Daily task list script

create-daily-task-list.js

/**
 * A script to create a new daily task list and open it
 *
 * File is created in ./daily-task-lists/YYYY/MM with the
 * file name DD-<day letter code>.md
 *
 * Imports the tasks from the last task list and puts them
 * under a `Yesterday` header, then creates a `Today`
 * heading and opens the file in VSCode for editing
 *
 * Main goal is to have the easy reference for standups
 * and to track what I'm doing during the day if I need
 * it for reference
 */
const fs = require("fs")
const { exec } = require("child_process")

const [nodeExePath, currentScriptPath, ...arguments] = process.argv
const exit = msg => {
  console.error(`[ERR]: ${msg}`)
  process.exit(1)
}
const ensureDirExists = dir => {
  if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) {
    fs.mkdirSync(dir)
  }
}

let [dayOffset] = arguments;
dayOffset = dayOffset || 0;

// get date variables for today
let today = new Date()
today.setDate(today.getDate() + parseInt(dayOffset))
const dayCode = ['U', 'M', 'T', 'W', 'R', 'F', 'S'][today.getDay()]
today = today.toISOString().split('T')[0]
const fulldate = today.replace(/-/g, '')
const [year, month, day] = today.split('-')

// check that the folders exist and the file doesn't
const rootDir = `./daily-task-lists`
const yearDir = `${rootDir}/${year}`
ensureDirExists(yearDir)
const monthDir = `${yearDir}/${month}`
ensureDirExists(monthDir)
const dayFile = `${monthDir}/${day}-${dayCode}.md`
if (fs.existsSync(dayFile)) {
  exit(`'${dayFile}' already exists!`)
}

// get the tasks from the previous day
let yesterdayTasks = ``
const oldFiles = fs.readdirSync(monthDir)
if (oldFiles.length === 0) {
  console.warn('Unable to get tasks from yesterday')
  //TODO: look at the previous month/year if needed
} else {
  const lastFile = oldFiles.sort().reverse()[0]
  yesterdayTasks = fs.readFileSync(`${monthDir}/${lastFile}`)
    .toString()
    .split(/^##\sToday$/gm)[1]
    .split(/\n/g)
    .filter(v => v !== '\r' && v !== '')
    .join('\n')
}

// create the new file
const template = `# ${fulldate}

## Yesterday

${yesterdayTasks}

## Today

- [ ] Do something cool!

`

fs.writeFile(dayFile, template, err => {
  if (err) {
    exit(`Unable to write file: ${err}`)
  } else {
    console.log(`Successfully created file!\n${dayFile}`)
  }
})

// open the file in VSCode
exec(`code -r ${dayFile}`, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
  if (error) {
    exit(`Unable to open file in VSCode: ${error.message}`)
  }
  if (stderr) {
    exit(`Unable to open file in VSCode: ${error.message}`)
  }
  console.log('Success!')
})

notes.md

Daily task list

This is what I use for keeping notes at work as a simple solution that I can use inside my code editor. I have it set up with a yarn/npm script that just runs this JS file with no arguments as yarn daily. Then I can optionally supply a day offset if I want to want to plan ahead, e.g. yarn daily 3 if it's a Friday and I want to plan for Monday.

// package.json
{
  ...
  "scripts": {
    "daily": "node create-daily-task-list.js",
    ...
  },
}

The script copies the Today section from the previous notes file, puts it under a Yesterday heading, and sets up a new area for the current day.

I've gotten a lot of good use from this basic strategy of "carry along yesterday for reference, then plan out today", so I wanted to set up this gist for reference

This still has a bug along certain date cutoffs, I think it's just for new years but might be months, I haven't fixed it yet because it hasn't been a big issue, but now that I posted this I'll probably update next time it comes up