurable.

---

Step 2: Ensure TASKS.md exists and frontmatter is current

Determine tasks_path = {vault_root}/TASKS.md.

If TASKS.md does not exist:

Create it with this exact content (replace YYYY-MM-DD with today's date and substitute all five bracket-notation variables : [logs_folder], [archive_folder], [knowledge_folder], [resources_folder], [agent_folder] : with their session config values; .claude is a hardcoded literal and requires no substitution):

---
tags: [dashboard, tasks]
created: YYYY-MM-DD
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# Task Dashboard

## 🔴 Overdue

```tasks
not done
path does not include [logs_folder]
path does not include [archive_folder]
path does not include [knowledge_folder]
path does not include [resources_folder]
path does not include [agent_folder]
path does not include .claude
due before today
sort by priority
sort by due
```

## 🗓 Due This Week

```tasks
not done
path does not include [logs_folder]
path does not include [archive_folder]
path does not include [knowledge_folder]
path does not include [resources_folder]
path does not include [agent_folder]
path does not include .claude
due after yesterday
due before in 8 days
sort by priority
sort by due
```

## 📋 Unscheduled

```tasks
not done
path does not include [logs_folder]
path does not include [archive_folder]
path does not include [knowledge_folder]
path does not include [resources_folder]
path does not include [agent_folder]
path does not include .claude
no due date
sort by priority
```

## 🔵 Due Later

```tasks
not done
path does not include [logs_folder]
path does not include [archive_folder]
path does not include [knowledge_folder]
path does not include [resources_folder]
path does not include [agent_folder]
path does not include .claude
due after in 7 days
sort by due
sort by priority
```

## ✅ Completed

```tasks
done
path does not include [logs_folder]
path does not include [archive_folder]
path does not include [knowledge_folder]
path does not include [resources_folder]
path does not include [agent_folder]
path does not include .claude
sort by done date
limit 20
```

If the write fails, stop immediately and tell the user:

"Could not create TASKS.md at [tasks_path]. Error: [error]. Check that the vault path is correct and that you have write permission. Vault root used: [vault_root]"

Do not proceed to Step 3 if the write failed.

If TASKS.md already exists:

Read the file. Extract created: from the frontmatter : if absent, use today's date and tell the user: "created: was missing from TASKS.md frontmatter : set to today's date. Edit it manually if you know the original date."

Overwrite the entire file using the same template as above, substituting:

• created: with the extracted (or today's) date
• updated: with today's date
• All five bracket-notation variables ([logs_folder], [archive_folder], [knowledge_folder], [resources_folder], [agent_folder]) with their session config values

If the write fails, stop immediately and tell the user:

"Could not update TASKS.md at [tasks_path]. Error: [error]. Check that the vault path is correct and that you have write permission. Vault root used: [vault_root]"

Do not proceed to Step 3 if the write failed.

---

Step 3: Open in Obsidian and confirm

The shipped helper detects platform and emits the right URI (cygpath, percent-encoding, etc.). On macOS/Linux/MSYS just run it via Bash:

bash ".claude/plugins/onebrain/startup/scripts/open-in-obsidian.sh" "TASKS.md"

In a PowerShell-only environment where bash is not on PATH, the helper still runs because Git for Windows / WSL ships bash.exe on PATH alongside Obsidian on Windows; if it genuinely is not present, skip the open step (the file is already saved) rather than constructing a URI by hand — manual URI assembly is exactly the pattern the helper exists to replace.

Then say: 📋 TASKS.md updated. → Opening in Obsidian...

---

Known Gotchas

• TASKS.md is a query-only dashboard — never add raw tasks directly to it. The file is overwritten on every /tasks run. Any tasks written directly into TASKS.md will be lost on the next run.

• path does not include queries use partial matching. If a folder name appears as a substring of another (e.g., resources appears in 04-resources), the exclusion still works correctly because Obsidian Tasks matches the full path. But verify exclusions when adding new folders with overlapping names.

• Obsidian must be open for the open obsidian:// command to work. The command fails silently if Obsidian is not running — this is expected behavior, not an error.