The AI task manager that's just files
Updated July 2026
Your agent doesn't need another app's API. TaskForge tasks are plain markdown lines in a folder on your own device, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any AI that can edit a text file can already add, complete, and reschedule your tasks. TaskForge turns those same files into a fast native app with reminders, widgets, kanban, and calendar. Local. Private. No account.
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What makes a task manager "AI-ready"?
An AI-ready task manager is one your AI tools can operate directly, without a proprietary API, an OAuth grant, or a paid integration. TaskForge does it with the oldest interface in computing: plain text files. Every task is one markdown line carrying its status, due date, priority, and recurrence, stored in a folder on your device. Any agent that can read and write files, including Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and ChatGPT with file access, can manage your task list today, because editing markdown is the one thing language models do natively. The TaskForge app watches those files and turns them into reminders, widgets, kanban boards, and calendar views on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android. There is no server between your agent and your tasks. Nothing to authenticate, nothing rate-limited, and nothing leaving your device.
Isn't an AI task manager an app that plans my day for me?
That's the other kind. Two different products share this name, and it's worth being precise about which one you're getting.
Auto-scheduling task managers, among them Motion, Reclaim, and ClickUp Brain, run their own AI in their own cloud. You upload your task list, their model rearranges your calendar, and your data lives in their database under their subscription terms. TaskForge is a different kind of AI task manager: it contains no AI at all. Instead, it makes your tasks legible to the AI you already use, by storing them as markdown files the model can read and edit directly on your machine. Want your week planned? Ask your own assistant to reorder your own files. The result is the same kind of help, but it happens locally, against text you can inspect, undo, and version, and no third party ever sees a single task. Both count as an AI task manager. They just place the intelligence in opposite locations, theirs or yours.
| Auto-schedulers (Motion, Reclaim...) | TaskForge | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the AI runs | Their cloud | Your device, whichever agent you choose |
| Who can read your tasks | Their servers | You, and the AI you point at your files |
| Works offline | No | Yes |
| Data format | Proprietary database | Plain markdown files you own |
| Price model | Monthly subscription | Free app; optional one-time premium |
How do agents manage tasks in TaskForge today?
By editing the files. That's how TaskForge has always worked. No plugin, no connector, no waiting for 3.0.
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Claude Code, Cursor, or any coding agent
Point it at your task folder in a terminal: "Read inbox.md and turn every unanswered question into a task in tasks/this-week.md, due Friday." The lines it writes are tasks in TaskForge the moment the file saves.
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ChatGPT or Claude Desktop with file access
Give it your task folder and ask for a reschedule, a weekly review, or a triage of what's overdue.
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Plain scripts and cron
Append one markdown line to a file. That's the entire API.
And because it's text, a bad edit is one visible line, not a corrupted database. Your files version with git, sync with your own iCloud or any file sync, and outlast every AI tool you'll ever switch between.
What's coming for agents in TaskForge 3.0?
TaskForge 3.0 makes the file interface formal. Everything in this section ships with the 3.0 release. Everything else on this page works today.
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Your folder ships its own manual.
A visible taskforge/ folder appears in your vault with agents.md and schema.json, plain-language and machine-readable descriptions of your exact task format: your statuses, your date format, your fields. Any file-reading agent gets it right on the first try, with zero prompting.
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A real CLI.
taskforge add, query, done: a single native binary with JSON output, built on the same Rust core as the app, for scripts, cron, and coding agents.
See the CLI preview → -
A local MCP server.
taskforge mcp --stdio connects Claude Desktop or any MCP client to your tasks: 22 tools, running locally over stdio. No API key, no account, no cloud.
See the MCP preview →
Is it actually private?
Yes, by construction rather than by policy. There is no TaskForge cloud and no TaskForge account. Your tasks are files on your device; if they sync, they sync through your own iCloud or file-sync service. TaskForge itself has no AI features and sends your tasks to no one. The only model that ever sees your to-do list is the one you personally point at your files. When you stop using an AI tool, revoke nothing. It simply stops editing your files.
Do I need Obsidian?
No. TaskForge works with any markdown files that follow the standard task format, so you can use it as a standalone task manager and the files stay yours either way. If you do use Obsidian, TaskForge is fully compatible with the Obsidian Tasks format and is built to shine there.
Questions people ask
Can Claude or ChatGPT manage my to-do list?
Yes, today. Store tasks as markdown files with TaskForge and any AI with file access, such as Claude Code, Cursor, or ChatGPT desktop, can add, complete, and reschedule them by editing the files. With TaskForge 3.0, Claude Desktop connects even more simply through a local MCP server.
Does TaskForge send my tasks to an AI?
No. TaskForge has no built-in AI and no server. Your tasks stay in files on your device; an AI only sees them if you point one at your folder yourself.
What is an MCP task server?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard AI assistants use to connect to tools. An MCP task server exposes your task list as actions an assistant can take: add, complete, query. TaskForge 3.0 ships one that runs entirely on your machine over stdio, with no API key, no account, and your tasks never leave your device.
Does it work offline?
Completely. The app, your files, and any local agent all work with no connection. There is no service to be down.
Which platforms does TaskForge run on?
Native apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android, free to download, with one optional premium upgrade available as a one-time purchase, a yearly subscription, or a monthly subscription.
The files are yours. The agent is yours. The app is free.
Free to download on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android.