---
title: tui-do
related:
  - "[todo](todo.md)"
categories:
  - Tools and applications
---

**tui-do** is a task list and reminder for the terminal: the newest version
of [todo](todo.md), which I've rewritten once per laptop I've owned.

1. Add your tasks to a Lua file.
2. Call the program with the time interval you want.
3. Get stressed about overdue tasks and how close the next deadline is.

I call it from `.bashrc` with `--quiet` and `--week`, so it only shows up when
there is something to do *now*.

## How it works

Tasks live in a plain Lua file, by default
`~/.config/<program-name>/config.lua`, as a `Tasks` table of
`{ name, desc, date }` entries built with `os.time`. Every run:

1. **Loads** the default file, plus any extra `.lua` files given on the
   command line, merging their tasks.
2. **Sorts and filters** the tasks by date and flags.
3. **Prints** them, colored unless `--plain` is set (overdue ones in red).
4. **Dumps** the full merged list back to the default file.

So passing a one-off file once folds its tasks into the main list for good.

## Usage

| Command | Shows |
|---|---|
| `todo` | All tasks |
| `todo --in 7` | Tasks for the next 7 days |
| `todo --week` | Tasks until Monday |
| `todo --overdue` | Tasks already due |
| `todo --new` | Create a template, open it in `$EDITOR` and load it |
| `todo --edit` | Open the main file in `$EDITOR` |

## Building

```
$ make
```

Tested on Linux only. It is also available through the
[pm user repository](pm-user-repository.md).

> [!WARNING]
> Dates are stored as a 32-bit `int`, so they overflow on 2038-01-19. Loading
> a later date fails with an error instead of corrupting data.

## See also

- [Source code](https://github.com/hugoocoto/tui-do)