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CLUSTER TODO-DESKTOP-FILE · 21 ENTRIES · EARLIEST ENTRY 2017-12-15

Plain-text to-do managers

This cluster consists of desktop and command-line to-do list managers that store tasks in plain-text formats such as todo.txt, Markdown, or JSON, with tagging, filtering, and search capabilities. The dated entries are sporadic from 2009 to 2025, with a slight concentration in early 2026. The traction leaders are 0x54ask, todoist-cli, and reinschrift, each showing zero stars.

Entry timeline

ENTRY TIMELINE

MAR 2009: 1DEC 2017: 1JUN 2020: 1SEP 2020: 1APR 2021: 1JAN 2024: 1JUL 2025: 1APR 2026: 1JUN 2026: 1AUG 2026: 4SEP 2026: 7OCT 2026: 1
MAR 2009OCT 2026

Each bar is the month a member carries, which is a creation date where the source published one and a crawl date otherwise. Nothing in the index was found before 11 August 2026, and coverage broadened sharply on 14–15 August, so a bar from then on reports how much we found that month, not how much was built; an earlier bar reports how far back a member's own source dated it — not how long we have been watching.

Members by activity

Activity signals, not revenue.

Build origin · 1 ai-built · 4 hand-coded · 15 unlabelled

Operator · 5 hobby · 2 indie · 12 open source · 1 unlabelled

Two labels per entry, never collapsed into one: how it was built, and who stands behind it. Counted over the 20 listed below. Unlabelled means nothing has decided yet — not that the answer is small.

  1. 01checkst1★16 daysliveindieTo-do app for Windows and Android that stores tasks in plain text files using todo.txt syntax, with quick capture and views.
  2. 02Donna1★21 days—hand-codedhobbymacOS desktop app that offers a lightweight floating todo list accessible from a desktop bubble, with priority tags and local storage.
  3. 03python-td-cli0★11 daysliveopen sourceCommand-line todo manager that organizes and manages tasks across multiple projects for personal productivity.
  4. 04the-boxes0★21 days—hobbyLocal-first desktop todo app with a Things-like interface that stores tasks as plain-text files for offline use and private syncing.
  5. 05DeskTodo0★17 days—hobbyAlways-on-top desktop todo list with local storage, reminders, sorting, tray support, and optional synchronization to a personal Git repository.
  6. 06tally0★26 days—hobbyTerminal todo tracker that lets users add, check off, tag, and clean tasks stored locally in a single file.
  7. 070x54ask0★1 moliveopen sourceOffline todo.txt manager that stores tasks as plain text, supports context and tag filtering, and automatically merges externally synced changes.
  8. 08todoist-cli0★1 moliveopen sourceCommand-line interface for Todoist.
  9. 09reinschrift0★23 dayslivehand-codedopen sourceNative desktop application and command-line tool for managing personal todo lists stored as plain Markdown files.
  10. 10sleek0★1 moliveopen sourceDesktop todo list manager that organizes tasks using the todo.txt plain text file syntax for Linux users.
  11. 11ntodotxt0★1 moliveopen sourceTodo list app that stores tasks in a single text file and synchronizes with self-hosted services via WebDAV.
  12. 12sleek0★2 moliveopen sourceDesktop todo list manager based on the todo.txt text file format, with tagging, filtering, grouping, and multi-file support.
  13. 13DreamList1★5 mo—ai-builtLocal-first todo app for desktop that stores tasks and lists in a JSON file, offering themes and keyboard-first interaction.
  14. 14KomoDo0★7 mostalelivehand-codedopen sourceTo-do list manager that parses and edits todo.txt files, letting users add, delete, edit, filter, and search tasks.
  15. 15gnome-shell-extension-todotxt0★2 yrabandonedliveopen sourceDesktop shell extension that displays and manages a todo.txt task list from the system menu bar.
  16. 16effitask0★3 yrabandonedliveopen sourceGraphical desktop task manager based on the todo.txt format that helps users organize and track personal to-do lists.
  17. 17TxDx0★unknownliveindieDesktop to-do list application that reads and manages tasks stored in the plain-text todo.txt format for personal task tracking.
  18. 18sleek - todo.txt manager for Linux0★unknownliveopen sourceCross-platform desktop app for managing plain-text to-do lists with tagging, filtering, search, and automatic file syncing.
  19. 19Getting Things GNOME!0★4 yrabandonedlivehand-codedopen sourceTask manager for GNOME that organizes to-dos with tags, search, and dependencies based on GTD.
  20. 20Yatta - Yet Another Text-based TODO App0★unknownlivehobbyText-based TODO app that stores tasks as markdown files and offers list and kanban board views with quick-add parsing.

Ranked by traction, highest first, and paged 20 at a time — this is a window on the cluster, never the whole of it. Ties are broken by a stable id so a product cannot appear on two pages or fall between them. Browse every cluster.