Markdown Task Management

VerifiedSafe

Manage tasks and projects using Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. Provides folder conventions (tasks, ideas, templates, etc.) and rules for recurring tasks, due dates, and tags. Helps keep project organization consistent when creating or editing task files.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
ProductivityIntermediate
1606/2/2026
Claude Code
#task-management#markdown#file-organization#productivity

Recommended for

Our review

This skill defines conventions for managing tasks, ideas, and notes in Markdown files with YAML frontmatter, organized in a structured folder system.

Strengths

  • Clear structure with dedicated folders (tasks, ideas, bugs, etc.)
  • Support for recurring tasks with history logging
  • Strict preservation of user's original formatting
  • Separation of actionable and non-actionable items

Limitations

  • Requires manual discipline to move files
  • No native integration with calendar tools
  • Priority management is not automated
When to use it

Use this skill when you want to organize your notes, tasks, and ideas into a consistent and maintainable Markdown file system.

When not to use it

Avoid this skill if you prefer a dedicated task management app with sync and notifications.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score90/100

The skill only uses Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep tools for managing markdown files. No destructive or exfiltrating actions are possible. It defines task management conventions without any risk of executing external commands or accessing sensitive data.

No concerns found

Examples

Create a new task with due date
Create a task file for 'Finish quarterly report' due next Friday with tags [admin, reports]. Put it in the tasks folder.
Organize unsorted notes from import folder
I have some notes in the import/ folder. Review them and move each to the correct folder based on their type (task, idea, etc.).
Convert an idea into a task
Take the idea 'Build a portfolio site' from ideas/ and turn it into a task with due date 2025-06-01. Keep the original content.

name: manage-tasks description: Task conventions and file organization for markdown-based task management. Use when creating or modifying task files. allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep

Task Management Skill

File Structure

  • tasks/ - Items with specific due dates that need to be completed
  • ideas/ - Projects and ideas without due dates (someday/maybe)
  • templates/ - Reusable task templates (e.g., blog post checklist, event prep)
  • memories/ - Reference items and context (not actionable)
  • bugs/ - Issues and problems to fix
  • completed/ - Archived one-time tasks that have been finished
  • import/ - Temporary folder for reviewing imported items before moving to appropriate folders

Task File Format

Each task is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter:

---
type: task | idea | template | memory | bug
due: YYYY-MM-DD
tags: [tag1, tag2]
---
# Task Title

Task content here.

Required Fields

  • type - Categorizes the file for organization:
    • task - Actionable item with due date (goes in tasks/)
    • idea - Project or concept without deadline (goes in ideas/)
    • template - Reusable checklist or structure (goes in templates/)
    • memory - Reference/context item, not actionable (goes in memories/)
    • bug - Issue or problem to fix (goes in bugs/)

Optional Fields

  • due: YYYY-MM-DD - Due date (required for tasks, optional for ideas)
  • completed: YYYY-MM-DD - Completion date for finished one-time tasks
  • recurrence: monthly | quarterly | weekly | biweekly | yearly - For recurring tasks
  • recurrence_day: N - Day of month for recurring tasks
  • status: in-progress | noodling | someday - For idea files only (not used in tasks/)
  • tags: [tag1, tag2] - Categorization tags

File Organization Rules

tasks/

  • One-time tasks: When completed, add completed: date and move to completed/
  • Recurring tasks: Stay in tasks/ permanently, update due: date when complete (never move to completed/)

ideas/

  • Use status field to track progress:
    • in-progress - Actively working on this, but no specific deadline yet
    • noodling - Thinking about it, exploring, might become in-progress
    • someday - Parked for later, not active now
  • When an idea gets a due date, move it to tasks/

templates/

  • Copy template, add due date and specifics, save to tasks/

memories/

  • No due dates, no action required
  • Meeting notes, documentation, decisions made

bugs/

  • Can have due dates or not
  • Track technical issues, website problems, system bugs
  • When fixed, add completed: date and move to completed/

completed/

  • Contains finished tasks with completed: date
  • Keeps active tasks/ folder clean
  • Never put recurring tasks here

import/

  • Set type: field during review
  • Move to appropriate folder based on type

Recurring Tasks

Recurring tasks include:

  • Instructions section explaining how to update when complete
  • History section to log completion dates
  • Never move to completed/ - stay in tasks/ permanently

Example:

---
type: task
due: 2025-01-15
recurrence: monthly
recurrence_day: 15
tags: [admin]
---
# Monthly Report

## Instructions
When completing this task:
1. Update the `due:` date to next month
2. Add completion date to History section

## History
- 2024-12-15: Completed
- 2024-11-15: Completed

Task Creation Guidelines

CRITICAL: Preserve user's exact text formatting

When the user provides notes, content, or task details:

  • Use their EXACT text - preserve capitalization, punctuation, line breaks exactly as given
  • Do NOT capitalize the first letter if they didn't
  • Do NOT add periods at the end if they didn't include them
  • Do NOT add section headers like "## Notes" unless they provided them
  • Do NOT reformat or "clean up" their text in any way

Simple tasks

Just the essentials:

  • due date
  • tags
  • minimal notes

Complex tasks

Include:

  • Checklist section
  • Notes section
  • Resources/links section (if needed)

Recurring tasks

Include:

  • recurrence field
  • Instructions section
  • History section

Idea files

Include:

  • status field (in-progress, noodling, or someday)
  • tags
  • notes/description
  • No due date (if it gets a due date, move to tasks/)

Tagging Conventions

  • Use semantic tags that describe the task category, context, or project
  • Keep tags lowercase and hyphenated for multi-word tags
  • Be consistent with existing tags in the project
Related skills