About

An xbar plugin that shows the current work task in Things 3.

The task must be scheduled for Today and can be filtered to a specific area (by default "Work", but this is configurable).

Requirements

• Xbar
• Things 3 (obviously)
• Python 3
• The things.py Python package

Installation

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone git@github.com:wesvetter/current-things-task.git
   

2. Install the things Python package:

   /usr/bin/pip3 install things.py
   

   (View the .py file for instructions on using Python via Homebrew)

3. Link the script to your Xbar plugin directory.

   cd current-things-task
   ln -s $PWD/current-task.60s.py $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/xbar/plugins/current-task.60s.py
   

Configuration

The Xbar plugin can be customized by creating a .current-thing.json file in your home directory.

Example:

{
  "target_area_name": "Family",
  "no_tasks_message": "all done!"
}

target_area_name

default: Work

The specified Area in Things to filter by. This is useful because you may not want your actual current task (say, "Call the electrician") visible.

Tasks from projects under this area will also appear.

To not filter by any area, set this value to null. The plugin will then show whatever task is next for the day.

no_tasks_message

default: ☑️

A message to display when no remaining tasks in the target area are left for today.

max_title_length

default: 20

The maximum length of the title before truncation. If the title is longer than this, it will be truncated and ... will be appended.

Note that if the title is excessively long, such that it collides with other application's menus, then Xbar will not render plugin at all.

hidden_label

default: Hidden

This is a label that, if added to a task, will exclude it from appearing in status bar. This can be useful if the task is sensitive (e.g. "Fire Johnny" or "Search for new job").