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Obra Todo

Getting started

Obra Todo is a native macOS app built with Tauri 2 and SvelteKit. It is currently built from source.

Install

Section titled “Install”
Terminal window
git clone <the obra-todo repo>
cd obra-todo
npm install
scripts/install.sh

scripts/install.sh builds the app, installs it to /Applications/Obra Todo.app (so Spotlight and Alfred can launch it), and signs it with a stable identity so macOS permissions survive rebuilds. Run it again after pulling changes — your data is never touched by an install.

For development, npm run tauri dev runs the real app against a live frontend, and npm run dev runs the UI alone in a browser (data goes to localStorage there).

First run

Section titled “First run”

The app seeds a small database that demonstrates every feature: a Getting started project, Work and Private contexts, and a handful of tasks showing indenting, deadlines, and defer dates. They’re ordinary tasks — complete or delete them freely.

The window

Section titled “The window”
  • Sidebar — perspectives at the top (Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Completed), then your Projects, your Contexts, and — when agents have been at work — an Agents section. Badges show open counts.
  • Main pane — the current view’s title, its actions, and the task list. The Quick Add field sits in the toolbar.
  • The window has no title bar; grab the top strip or the title header to move it, double-click either to zoom.

Two habits worth forming

Section titled “Two habits worth forming”
  1. Capture into the Inbox without thinking — ⇧⌘U from anywhere, or ⌘K inside the app. Sorting comes later.
  2. Give tasks a project and a context when you clarify — select a task and use the strip under it. Your contexts then give you clean answers to “what can I do at work right now?”