# Daily Flow

Daily Flow moves physical Markdown tasks between daily notes and a backlog, and materializes scheduled routines when they become due. Everything stays in ordinary Markdown; the plugin does not use a database, network service, or telemetry.

## Features

- Move the task under the cursor to tomorrow or back to the backlog.
- Select several unfinished tasks and move them to tomorrow.
- Pick tasks from the backlog for the active daily note.
- Build event-driven calendar chains from composable date conditions.
- Manage routines in a visual editor with a live schedule summary and upcoming-date preview.
- Preserve task continuation lines when moving a task.
- Mark forwarded tasks with the custom `[>]` status and a link to their destination.
- Work in source, live preview, and reading modes.
- Run on desktop and mobile.

## Expected note format

Daily-note filenames must begin with `YYYY.MM.DD`. Text after the date is allowed, so the default generated name is `YYYY.MM.DD WEEKDAY.md`.

Tasks live in `todo` callouts whose titles match the configured task groups:

```markdown
> [!todo]+ Work
> - [ ] Prepare the report

> [!todo]+ Personal
> - [ ] Call the doctor
```

The built-in defaults are language-neutral English values:

| Setting | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Daily notes folder | `Daily notes` |
| Daily-note template | `Templates/Daily note.md` |
| Backlog note | `Backlog.md` |
| Routines note | `Routines.md` |
| Task groups | `Work`, `Personal`, `Shopping` |
| Date locale | `auto` |
| Weekday label source | `Locale` |
| Custom weekday labels | `MON`, `TUE`, `WED`, `THU`, `FRI`, `SAT`, `SUN` |

All paths, groups, and weekday labels can be changed under **Settings → Daily Flow**. Locale mode uses the runtime locale through `Intl.DateTimeFormat`; `auto` follows the environment, and any supported BCP 47 tag such as `ru`, `de-CH`, or `eo` can be entered explicitly. Custom mode accepts any seven labels, so languages or naming conventions not covered by `Intl` still work without being hardcoded in the plugin.

## Routines

Run **Manage routines** from the command palette or use **Settings → Daily Flow → Routines note → Manage**. The editor is designed for desktop and mobile and supports:

- a fixed-date trigger, completion of the same routine, or completion of another routine;
- a minimum delay in calendar days, weeks, months, or years;
- exact dates and calendar fields such as weekday, date, month, year, ISO week, week of month, and quarter;
- every-N cadence relative to the trigger or a separate fixed anchor;
- the N-th matching date from the start or end of a week, month, or year;
- recursively nested **AND**, **OR**, and **EXCEPT** conditions;
- selecting either the first matching date or every matching date;
- catch-up after a missed due date and either single-open or overlapping instances.

There are no separate calendar and after-completion schedule types. Every schedule uses the same pipeline:

```text
trigger event → inclusive not-before boundary → eligible date set → first/all selection → lifecycle
```

A trigger is an event, not a continuously true condition. A completion-triggered occurrence therefore keeps the identity of the completion that produced it. Daily Flow writes hidden `routine`, `routine-occurrence`, and `routine-due` markers into generated Markdown tasks, so moving a task or reopening a note does not duplicate the same occurrence.

The configured routines note remains ordinary Markdown with a fenced JSON array. The visual editor is the normal way to change it; **Open source JSON** is available for advanced edits. Each rule needs a stable unique `id`, task `text`, a configured `group`, an `enabled` flag, and a `schedule`.

### Schedule model

Every schedule has this top-level shape:

```json
{
  "version": 2,
  "trigger": { "type": "fixed", "date": "2026-09-01" },
  "window": { "notBefore": { "value": 0, "unit": "day" } },
  "dates": { "type": "all" },
  "select": { "type": "all", "relation": "on-or-after" },
  "lifecycle": { "catchUp": false, "overlap": "allow" }
}
```

Triggers:

| Meaning | Shape |
| --- | --- |
| Fixed anchor | `{"type":"fixed","date":"2026-09-01"}` |
| Completion of this routine | `{"type":"completion","routine":"self","initial":"2026-09-01"}` |
| Completion of another routine | `{"type":"completion","routine":"source-routine-id","initial":"2026-09-01"}` |

For a completion trigger, `initial` is an optional ready first due date used while there is no source completion. The relative `notBefore` offset begins with subsequent completion events. Its unit is `day`, `week`, `month`, or `year`; month and year arithmetic is calendar arithmetic and clamps nonexistent dates.

Date-set expressions:

| Expression | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `{"type":"all"}` | Every date |
| `{"type":"dates","dates":["2026-09-01"]}` | Exact dates |
| `{"type":"field","field":"weekday","values":[1,4]}` | Selected calendar-field values |
| `{"type":"cadence","unit":"month","every":2,"anchor":"trigger"}` | Every N calendar units |
| `{"type":"ordinal","set":...,"within":"month","ordinal":3,"direction":"from-start"}` | N-th date from the start/end of a period that matches a nested set |
| `{"type":"all-of","sets":[...]}` | Intersection: all nested sets must match |
| `{"type":"any-of","sets":[...]}` | Union: at least one nested set must match |
| `{"type":"except","base":...,"exclude":...}` | Dates in `base`, excluding dates in `exclude` |

Supported fields are `weekday` (ISO order: Monday `1` through Sunday `7`), `day-of-month`, `month-of-year`, `year`, `day-of-year`, `iso-week`, `iso-week-year`, `week-of-month`, and `quarter`.

### Examples

The first Saturday no earlier than ten days after the previous completion:

```json
{
  "version": 2,
  "trigger": { "type": "completion", "routine": "self", "initial": "2026-09-01" },
  "window": { "notBefore": { "value": 10, "unit": "day" } },
  "dates": { "type": "field", "field": "weekday", "values": [6] },
  "select": { "type": "first", "relation": "on-or-after" },
  "lifecycle": { "catchUp": true, "overlap": "single-open" }
}
```

The first third Saturday of a month no earlier than 90 days after completion:

```json
{
  "version": 2,
  "trigger": { "type": "completion", "routine": "self", "initial": "2026-09-19" },
  "window": { "notBefore": { "value": 90, "unit": "day" } },
  "dates": {
    "type": "ordinal",
    "set": { "type": "field", "field": "weekday", "values": [6] },
    "within": "month",
    "ordinal": 3,
    "direction": "from-start"
  },
  "select": { "type": "first", "relation": "on-or-after" },
  "lifecycle": { "catchUp": true, "overlap": "single-open" }
}
```

Changing the offset to `{"value":3,"unit":"month"}` means three calendar months, which can produce a different result from 90 days.

The third Saturday of every second month from September 2026 is an intersection of a month cadence and an ordinal weekday:

```json
[
  {
    "id": "vacuum",
    "text": "Vacuum the floor",
    "group": "Personal",
    "enabled": true,
    "schedule": {
      "version": 2,
      "trigger": { "type": "fixed", "date": "2026-09-01" },
      "window": {},
      "dates": {
        "type": "all-of",
        "sets": [
          { "type": "cadence", "unit": "month", "every": 2, "anchor": "trigger" },
          {
            "type": "ordinal",
            "set": { "type": "field", "field": "weekday", "values": [6] },
            "within": "month",
            "ordinal": 3,
            "direction": "from-start"
          }
        ]
      },
      "select": { "type": "all", "relation": "on-or-after" },
      "lifecycle": { "catchUp": false, "overlap": "allow" }
    }
  }
]
```

## Commands

- **Take tasks from backlog**
- **Move task under cursor to tomorrow**
- **Choose open tasks to move to tomorrow**
- **Move task under cursor to backlog**
- **Materialize due routines in this daily note**
- **Manage routines**

The first command is also available from the ribbon. Daily Flow automatically materializes routines when today's daily note opens.

## Installation

Once Daily Flow is available in the Obsidian Community directory:

1. Open **Settings → Community plugins → Browse**.
2. Search for **Daily Flow**.
3. Select **Install**, then **Enable**.

For manual testing, copy `main.js`, `manifest.json`, and `styles.css` into:

```text
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/daily-flow/
```

Then reload Obsidian and enable Daily Flow under Community plugins.

## Development

Requirements: Node.js 18 or newer and npm.

```bash
npm install
npm run dev
npm run check
npm run build
```

`npm run build` creates the production `main.js` release artifact. Public releases use the SemVer-compatible calendar format `YY.M.PATCH`, where the patch counter starts at `0` each month. Months `1` through `9` are not zero-padded because SemVer forbids leading zeroes. Releases are tagged with the exact version from `manifest.json`, without a `v` prefix.

## Privacy

Daily Flow only reads and writes files inside the current vault through the Obsidian API. It makes no network requests, collects no telemetry, and requires no account.

## License

[MIT](LICENSE)