mindtask

A CLI tool that combines concept maps (mindmaps) with task dependency graphs for planning and scheduling work.

The Problem

Mindmaps are great for brainstorming and organizing ideas, but they don't capture work — dependencies, scheduling, critical paths. Task managers handle work well but lose the big-picture structure of how ideas relate. You end up maintaining both separately, with no connection between them.

The Approach

mindtask maintains two linked structures in a single JSON file:

• Concept tree — a strict tree (each node has 0 or 1 parent) for organizing ideas, like a classic mindmap
• Task DAG — a directed acyclic graph of tasks with dependencies, enabling scheduling and critical path analysis

Tasks reference concepts, creating a bridge between what you're thinking about and what you need to do. The link is directional: tasks point to concepts, not the other way around. A task can reference multiple concepts, and multiple tasks can reference the same concept.

Concept Tree                Task DAG

  Project                   1: Design API ──→ 3: Integrate
  ├── Backend               2: Design DB ───┘
  │   ├── API
  │   └── Database          task 1 concepts = [API]
  └── Frontend              task 2 concepts = [Database]
      └── Components        task 3 concepts = [API, Database]

Installation

cargo install mindtask

Quick Start

# Initialize a new project (optionally with a default timezone)
mindtask init --timezone America/New_York

# Build a concept tree
mindtask concept add "Backend"
mindtask concept add "API" --parent 1
mindtask concept add "Database" --parent 1

# Create tasks and link them to concepts
mindtask task add "Design API" --duration 2 --due 2025-03-15
mindtask link 1 2            # link task 1 → concept 2 (API)
mindtask task add "Implement API" --due 2025-03-20
mindtask depend add 2 1      # task 2 depends on task 1

# Track progress
mindtask task state 1 done
mindtask task ls

Data is stored in .mindtask.json in the current directory — human-readable, versionable with git. The CLI walks up parent directories to find the project file, so you can run commands from subdirectories.

CLI Reference

Project

mindtask init [--timezone <IANA_TZ>]    # Create a new .mindtask.json
mindtask validate                       # Check tree + DAG integrity
mindtask config timezone [<IANA_TZ>]    # Get or set the project timezone
mindtask config timezone --show         # Show the current timezone

Concepts

Concepts form a tree (each concept has at most one parent).

mindtask concept add <NAME> [--parent <ID>] [--description <TEXT>]
mindtask concept rm <ID>
mindtask concept mv <ID> --parent <ID|root>
mindtask concept ls
mindtask concept show <ID>

Removing a concept fails if it has children or is referenced by tasks — unlink or remove dependents first.

Tasks

Tasks form a dependency DAG. Each task has a workflow state (todo, in_progress, done).

mindtask task add <NAME> [--description <TEXT>] [--duration <DAYS>] [--due <DATE>]
mindtask task rm <ID>
mindtask task ls
mindtask task show <ID>
mindtask task state <ID> <todo|in_progress|done>
mindtask task due <ID> <DATE>
mindtask task due <ID> --clear

Due dates accept multiple formats:

• Date only: 2025-03-15 (midnight in project timezone)
• Datetime: 2025-03-15T14:00 (uses project timezone)
• Full RFC 9557: 2025-03-15T14:00:00-04:00[America/New_York]

Dependencies

mindtask depend add <TASK_ID> <DEPENDS_ON_ID>
mindtask depend rm <TASK_ID> <DEPENDS_ON_ID>

Adding a dependency that would create a cycle is rejected. Removing a task automatically cleans up references from other tasks' dependency lists.

Linking Tasks to Concepts

mindtask link <TASK_ID> <CONCEPT_ID>
mindtask unlink <TASK_ID> <CONCEPT_ID>

Links are many-to-many: a task can reference multiple concepts, and a concept can be referenced by multiple tasks.

Search

mindtask search <QUERY>                 # Search by name (case-insensitive)
mindtask search <QUERY> --description   # Also search description fields

Export

Generate diagrams for external renderers. Supported formats: plantuml, mermaid (stubbed).

mindtask export <FORMAT> <DIAGRAM> [ROOT_ID]

Diagram types:

Examples:

mindtask export plantuml tree           # Full concept tree
mindtask export plantuml tree 1         # Subtree rooted at concept 1
mindtask export plantuml dag            # Full task DAG
mindtask export plantuml dag 1          # Task 1 and its downstream dependents
mindtask export plantuml gantt          # Gantt chart (tasks with due dates)
mindtask export plantuml wbs            # Work breakdown structure

Output is written to stdout. Pipe to a file and render with PlantUML:

mindtask export plantuml dag > dag.puml
java -jar plantuml.jar -tsvg dag.puml

Data Model

{
  "version": 1,
  "timezone": "America/New_York",
  "concepts": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Backend" },
    { "id": 2, "name": "API", "parent": 1 },
    { "id": 3, "name": "Database", "parent": 1 }
  ],
  "tasks": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Design API", "state": "done", "concepts": [2] },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "Implement API",
      "state": "todo",
      "duration": 5.0,
      "due": "2025-03-15T00:00:00-04:00[America/New_York]",
      "depends_on": [1],
      "concepts": [2]
    }
  ]
}

Optional fields (description, duration, due, depends_on, concepts, parent) are omitted from the JSON when empty or unset.

Key Design Decisions

Library

mindtask is also usable as a Rust library (use mindtask::...):

• mindtask::model — Project, Concept, Task, typed IDs (ConceptId, TaskId)
• mindtask::graph — Tree validation, DAG cycle detection, topological sort, project validation
• mindtask::store — JSON persistence (load/save)
• mindtask::export — Diagram generation (PlantUML, Mermaid stub)

License

GPL-3.0-only