Task Management with an Outliner

Many people use outliners for task management. Add a checkbox to a row and it becomes a task. Indent it and you have subtasks. Collapse the parent and only the current focus is visible. Without a dedicated task management app, an outliner's basic operations are enough.

This article explains why outliners work well for task management, and how Kosshi addresses the missing piece: deadline notifications.

Kosshi does not support shared outlines, so this article covers personal task management only.

Notes and Tasks in the Same Place

When a note-taking app and a task management app are used separately, information becomes fragmented. Meeting notes go into the note app; tasks that come out of those meetings are copied into the task app. When working on a task, you check it in the task app, then go back to the note app for the details.

In an outliner, notes and tasks live in the same tree. When you notice something needs to be done while writing, just add a checkbox to that row and it becomes a task. The background and context are right there, so there is no need to check another app to recall the context.

There are many capable task management apps, including Apple Reminders and Things. An outliner keeps thinking and doing in the same place.

Everything in Text

Many task management apps require dedicated UI to set task attributes. Setting a due date means opening a modal or popover and selecting a field. Categorizing by project or tag requires its own interaction.

In Kosshi, you just type.

• ☐ Finalize feature spec @due(4/18)
  • ☐ Organize requirements
  • ☐ Consult design team
  • ☑ Review existing implementation
• ☐ Weekly report @report(every friday 17:00)

Checkboxes, hierarchy through indentation, due dates through @tags — all entered as text. Move a row to reclassify it. Change the indentation to restructure it.

This is the same structural problem described in Everything in One Outline: the cost of "creating a project and classifying items" in a task app does not exist in an outliner.

Restructuring is easy. Tasks organized by project at the start of the month can be regrouped as "this week's priorities" before a deadline. Moving rows is all it takes. With collapsing, even with 100 tasks, you can narrow the view to just the 5 for today.

Syncing Between Mac and iPhone

For personal task management, seeing what you wrote on a Mac from your iPhone is expected.

Kosshi syncs outlines via iCloud (CloudKit). A grocery list created on your Mac can be checked from your iPhone on the go. Tasks added on your iPhone during a commute appear on your Mac when you get home. Data is stored locally on the device, and sync runs through the user's iCloud account. There is no developer-operated server.

For details on how sync works, see Data Storage and Sync.

The Notification Problem

Even when an outline syncs between Mac and iPhone, there is still no way to get notified when a deadline arrives.

You might write "submit by 3/15," but a typical outliner has no mechanism to notify you when that date comes. The workaround is to copy deadline-sensitive tasks into a separate app — which defeats the purpose.

How Kosshi Solves This — @Tags and Reminders Integration

Reminders and Calendar are built into macOS and iOS as personal task and schedule management tools. Having deadline-driven tasks appear there is natural.

In Kosshi, enable Reminders or Calendar sync in Settings, and writing a date in an @tag is all it takes.

• ☐ Submit proposal @due(3/15)
• ☐ Design review @due(3/18 15:00)
• ☐ Weekly report @report(every friday 17:00)

The tag name is up to you. @due, @todo, @meeting — any tag with a date in parentheses is synced. No manual copying to another app.

A tag with a time becomes a 1-hour calendar event. A date-only tag becomes an all-day event or a reminder. Completing the row automatically disables the alarm.

See Tags for details on tag syntax.

Why Reminders and Calendar

Kosshi does not have its own notification system.

The Problem with Cross-Device Notifications

Local notifications scheduled by an app only reach that device. A deadline set on a Mac is only notified on the Mac. If the app is not open on the iPhone, no notification arrives there.

One could use CloudKit change notifications to trigger local notifications on each device after sync. However, delivery timing is at iOS's discretion, and there is no guarantee notifications arrive on time. Every device that should receive notifications also needs Kosshi installed.

Reliable cross-device notifications typically require a push notification server sending via Apple Push Notification service (APNs).

A Server-Free Design

Kosshi stores data locally on each device and uses Apple's CloudKit for sync. There is no developer-operated server, and user data never reaches the developer.

Running a push notification server would break this model. At minimum, notification content and timing would need to be sent to the server, along with the overhead of operating, maintaining, and securing it. Changing the data privacy model for notifications does not align with Kosshi's design principles.

For more on data storage and privacy, see Cloud and Privacy.

Using Apple's Ecosystem

Reminders and Calendar sync to all Apple devices via iCloud. A deadline written in Kosshi on a Mac triggers notifications on an iPhone or Apple Watch, even if Kosshi is not installed there.

This follows the same approach Kosshi already takes: CloudKit for data sync, Reminders and Calendar for notifications. No proprietary server involved.

Items registered in Reminders or Calendar can be checked with Siri, displayed in widgets, and accessed from other apps. Notification timing and sounds can be customized in OS Settings.