herdr-lazytask

A herdr plugin that runs lazytask — a modern, keyboard-driven terminal UI for task management — in a split pane beside your work, plus a few Taskwarrior quick actions. Press one key to open the pane, press it again to close it (or use a second key to open it in its own tab).

lazytask is built on TaskChampion, the same engine that powers Taskwarrior 3.x. It runs standalone — no task binary required — and keeps its own SQLite-backed replica.

Quick start

Install and configure from any machine:

herdr plugin install mdetweil/herdr-lazytask
# or pin a released version:
herdr plugin install mdetweil/herdr-lazytask --ref v0.1.0

Requires herdr >= 0.7.0, the lazytask binary on PATH, and bash + python3. The Taskwarrior quick actions additionally need the task CLI.

Install lazytask itself (the pane won't open without it):

# any of these:
curl -L https://github.com/OsamaMahmood/lazytask/releases/latest/download/lazytask-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz | tar xz && sudo mv lazytask /usr/local/bin/
# or: cargo install lazytask

Add the launcher keybindings to your active herdr config.toml (~/.config/herdr/config.toml):

[[keys.command]]              # lazytask: open in a split (toggle)
key = "prefix+a"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "herdr.lazytask.open"

[[keys.command]]              # lazytask: open in its own tab
key = "prefix+shift+a"
type = "plugin_action"
command = "herdr.lazytask.open-tab"

Run herdr server reload-config. prefix+a then behaves as: not open → open in a split; open but unfocused → focus; focused → close.

Why a? prefix+g (goto) and prefix+shift+g (new worktree) are herdr defaults and prefix+t is commonly taken by other plugins. a stands for a-tasks / add tasks. Rebind to any free key — see Keybindings.

Daily workflow

Press prefix+a. A lazytask pane opens next to your current directory. Press it again and the pane closes; the launcher never opens a second copy. Press prefix+shift+a instead and lazytask opens in its own tab, where it stays even as you switch between work — it's your persistent task manager.

Inside lazytask everything is keyboard-driven — the full keymap is one F1 away. The essentials: a add, e edit, d done, / filter, r reports, s sync.

For quick task mutations without opening the TUI, the plugin ships Taskwarrior actions you can bind to keys (or run from herdr's command palette):

Action	What it does
add	Open a popup and add a task
done	Pick a pending task and mark it complete
start	Pick a pending task and start it
stop	Pick a pending task and suspend it
open-today	Open the Today's Tasks dashboard in a split
report (startup)	Show pending/due-today/overdue counts on launch

The two task stores

lazytask and the task CLI do not share data:

• The lazytask pane manages its own TaskChampion replica at ~/.local/share/lazytask/ (config at ~/.config/lazytask/config.toml). Tasks added in the pane live here.
• The quick actions (add/done/start/stop/today/report) call the task CLI and operate on your Taskwarrior data (~/.task/).

If you use both, you will see two different task lists. Pick one as your source of truth, or migrate your Taskwarrior tasks into the TaskChampion store and drop the task-based actions. (lazytask is storage-compatible with Taskwarrior 3.x replicas, so a one-time import/export is possible.)

Configuration

Per-user plugin state lives in $HERDR_PLUGIN_CONFIG_DIR (falls back to ~/.config/herdr-lazytask):

panel.conf   # optional overrides, shell-sourceable

• RUNTIME_LAZYASK_BIN — absolute path to a specific lazytask binary. By default the launchers resolve lazytask from PATH:

  RUNTIME_LAZYASK_BIN=/opt/homebrew/bin/lazytask

• HERDR_LAZYASK_BIN — same effect when exported in the environment; wins over panel.conf.

Keybindings

The plugin owns exactly two actions: herdr.lazytask.open and herdr.lazytask.open-tab. Rebind them by editing the [[keys.command]] entries in your herdr config.toml and running herdr server reload-config. Pick keys that don't collide with herdr defaults (prefix+g, prefix+l, etc.) or your other plugins.

How it works

The lazygit-style launcher pattern, adapted for lazytask:

• prefix+a invokes scripts/open-lazytask.sh — an idempotent launcher scoped to the current tab: open if absent, focus if unfocused, close if focused. It identifies the pane by its manifest title ("Lazytask") plus a foreground-process check via herdr pane process-info, and serializes concurrent invokes with a lock so double-keypresses can't create duplicate panes.
• prefix+shift+a invokes scripts/open-lazytask-tab.sh — the same logic across the workspace's tabs: open in a new tab, switch to the existing tab, focus, or toggle off.
• The pane runs scripts/run-lazytask.sh, which resolves the binary and execs lazytask. A missing binary surfaces as a readable error inside the pane instead of an instant, silent death.

herdr-plugin.toml            # plugin manifest (panes, actions, startup hook)
scripts/
  runtime-env.sh             # resolve lazytask binary (PATH / RUNTIME_LAZYASK_BIN)
  run-lazytask.sh            # pane entrypoint: exec lazytask
  open-lazytask.sh           # action: open/focus/toggle in the current tab
  open-lazytask-tab.sh       # action: open/switch/toggle across tabs
src/                         # Rust binary for the Taskwarrior quick actions
  main.rs                    # CLI dispatch (add/done/start/stop/open-today/report)
  today.rs                   # "Today's Tasks" dashboard
  add.rs, pick.rs            # popup UIs
  tasks.rs                   # `task` CLI wrapper
  term.rs, config.rs         # terminal + config helpers

Development

cargo build --release        # build the quick-action binary
./target/release/herdr-lazytask --help
cargo clippy                 # lints

herdr plugin link does not run the manifest's [[build]] command, so build the binary before linking a local checkout. Trigger the launcher actions through herdr keybindings — an action's context always resolves from the pane that currently has UI focus.

Known limitations

• The lazytask pane and the Taskwarrior quick actions manage separate task stores (see above).
• lazytask sync settings are held in memory only (per lazytask's own docs); re-enter them each session.
• The launchers require python3 (used for JSON handling instead of jq).

License

MIT — see LICENSE.