tada

A CLI todo manager with TUI and MCP server for AI assistants.

npm install -g tadacli

Quick Start

tada init          # Create a .tada/ store in current directory
tada add "My task" # Add a todo
tada               # Launch the TUI

CLI Commands

# Todos
tada add "title"              # Add a todo
tada add "title" -P <id>      # Add as subtask
tada ls                       # List inbox
tada today                    # Show today's todos
tada done <id>                # Complete a todo
tada cancel <id>              # Cancel a todo
tada undo                     # Undo last action
tada undo <id>                # Reopen a specific todo
tada edit <id> --title "new"  # Edit a todo
tada delete <id>              # Delete a todo
tada move <id> -p <project>   # Move to project
tada tag <id> work            # Add tags
tada untag <id> work          # Remove tags
tada search <query>           # Search todos

# Projects
tada project add "title"      # Create a project
tada project ls               # List projects
tada project show <id>        # Show project details
tada project done <id>        # Complete project
tada project delete <id>      # Delete project (todos go to inbox)

# Areas
tada area add "title"         # Create an area
tada area ls                  # List areas
tada area delete <id>         # Delete area

# Store management
tada stores                   # List all known tada stores
tada -g ls                    # Use global store (~/.tada)

TUI

Run tada to launch the interactive terminal UI.

Layout

+------------------+-------------------------------+
| Sidebar          | Main Panel                    |
|                  |                               |
| 1 Inbox     (3)  |   Inbox (3)                  |
| 2 Today     (1)  |                              |
| 3 Upcoming       |   > o Task one               |
| 4 Projects  (1)  |     o Task two               |
| 5 Areas          |     > Subtask a              |
| 6 Logbook   (2)  |     o Task three             |
| 7 Search         |                              |
+------------------+-------------------------------+
| hjkl:nav  a:add  d:done  x:del  u:undo  ?:help  |
+--------------------------------------------------+

Keybindings

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | j/k | Move up/down | | h/l | Switch sidebar/main | | 1-7 | Jump to view | | a | Add todo | | A | Add subtask under selected | | d | Mark done / reopen | | x | Delete | | m | Move to project | | u | Undo last action | | s | Cycle sort (created/alpha/due) | | c | Toggle completed | | g | Toggle global/local store | | / | Search | | Enter | Expand subtasks / open detail | | ? | Help | | q | Quit |

Views

• Inbox - Todos with no project, no scheduled date
• Today - Todos scheduled for today or with today's deadline
• Upcoming - Todos scheduled for future dates
• Projects - Grouped by project, expandable
• Areas - Organizational groups for projects
• Logbook - Completed and cancelled todos
• Search - Full-text search across todos

MCP Server

tada includes an MCP server for AI coding assistants like Claude Code.

tada mcp   # Start the MCP server (stdio transport)

Available Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | todo_add | Create a todo | | todo_list | List todos with filters | | todo_complete | Complete a todo | | todo_update | Update todo fields | | todo_delete | Delete a todo | | todo_reopen | Reopen a completed todo | | todo_cancel | Cancel a todo | | undo | Undo last mutation | | project_create | Create a project | | project_list | List projects | | project_show | Show project with todos | | project_complete | Complete a project | | project_delete | Delete a project | | area_create | Create an area | | area_list | List areas | | area_delete | Delete an area |

Claude Code Integration

Add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tada": {
      "command": "tada",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Demo: TUI Walkthrough

Launch the TUI with tada and follow along.

Navigation

1. The app opens to the Inbox view with the main panel focused
2. Press j/k to move the cursor up and down through todos
3. Press h to move focus to the sidebar, l to move back to main
4. Press 1-7 or use j/k in the sidebar + Enter to switch views

Adding todos

1. Press a to open the quick-add bar at the bottom
2. Type a todo with inline syntax: Deploy to staging #devops !high @today due:2026-03-15
3. Press Enter to add, Esc to cancel
4. In the Projects view, expand a project with Enter, then press a — the todo is auto-assigned to that project

Subtasks

1. Select a todo and press A (Shift+A)
2. The quick-add bar shows [subtask of "Parent"] context
3. Type the subtask title and press Enter
4. The parent shows a [0/1] progress counter
5. Press Enter on the parent to expand and see subtasks inline

Completing and deleting

1. Press d on an open todo to mark it done (press d again on a completed todo to reopen)
2. Press x to delete — a confirmation prompt appears, press y to confirm
3. Press u to undo the last action

Moving todos between projects

1. Select a todo and press m
2. A project picker appears — use j/k to select a project (or Inbox)
3. Press Enter to move

Sorting and filtering

1. Press s to cycle sort mode: created date, alphabetical, due date
2. Press c to toggle showing completed todos
3. Press / to open search, type a query, then Enter to browse results

Detail view

1. Press Enter on a todo (without subtasks) to open the detail panel
2. Shows title, status, priority, tags, dates, notes, and subtasks
3. From detail: d to complete, x to delete, m to move, Esc to close

Switching stores

1. Press g from any pane to toggle between local and global store
2. The sidebar shows the current store path — it scrolls when the sidebar is focused

Demo: CLI Walkthrough

A start-to-finish demo using only the CLI.

1. Initialize and add todos

$ tada init
  ✓  Initialized .tada/ in current directory

$ tada add "Design landing page" -t design --priority high -s today
  ✓  Added "Design landing page" a1b2c3

$ tada add "Write API docs" -t docs -d 2026-03-15
  ✓  Added "Write API docs" d4e5f6

$ tada add "Set up CI pipeline" -t infra
  ✓  Added "Set up CI pipeline" g7h8i9

2. Organize with projects

$ tada project add "Website Redesign"
  ✓  Created project "Website Redesign" j0k1l2

$ tada move a1b2 -p j0k1
  ✓  Moved "Design landing page" to project

$ tada move d4e5 -p j0k1
  ✓  Moved "Write API docs" to project

3. Add subtasks

$ tada add "Hero section" -P a1b2
  ✓  Added "Hero section" m3n4o5

$ tada add "Footer layout" -P a1b2
  ✓  Added "Footer layout" p6q7r8

4. Work through tasks

$ tada today
  Today (1)
  ○  !!!  Design landing page  #design  j0k1l2

$ tada done m3n4
  ✓  Completed "Hero section"

$ tada done p6q7
  ✓  Completed "Footer layout"

$ tada done a1b2
  ✓  Completed "Design landing page"

5. Undo a mistake

$ tada undo
  ✓  Undone

$ tada ls
  # "Design landing page" is back to open

6. Tags, deadlines, and search

$ tada tag g7h8 urgent
  ✓  Tagged "Set up CI pipeline" with urgent

$ tada edit g7h8 -d 2026-03-10
  ✓  Updated "Set up CI pipeline"

$ tada search "CI"
  ○  Set up CI pipeline  #infra #urgent  2026-03-10  g7h8i9

7. Global store

$ tada add "Buy groceries" -g
  ✓  Added "Buy groceries" s9t0u1

$ tada ls -g
  Inbox (1)
  ○  Buy groceries  s9t0u1

$ tada stores
  Stores
  global  ~/.tada
  local   ~/projects/myapp/.tada (active)

Data Model

Todos

Each todo has: title, notes, status (open/completed/cancelled), priority (none/low/medium/high), tags, scheduled date, deadline, recurrence, and optional parent (for subtasks).

IDs are 8-character alphanumeric strings. CLI commands accept unambiguous prefixes (e.g., tada done k3x).

Projects & Areas

• Projects group related todos. Deleting a project moves its todos to inbox.
• Areas group related projects (e.g., Work, Personal). Deleting an area unlinks its projects.

Storage

tada uses a .tada/ directory per project (like .git/):

.tada/
  store.json       # All todos, projects, areas
  store.undo.json  # Previous state (for undo, auto-managed)

Local vs Global

• Local (default): .tada/ in the current directory or nearest parent. Created with tada init.
• Global: ~/.tada/ in your home directory. Used with tada -g or the g key in the TUI.

Registry

All known local stores are tracked in ~/.tada/registry.json. This lets tada stores list every tada directory across your system. Stores are registered automatically when opened or created.

Development

git clone https://github.com/taichatha/tada.git
cd tada
npm install
npm run build
npm link          # Makes `tada` available globally

npm test          # Run tests
npm run lint      # Type-check
npm run dev -- ls # Run CLI without building

Architecture

src/
  core/   # Pure business logic (no I/O awareness)
  cli/    # Commander.js CLI layer
  tui/    # Ink/React terminal UI
  mcp/    # MCP server (stdio transport)
  test/   # Vitest tests

The core layer is the foundation. All functions take a TadaStore object, mutate it in memory, and return results. The CLI, TUI, and MCP layers handle loading/saving and user interaction.