Ask HN: Would anyone use a command line task manager? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Would anyone use a command line task manager?

6 pointsmythriel11 comments

For personal use I have a small script that I run in command line while I am coding and that tracks the time I spend on a task and what tasks I do. The thing is I do not really like to use a web service because I do not like to have 2 many tabs opened, I just want to have tabs specific to work(application, stackoverflow pages). Most of the time I am working in the terminal commiting and pushing code to git so I find it easy to also log my work time in the terminal. I really think this is a better workflow than having to constantly switch between terminal and browser after finishing a task so if anyone else feels the same way and if people are interested about this I can improve my little terminal tool and release it.

Edit: based on good feedback I will clean it up and share it...also I am thinking of making some improvements so feel free to request a feature if u want something added...for example I am thinking right now that it would be cool to integrate it with Basecamp and other project management tools like Jira so I can log the tasks right from my terminal, not sure yet how it would work but it is just an idea of mine to make everything more efficient.

There is an open todo format http://todotxt.com/ which has a Command Line Interface https://github.com/ginatrapani/todo.txt-cli with lots of extras https://github.com/ginatrapani/todo.txt-cli/wiki/Todo.sh-Add... And has vim plugins https://github.com/freitass/todo.txt-vim and phone apps , iphone and android...

Even has some time tracking added by others... https://github.com/dbindel/tlua

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Code it and publish it. Or at least elaborate on your approach and how it differs from the many existing solutions, such as the TaskPaper-format and todo.txt variants.

If you're really looking for design input, re-read the first paragraph and then we can help you with feedback.

Thank you for your answer...the thing is I want to publish just a simple 2 use free tool that maybe would help others, I am constantly thinking of small tools to develop to improve development workflow and tools that developers need so any feedback is welcomed.

I second the above - get it on GitHub tonight - you will get feedback - esp if you do a show HN and it is always better to code knowing someone is going to read it - you put more care in naturally.

Edit: release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it, release it,release it, release it, release it

I am sorry to the down voters, but my reading of the OP is he has some concerns that people will read his code and mock, criticise or otherwise downgrade his work or abilities. And I wanted to encourage him (her?!) to get over that.

Trust me every time I commit I should scrounge more, imscan every word of a comment for signs of sarcasm, I still do it, I still hate it and I have become a better coder for the feedback frommthe work I pit out there. The benefits have outweighed the costs

My original concern was if someone would want something like this I would just make what I am using better and release it..thank you for your advice

Ive been using timetrap https://github.com/samg/timetrap

Might want to check out http://taskwarrior.org too.

I would like to see that

yes! That would be good. Do share

this would be great

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