Quick Start¶

Get up and running with local-work in minutes.

Install¶

npm install -g local-work

Initialize Your Project¶

Navigate to your project and initialize local-work:

cd /path/to/your/project
task init

This creates a .local-work/ directory for your tasks and notes.

Initialization Complete

✓ Project initialized!

    You can now use task and note commands in this directory.
    Tasks and notes will be stored in this project.
    ```

---

## :material-checkbox-marked-circle: Your First Task

### Create a Task

```bash
task new "Implement user authentication" -p high

Flags:

-p <priority>: Set priority (low, medium, high)
-a <assignee>: Assign to someone
--no-edit: Skip opening in editor

Output:

✓ Task created successfully!

  ID:       TASK-001
  Title:    Implement user authentication
  Status:   backlog
  Priority: high
  File:     /project/.local-work/tasks/backlog/TASK-001-implement-user-authentication.md

  Opening in editor...

The task file is created and opened in your configured editor:

---
id: TASK-001
title: Implement user authentication
status: backlog
priority: high
assignee:
created: 2025-11-07
updated: 2025-11-07
estimated:
actual:
tags: []
---

## Description

<!-- Add task description here -->

## Subtasks

- [ ]

## Notes

<!-- Add any additional notes -->

List Tasks¶

task list

Output:

Tasks (1)

backlog (1 task)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
◉ TASK-001: Implement user authentication
  Priority: high | Created: today

Start Working¶

Move the task to active status:

task start TASK-001

Output:

✓ Task TASK-001 moved to active

View Task Details¶

task view TASK-001

Output:

Task: TASK-001
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Title:     Implement user authentication
Status:    active
Priority:  high
Assignee:  -
Created:   2025-11-07
Updated:   2025-11-07
Estimated: -
Actual:    -
Tags:      -

File: /project/.local-work/tasks/active/TASK-001-implement-user-authentication.md

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
## Description

<!-- Add task description here -->

Update Task¶

Add time estimate:

task update TASK-001 estimated 2h

Output:

✓ Task updated successfully!
   estimated: 2h

Update assignee:

task update TASK-001 assignee Jonh

Add tags:

task update TASK-001 tags backend,security

Complete Task¶

task done TASK-001

Output:

✓ Task TASK-001 marked as completed

Your First Note¶

Daily Note¶

Create a daily note for today:

note daily

Output:

✓ Daily note created!
  File: /project/.local-work/notes/daily/2025-11-07.md

  Opening in editor...

The note opens with a template:

---
title: Daily Note - 2025-11-07
date: 2025-11-07
type: daily
tags:
  - daily
---

## Today's Focus

## Notes

## Action Items

- [ ]

Meeting Note¶

note meeting "Sprint Planning"

Output:

✓ Meeting note created!
  File: /project/.local-work/notes/meetings/2025-11-07-sprint-planning.md

  Opening in editor...

Template:

---
title: Sprint Planning
date: 2025-11-07
time: 14:30
type: meeting
attendees: []
tags:
  - meeting
---

## Agenda

## Discussion

## Decisions

## Action Items

- [ ]

Technical Decision¶

note tech "Migration to TypeScript"

Creates an Architecture Decision Record (ADR):

---
title: Migration to TypeScript
date: 2025-11-07
type: technical
status: proposed
tags:
  - technical
  - adr
---

## Context

## Decision

## Consequences

## Alternatives Considered

Learning Note¶

note til "React Server Components"

Creates a Today I Learned (TIL) note:

---
title: React Server Components
date: 2025-11-07
type: learning
topic: React
tags:
  - learning
  - til
---

## What I Learned

## Key Takeaways

-

## Resources

-

List Notes¶

note list

Output:

Daily Notes (1)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
◈ 2025-11-07.md
  Date: today

Meetings (1)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
◈ 2025-11-07-sprint-planning.md
  Date: today

Technical (1)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
◈ 2025-11-07-migration-to-typescript.md
  Date: today

Learning (1)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
◈ 2025-11-07-react-server-components.md
  Date: today

Search¶

Search Tasks¶

task search "authentication"

Output:

Search Results (1)

Searching for: "authentication"

• TASK-001: Implement user authentication
  Status: completed | Priority: high

Search Notes¶

note search "sprint"

Output:

Search Results (1)

Searching for: "sprint"

• Sprint Planning
  Type: meetings | Date: today | 2025-11-07-sprint-planning.md

Standup Reports¶

Generate standup reports for team meetings:

task standup

Output:

[T] Standup Report
Generated: 07/11/2025

-> What I worked on yesterday:
  • TASK-001: Implement user authentication (completed)

-> What I'm working on today:
  • TASK-002: Add OAuth support (active, high priority)

-> Blockers / Issues:
  No blockers

Formats:

task standup                      # Text (default)
task standup --format markdown    # For Slack/Teams
task standup --format json        # For integrations
task standup --weekly             # Weekly summary

Statistics¶

View task statistics:

task stats

Output:

Task Statistics

Status Distribution:
  backlog     : 5
  active      : 2
  completed   : 10
  archived    : 3

Priority Distribution:
  low         : 4
  medium      : 8
  high        : 5

Time Tracking:
  Estimated: 16h
  Actual:    14h 30m
  Variance:  1h 30m (under)

Total Tasks: 20

Global vs Local Workspace¶

Local Workspace (Default)¶

After running task init, all commands use the local workspace:

task new "Project task"          # Creates in .local-work/tasks/
note daily                        # Creates in .local-work/notes/

Works from any subdirectory:

cd src/components/
task new "Create Button component"  # Still uses project workspace

Global Workspace¶

Use the -g or --global flag for personal tasks:

task -g new "Buy groceries"      # Creates in global workspace
note -g daily                     # Creates in global workspace
task -g list                      # Lists global tasks

Editing¶

Edit Task¶

task edit TASK-001

Opens the task file in your configured editor.

Edit Note¶

note edit 2025-11-07              # Edit by date
note edit sprint-planning         # Edit by pattern

Archiving¶

Archive old completed tasks:

task archive           # Archive tasks older than 30 days
task archive 60        # Archive tasks older than 60 days

Output:

✓ Archived 5 tasks older than 30 days

Opening Directories¶

Open the tasks or notes directory in your file manager:

task open              # Open local tasks directory
task -g open           # Open global tasks directory
note open              # Open local notes directory
note -g open           # Open global notes directory

Configuration¶

View Configuration¶

task config show

Set Preferences¶

task config set editor "code"
task config set autoOpen false
task config set archiveDays 60

Get Preference¶

task config get editor

Getting Help¶

View command help:

task                   # Show task help
task --help           # Show task help
note                  # Show note help
note --help          # Show note help

Next Steps¶

Now that you've learned the basics:

Task Management Guide - Complete task workflow
Note Taking Guide - All note types explained
Configuration - Customize your setup
Task CLI Reference - All task commands
Note CLI Reference - All note commands