27 Free CLI Task Management and Todo List Apps for Your Terminal

Terminal or CLI (Command Line Interface) task management and Todo list apps are software applications that allow users to manage and organize their tasks and to-do lists directly from the command line. These apps provide a text-based interface where users can input and manage their tasks, set deadlines, add notes, and mark tasks as completed.

One of the main advantages of using Terminal or CLI task management apps is their efficiency and speed. Users can quickly add, modify, and view tasks without the need for a graphical user interface. This can be especially useful for individuals who work primarily in a command line environment or prefer a minimalist approach to task management.

Additionally, Terminal or CLI task management apps often integrate with other command line tools or scripts, allowing for automation and customization. Users can create scripts or workflows to automate repetitive tasks, set up reminders, or generate reports based on their task data.

By utilizing Terminal or CLI task management apps, individuals can boost their productivity by having a streamlined and focused approach to managing their tasks. These apps provide a distraction-free environment and encourage users to stay organized and prioritize their work effectively.

In this post, you will find a collection of the best terminal-based CLI apps to manage your tasks, projects and to-do lists effectively.

1- Taskwarrior

Taskwarrior is a popular Terminal or CLI task management and Todo list app. It is an open-source software that provides a robust set of features for managing tasks, including task tracking, due dates, priorities, tags, notes, and more.

Taskwarrior allows users to efficiently manage their tasks directly from the command line, providing a flexible and customizable task management solution.

Features

• Task tracking: Users can create and track tasks, keeping a record of their progress and completion status.
• Due dates: Tasks can be assigned specific due dates to help prioritize and manage deadlines.
• Priorities: Users can assign priorities to tasks, ensuring that important tasks are given the appropriate attention.
• Tags: Tasks can be labeled with tags for easy categorization and organization.
• Notes: Users can add notes to tasks, providing additional context or details.
• Recurring tasks: Taskwarrior supports recurring tasks, allowing users to set up tasks that repeat at specified intervals.
• Filters: Users can filter and search for tasks based on various criteria, such as tags, due dates, priorities, and more.
• Customization: Taskwarrior is highly customizable, allowing users to configure settings, create custom reports, and define their own task attributes.

GitHub – GothenburgBitFactory/taskwarrior: Taskwarrior – Command line Task Management

Taskwarrior – Command line Task Management. Contribute to GothenburgBitFactory/taskwarrior development by creating an account on GitHub.

2- Taskwarrior TUI

This is a free and open-source Terminal User Interface (TUI) app for Taskwarrior that you didn’t know you wanted.

Features

• vim-like navigation
• live filter updates
• add, delete, complete, log tasks
• multiple selection
• tab completion
• colors based on taskwarrior

GitHub – kdheepak/taskwarrior-tui: `taskwarrior-tui`: A terminal user interface for taskwarrior

`taskwarrior-tui`: A terminal user interface for taskwarrior – kdheepak/taskwarrior-tui

3- Taskwiki

Taskwiki is a free project management tool in vim that enhances productivity by combining vimwiki and Taskwarrior.

GitHub – tools-life/taskwiki: Proper project management with Taskwarrior in vim.

Proper project management with Taskwarrior in vim. – tools-life/taskwiki

4- Dstask

Dstask is a personal task tracker designed to help you focus. It is similar to Taskwarrior but uses git to synchronise instead of a special protocol.

Features

• Powerful context system (automatically applies filter/tags to queries and new tasks)
• Git powered sync/undo/resolve (passwordstore.org style) which means no need to set up a sync server, and syncing between devices is easy!
• Task listing won’t break with long task text (unlike taskwarrior, currently)
• note command — edit a full markdown note for each task. Checklists are useful here.
• open command — open URLs found in specified task (including notes) in the browser
• zsh/bash completion (including tags and projects in current context) for speed
• A single statically-linked binary
• import tool which can import GitHub issues or taskwarrior tasks.

5- Ultralist

Ultralist is a command-line task management system based on the Getting Things Done system. It focuses on due dates, projects, contexts, statuses, and task recurrence. The CLI is fast, powerful, intuitive, and open source.

GitHub – gammons/ultralist: Simple task management for tech folks.

Simple task management for tech folks. Contribute to gammons/ultralist development by creating an account on GitHub.

6- Taskell

Taskell is a free and open-source CLI kanban board/task manager for Mac and Linux.

Features

• Per project task lists
• vim style key-bindings
• Stored using Markdown
• Clean diffs for easy version control
• Support for sub-tasks and due dates
• Trello board imports
• GitHub project imports

GitHub – smallhadroncollider/taskell: Command-line Kanban board/task manager with support for Trello boards and GitHub projects

Command-line Kanban board/task manager with support for Trello boards and GitHub projects – smallhadroncollider/taskell

7- Geek Life

Geek-life is a free CLI To-Do List / Task Manager designed for developers, DevOps, and sysadmins. It offers keyboard shortcuts, markdown support, project management, task notes, and low resource usage. Boost your productivity with this lightweight and feature-rich app.

Geeks Life: The Ultimate Task and Todo-list Manager for Hackers

Geek-life is a command line task manager designed for developers, DevOps, and sysadmins. It offers keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation and supports Markdown for a familiar editing experience. Highlights * For ninjas – do things faster with keyboard shortcuts * Markdown lovers, feel at 🏠! You’ll see markdown everywhere. * Full featured (almost) –

GitHub – ajaxray/geek-life: The Todo List / Task Manager for Geeks in command line

The Todo List / Task Manager for Geeks in command line – ajaxray/geek-life

8- Todoman

Todoman is a command-line task manager that stores todos in icalendar files, allowing for syncing via CalDAV. It is part of the pimutils project and can be found on GitHub. It is compatible with Unix-like OS but not supported on Windows.

Features

• Listing, editing and creating todos.
• Todos are read from individual ics files from the configured directory. This matches the vdir specification.
• There’s support for the most common TODO features for now (summary, description, location, due date and priority).
• Todoman should run on any major operating system (except Windows).
• Unsupported fields may not be shown but are never deleted or altered.

GitHub – pimutils/todoman: ✅ A simple, standards-based, cli todo (aka: task) manager.

✅ A simple, standards-based, cli todo (aka: task) manager. – pimutils/todoman

9- mashiro-task

mashiro-task is a command-line utility for efficient task management, with a focus on recurring tasks and prioritizing three current tasks. It offers features like the “add” command to create and add new tasks to your list.

GitHub – nikohonu/mashiro-task: A cli to-do list app that focuses on recurring tasks and displays only three current tasks.

A cli to-do list app that focuses on recurring tasks and displays only three current tasks. – nikohonu/mashiro-task

10- Calcure

Calcure is a free and open-source Modern TUI calendar and task manager that boosts productivity. It allows you to manage events and tasks, display birthdays, and import data from other applications like calcurse and taskwarrior.

Features

• Vim keys
• View tasks and events from .ics files synced with clouds
• Operation with fewest key presses possible
• Todo list with subtasks, deadlines, and timers
• Birthdays of your abook contacts
• Import of events and tasks from calcurse and taskwarrior
• Icons according to the name ✈ ⛷ ⛱
• Private events and tasks •••••
• Plain text database in your folder for cloud sync
• Customizable colors, icons, and other features
• Resize and mobile friendly
• Current weather ⛅
• Support for Persian calendar

Platforms

Calcure is an outstanding Calendar and Task Manager for Productive People

Modern TUI calendar and task manager with customizable interface. Manages your events and tasks, displays birthdays from your abook, and can import events and tasks from calcurse and taskwarrior. Features * Vim keys * View tasks and events from .ics files synced with clouds * Operation with fewest key presses possible * Todo list

GitHub – anufrievroman/calcure: Modern TUI calendar and task manager with minimal and customizable UI.

Modern TUI calendar and task manager with minimal and customizable UI. – anufrievroman/calcure

11- PLS-CLI

PLS-CLI is a free and open-source minimalist and full configurable greetings and TODO list.

GitHub – guedesfelipe/pls-cli: Minimalist and full configurable greetings and TODO list

Minimalist and full configurable greetings and TODO list – guedesfelipe/pls-cli

12- Todoska

Todoska is a simple, fast, and powerful todo list manager that can boost productivity. It is designed to help manage tasks and boost efficiency.

GitHub – Abbhiishek/Todoska: Todoska is a simple Cli Todo-Tracker.

Todoska is a simple Cli Todo-Tracker. Contribute to Abbhiishek/Todoska development by creating an account on GitHub.

13- Todo (CLI)

Todo (CLI) is a free and open-source command-line tool to manage the Todo lists of your projects.

GitHub – francoischalifour/todo-cli: ✅ Command-line tool to manage Todo lists

✅ Command-line tool to manage Todo lists. Contribute to francoischalifour/todo-cli development by creating an account on GitHub.

14- todo.txt-cli

This is a free simple and extensible shell script for managing your todo.txt file.

GitHub – todotxt/todo.txt-cli: ☑️ A simple and extensible shell script for managing your todo.txt file.

☑️ A simple and extensible shell script for managing your todo.txt file. – todotxt/todo.txt-cli

15- todolist-lua

todolist-lua is a simple todolist for the command line written in Lua.

GitHub – jonasgeiler/todolist-lua: 🧪 A simple todolist for the command line written in Lua.

🧪 A simple todolist for the command line written in Lua. – jonasgeiler/todolist-lua

16- todo

A simple command-line todolist manager which can be as powerful as you want it to be.

GitHub – foobuzz/todo: A simple command line todo list manager which can be as powerful as you want it to be.

A simple command line todo list manager which can be as powerful as you want it to be. – foobuzz/todo

17- Ekko

1. https://github.com/blackhorseya/ekko

GitHub – blackhorseya/ekko: Ekko is a Golang-based todo list app that can be expanded into a Jira-like issue tracker with workflow management, collaboration tools, and reporting.

Ekko is a Golang-based todo list app that can be expanded into a Jira-like issue tracker with workflow management, collaboration tools, and reporting. – blackhorseya/ekko

18- Go CLI Todo App

1. https://github.com/heybran/gtodo

GitHub – heybran/gtodo: A simple Golang CLI TODO app.

A simple Golang CLI TODO app. Contribute to heybran/gtodo development by creating an account on GitHub.

19- Go Todo

This is a simple command-line todo application written in Go. It allows you to create, read, update, and delete tasks into/from a local JSON file.

GitHub – ichtrojan/go-todo: A simple todo list application in Golang

A simple todo list application in Golang. Contribute to ichtrojan/go-todo development by creating an account on GitHub.

20- Terminal Tasks

Terminal Tasks is a simple terminal task list powered by Ora.

GitHub – nklayman/terminal-tasks: A simple terminal task list powered by Ora

A simple terminal task list powered by Ora. Contribute to nklayman/terminal-tasks development by creating an account on GitHub.

21- t

t is a command-line todo list manager for people that want to finish tasks, not organize them.

GitHub – sjl/t: A command-line todo list manager for people that want to finish tasks, not organize them. (git mirror)

A command-line todo list manager for people that want to finish tasks, not organize them. (git mirror) – sjl/t

22- Please

Please is Todo list in terminal. Written with C++.

23- Tasklist-cli

Tasklist-cli is a simple and elegant command line application to manage tasks and todos. Tasklist-cli exists to bring all the needed functionalities for simple project management to the terminal. No graphical interface is needed; this tool is easy enough to use to improve your workflow.

Features

• add todo tasks.
• mark tasks as done.
• revoke done tasks.
• delete done tasks.
• add due date to a task.
• add subtasks to projects.

GitHub – manojuppala/tasklist-cli: ✅ tasklist-cli is a simple and elegant command line application to manage tasks and todo-lists.

✅ tasklist-cli is a simple and elegant command line application to manage tasks and todo-lists. – manojuppala/tasklist-cli

24- Task

Terminal tasks todo tool for geek.

GitHub – thedevsaddam/task: Terminal tasks todo with reminder tool for geek

Terminal tasks todo with reminder tool for geek . Contribute to thedevsaddam/task development by creating an account on GitHub.

25- TTDL (Terminal ToDo List)

A CLI tool to manage todo lists in todo.txt format.

GitHub – VladimirMarkelov/ttdl: TTDL – Terminal Todo List Manager

Terminal Todo List Manager. Contribute to VladimirMarkelov/ttdl development by creating an account on GitHub.

26- Task

Terminal or CLI task management and todo list apps, such as Task, can boost productivity by providing a simple and efficient way to create and manage to-do lists without any additional complications.

Features

• Any input is regarded as a new task unless it’s a specific command
• Writes tasks and settings into a seperate json file so you could sync it with other machines
• Handles multiple files just fine so you can seperate your task lists
• Doesn’t require you to learn weird input syntax, commands or grow additional arms to get your shit done
• Doesn’t slow you down when writing new tasks
• Does one thing and does it well
• Not bloated

27- td

Your todo list in your terminal.

GitHub – Swatto/td: Your todo list in your terminal

Your todo list in your terminal. Contribute to Swatto/td development by creating an account on GitHub.