Monotask

A CLI tool to extract tasks directly from source files and markdown documents.

Features

• Extracts TODO, BUG, NOTE markers (case insensitive) from C-style comments (// and /* */)
• Extracts TODO, BUG, NOTE markers (case insensitive) from shell script comments (#)
• Extracts TODO, BUG, NOTE markers (case insensitive) from Python comments and docstrings
• Extracts TODO, BUG, NOTE markers (case insensitive) from Lua comments
• Extracts unchecked checkboxes (- [ ]) from markdown files
• Supports optional assignee names in parentheses (e.g., TODO(user): message)
• Recursively scans directories
• Outputs in GNU Error Format for easy integration with other tools

Installation

Install using go install:

go install github.com/IlyasYOY/monotask@latest

Usage

# Scan current directory
./monotask

# Scan specific directory
./monotask /path/to/directory

Output Format

file:line:column: type: message

Or with optional assignee:

file:line:column: type(assignee): message

work.c:15:3: TODO: this is todo marker in C code.
work.c:16:3: TODO(IlyasYOY): fix this bug.
tasks.md:14:12: CHECKBOX: this is not closed check-box.

Example:

➜  dotfiles git:(master) ✗ monotask .
/Users/IlyasYOY/Projects/IlyasYOY/dotfiles/config/nvim/after/ftplugin/go.lua:343:9: TODO: for now it works only for commands, I have to add the separate logic to support this in keymaps.

Supported File Types

• .c, .h - C files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .java - Java files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .go - Go files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .js, .mjs - JavaScript files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .ts, .mts - TypeScript files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .cpp, .hpp, .cxx, .cc - C++ files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .lua - Lua files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .sh, .bash - Shell scripts (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)
• .py - Python files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in # comments and single-line docstrings)
• .md - Markdown files (unchecked checkboxes)
• .typ - Typst files (case insensitive TODO, BUG, NOTE markers in comments)

Tasks can optionally include an assignee in parentheses after the type: TODO(user): message

Ignoring Files and Directories

Monotask supports .mtignore files to exclude specific files or directories from scanning. Place a .mtignore file in any directory to list paths to ignore (one per line, relative to the .mtignore file's location).

• Ignores cascade from parent directories to subdirectories
• Child directories can add additional ignores with their own .mtignore files
• Only exact path matches are supported (no patterns or wildcards)

Example .mtignore:

build.log
node_modules/
temp.txt