Adding and Modifying Tasks with Taskwarrior Syntax

Documentation
1

Adding and Modifying Tasks with Taskwarrior Syntax

Overview

When adding or editing a task, you can type Taskwarrior attribute
syntax directly in the description field. WingTask parses the text
and sets the matching fields automatically. This is a fast way to
set a project, due date, tags, and other attributes without filling
out each field individually.

How It Works

Type a description followed by any attributes you want to set. Use
the same syntax you would use with task add on the command line.

Buy milk due:tomorrow +grocery project:Home

WingTask reads the attributes from the text, strips them from the
description, and sets the fields. The task is created with:

  • Description: Buy milk
  • Due: tomorrow
  • Tags: grocery
  • Project: Home

The same parsing applies when editing a task description inline.

Supported Attributes

Project

project:Work
project:Work.Backend

Sub-projects use dot notation. Clear a project with project:.

Priority

priority:H    # High
priority:M    # Medium
priority:L    # Low
priority:     # Clear priority

Tags

+urgent          # Add tag
-later           # Remove tag (when editing)

Dates

due:tomorrow
due:friday
due:eom          # End of month
due:2026-06-15
due:9am          # Today at 9am
due:             # Clear due date

scheduled:monday
wait:nextweek
until:2026-12-31

Recurrence

recur:daily
recur:weekly
recur:monthly
recur:2weeks

Dependencies

depends:5        # Blocked by task with ID 5
depends:5,6,7    # Multiple blockers
depends:-5       # Remove dependency (when editing)

User Defined Attributes

UDAs you have defined in Settings are also available using the same
name:value syntax.

energy:High
estimate:3

Examples

Fix login bug priority:H +backend project:App due:friday

Creates a task with description Fix login bug, high priority, tag
backend, project App, and due date set to Friday.

Weekly report recur:weekly due:friday project:Admin

Creates a recurring task due every Friday under the Admin project.

Markdown in Descriptions and Annotations

Task descriptions and annotations can be written with Markdown.
WingTask renders Markdown in the interface — bold, italic, lists,
code, and links are all supported.

If you also use Taskwarrior on the command line, be aware that
Markdown is stored as plain text in the task data. Taskwarrior does
not render Markdown, so the raw syntax will appear as-is in terminal
output.

Example:

Pay **rent** by end of month

WingTask displays: Pay rent by end of month

Taskwarrior displays: Pay **rent** by end of month

Notes

  • Attribute syntax is stripped from the description before saving.
    The description field contains only the task description text.
  • Markdown in descriptions is stored as plain text and will appear
    unrendered in Taskwarrior.
  • Removing a tag with -tag or a dependency with -id only works
    when editing an existing task, not when creating a new one.

Related Topics

  • Extending Tasks with User Defined Attributes
  • Recurring Tasks in WingTask
  • Working with Lists
Documentation Index