Task Runner

Manage and track tasks and projects persistently with priorities, completion status, filtering, and secure markdown export across sessions.

Manage tasks and projects across sessions with persistent tracking.

Quick Start

Add a task

bash

task_runner.py add "<description>" [project] [priority]

List all tasks

bash

task_runner.py list

List tasks for a specific project

bash

task_runner.py list "<project>"

Complete a task

bash

task_runner.py complete <task_id>

Change task priority

bash

task_runner.py priority <task_id> <low|medium|high>

Export project to markdown

bash

task_runner.py export "<project>" "<output_file>"

Features

• Persistent storage - Tasks survive session restarts (stored in ~/.openclaw/workspace/tasks_db.json)
• Project organization - Group tasks by project for better organization
• Priority levels - low, medium (default), high
• Status tracking - pending vs completed with timestamps
• Flexible filtering - View all tasks or filter by project
• Markdown export - Export projects to clean markdown for sharing

Security

Path Validation (v1.0.1+)

The export function validates output paths to prevent malicious writes:

• ✅ Allowed: ~/.openclaw/workspace/, /tmp/, and home directory
• ❌ Blocked: System paths (/etc/, /usr/, /var/, etc.)
• ❌ Blocked: Sensitive dotfiles (~/.bashrc, ~/.ssh, etc.)

This prevents prompt injection attacks that could attempt to write to system files for privilege escalation.

Task Storage

The task storage is JSON-based and only writes to ~/.openclaw/workspace/tasks_db.json.

Usage Patterns

For multi-session projects

bash

# Add experiment tasks
task_runner.py add "Setup development environment" "project-x" "high"
task_runner.py add "Write initial tests" "project-x" "medium"
task_runner.py add "Document API endpoints" "project-x" "low"

# List project progress
task_runner.py list "project-x"

# Complete tasks as you go
task_runner.py complete 1
task_runner.py complete 2

For autonomous agent workflows

Track your own tasks across sessions:

bash

# Plan experiments
task_runner.py add "Build and publish skill" "income-experiments" "high"
task_runner.py add "Test content pipeline" "income-experiments" "medium"

# Update priorities based on learning
task_runner.py priority 2 "high"

# Export progress reports
task_runner.py export "income-experiments" "./progress-report.md"

For sprint planning

bash

# Plan week's work
task_runner.py.py add "Build feature X" "sprint-5" "high"
task_runner.py.py add "Fix bug Y" "sprint-5" "high"
task_runner.py.py add "Update documentation" "sprint-5" "medium"

# Review progress
task_runner.py list "sprint-5"

# Export for standup
task_runner.py export "sprint-5" "./standup.md"

Task Priorities

Priority	Emoji	When to Use
high	🔴	Blocking issues, urgent, must do now
medium	🟡	Normal work, do soon
low	🟢	Nice to have, backlog items

Output Format

Task listing shows:

• Status icon (✅ completed, ⏳ pending)
• Project name
• Task ID number
• Priority emoji
• Creation date
• Task description
• Completion date (if completed)

Export Format

Markdown export includes:

• Project title with task counts
• Pending tasks section
• Completed tasks section (most recent first)
• Task IDs, priorities, and timestamps

Examples

Managing a coding project

bash

# Setup
task_runner.py add "Clone repository" "my-project" "high"
task_runner.py add "Install dependencies" "my-project" "high"
task_runner.py add "Set up database" "my-project" "medium"

# Track progress
task_runner.py list "my-project"
task_runner.py complete 1
task_runner.py complete 2

# Export for documentation
task_runner.py export "my-project" "./my-project-tasks.md"

Tracking autonomous agent experiments

bash

# Plan experiments
task_runner.py add "Experiment 1: Publish skills" "autonomous-income" "high"
task_runner.py add "Experiment 2: Content automation" "autonomous-income" "medium"
task_runner.py add "Experiment 3: Service MVP" "autonomous-income" "low"

# Work through them
task_runner.py list "autonomous-income"
task_runner.py complete 1

# Adjust based on learning
task_runner.py add "Experiment 2a: Research tools without API keys" "autonomous-income" "high"
task_runner.py priority 2 "low"

Daily task management

bash

# Plan the day
task_runner.py add "Review pull requests" "daily" "high"
task_runner.py add "Write documentation" "daily" "medium"
task_runner.py add "Respond to emails" "daily" "low"

# End-of-day review
task_runner.py list

# Archive completed work
task_runner.py export "daily" "./$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-tasks.md"

Best Practices

1. Use meaningful project names - income-experiments not ideas
2. Set priorities consistently - helps with focus
3. Mark tasks complete promptly - keeps list clean
4. Export before major changes - backup progress
5. Review and clean up - archive old projects regularly

Integration with Other Skills

Combine with research-assistant for complete project management:

• Use research-assistant for notes and knowledge
• Use task-runner for actionable tasks
• Export both to create comprehensive project docs