nikki/TASK_FORMAT.md

Task Format

Nikki extracts tasks from standard markdown checkboxes in your memos. Any line matching - [ ] or - [x] is parsed as a task. Metadata is extracted inline — no special syntax beyond what you'd naturally write.

Basic Format

- [ ] task description [due-date] [due-time] [!reminder] [p#] [#list]

All metadata fields are optional. Order doesn't matter. The task text is everything that remains after metadata is stripped.

Due Dates

ISO format or natural language.

Input	Meaning
2026-06-15	June 15, 2026
today	Today's date
tomorrow	Tomorrow
yesterday	Yesterday

- [ ] submit report 2026-06-15
- [ ] buy milk today

Due Times

12-hour or 24-hour format.

Input	Meaning
5pm	17:00
10:30am	10:30
14:00	14:00
9am	09:00

- [ ] standup today 9am
- [ ] deploy 2026-06-15 14:00

If a time is set without a date, today is assumed (with a warning).

Reminders

How far before the due date/time to send a notification. Prefixed with !.

Input	Meaning
!30min	30 minutes before
!1hr	1 hour before
!2day	2 days before
!1week	1 week before

- [ ] dentist tomorrow 3pm !1hr
- [ ] taxes 2026-04-15 !1week

A reminder without a due date or time is flagged as an error — there's nothing to count back from.

Priority

Three levels: p1 (high), p2 (medium), p3 (low).

Level	Notification behavior
p1	Alarm sound, vibration, bypasses DND
p2	Notification sound, heads-up
p3	Notification sound, subtle

- [ ] server is down p1
- [ ] update docs p3

Tasks without a priority are treated as unclassified (silent notification).

Lists / Tags

Hashtags assign tasks to lists. A task can belong to multiple lists.

- [ ] buy groceries #shopping
- [ ] fix login bug #backend #urgent

If a task has no #tag, it inherits the memo-level tags (tags set at the top of the memo). Task-level tags always take priority over memo-level tags.

Complete Examples

# Sprint 14

- [ ] fix auth timeout 2026-06-10 p1 #backend
- [ ] update onboarding copy tomorrow 5pm !30min p2 #frontend
- [ ] write migration tests 2026-06-12 #backend #testing
- [x] deploy staging
- [ ] review PR today 3pm !15min p2
- [ ] buy coffee #personal

This produces 6 tasks. The completed one (deploy staging) is tracked but excluded from validation. Tasks can be grouped by due date, list, priority, source memo, or completion status.

Validation

The parser doctor checks incomplete tasks for issues and shows inline warnings/errors in the task view.

Errors

Issue	Example	Message
Invalid date	2026-13-45	invalid date, use YYYY-MM-DD format
Invalid priority	p5	invalid priority, only p1, p2, p3 are supported
Reminder without due	!30min (no date/time)	reminder has no due date or time to count back from
Invalid reminder unit	!5blah	invalid reminder unit, use min, hr, day, or week

Warnings

Issue	Example	Message
Time without date	5pm (no date)	time without date, using today
Past date	2020-01-01	date is in the past
Multiple priorities	p1 p2	multiple priorities, using first (p1)
Multiple dates	2026-06-01 2026-07-01	multiple dates found, using first
Multiple reminders	!30min !1hr	multiple reminders, using first
Typo	tomorow	did you mean "tomorrow"?

Typo Detection

Common misspellings are caught and suggestions offered:

• tday, todya, toaday, toady → today
• tmrw, tomorow, tommorow → tomorrow
• yestrday, ysterday → yesterday
• Day name typos: munday, tusday, wendsday, thurday, firday, saterday, sundie, etc.

Notification Behavior

When a task has both a due date/time and a reminder, two notifications may fire:

1. Reminder notification — fires !duration before the due time
2. Due notification — fires at the due time itself

If a task has a date but no time, the notification fires at the default notify time (configurable in settings, default 8pm).

If a task has neither date nor time, no notification is scheduled.