Obsidian task format cheat sheet

Anatomy of a task line

A task is a list item with a checkbox. After the description come the fields, each one a symbol followed by a value. Obsidian Tasks reads the line from the right, so fields belong at the end, after the text, and any unrecognized text between two fields stops the reading at that point.

The same task in each inline format:

- [ ] Pay rent ⏫ 🔁 every month ➕ 2026-01-02 ⏳ 2026-01-14 📅 2026-01-15

- [ ] Pay rent  [priority:: high]  [repeat:: every month]  [created:: 2026-01-02]  [scheduled:: 2026-01-14]  [due:: 2026-01-15]

- [ ] Pay rent #project/Home @bank ⏫ 📅 2026-01-15 09:00 [repeat:: every month]

Fields, side by side

Dates are always YYYY-MM-DD. The Dataview column uses square brackets. Obsidian Tasks and Dataview also read parentheses, (due:: 2026-01-15); Task Genius reads square brackets only. Task Genius reads the emoji and the bracket form, so its column only lists what it adds or spells differently.

Scroll sideways on a narrow screen.

Order Obsidian Tasks writes fields in

When Obsidian Tasks writes a line it puts the ID, dependencies, priority, recurrence and on-completion first, then created, start, scheduled and due dates, then cancelled and done dates. Writing by hand in a different order works as long as every field sits at the end of the line.

Status characters

The character inside the brackets is the status. Only the space and x are universal. Everything else is a convention that a plugin, a theme or a status collection gives meaning to.

In Obsidian Tasks, a character you have not configured shows up as an Unknown status. Add it in the plugin's Custom Statuses settings, or load a ready-made status collection.

Task Genius treats only x and X as completed. TaskNotes files do not use checkbox characters at all; they have a status property, covered below.

Recurrence

Recurrence is where the formats differ most. The same weekly task, written four ways:

- [ ] Water plants 🔁 every week on Sunday when done 📅 2026-01-18

- [ ] Water plants  [repeat:: every week on Sunday when done]  [due:: 2026-01-18]

- [ ] Water plants [recurrence:: FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=SU] [due:: 2026-01-18]

recurrence: "DTSTART:20260118;FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=SU"
recurrence_anchor: completion

Rules Obsidian Tasks understands

Every rule starts with the word every. Add when done to count from the day you finish rather than the original date.

every 3 days
every 10 days when done
every weekday
every week on Sunday
every week on Tuesday, Friday
every 2 weeks
every 3 weeks on Friday
every 2 months
every month on the 1st
every month on the last
every month on the last Friday
every month on the 2nd last Friday
every January on the 15th
every April and December on the 1st and 24th
every year

How completion behaves

• Obsidian Tasks: checking a recurring task marks that line done and adds a new line, above it by default, with the dates moved forward. A setting puts the new line below instead.
• Obsidian Tasks: a recurring task needs at least one of a due, scheduled or start date. Without one, the rule has nothing to move.
• Obsidian Tasks: with a monthly rule, a date that does not exist (the 31st in April) moves earlier to the last valid day. A rule that names the 31st instead skips months without one.
• Obsidian Tasks: the new line drops any ID and depends-on field, so a dependency does not block forever.
• TaskNotes: the file stays one task. Completed and skipped dates go into complete_instances and skipped_instances, and the schedule advances.
• Task Genius: the next date comes from an iCalendar rule or a simple phrase such as every 2 weeks. Richer Obsidian Tasks phrases, like every weekday or the last Friday of the month, are not read the same way, so test a few before you rely on them.
• Keep recurring tasks out of daily notes. A recurring line in a daily note is copied into every day's note.

Task files: TaskNotes frontmatter

TaskNotes stores one task per note. The facts live in YAML frontmatter and the body is free text. A file counts as a task when it carries the tag or property you set in the plugin settings, by default the task tag.

---
tags:
  - task
title: Review quarterly report
status: in-progress
priority: high
due: 2026-01-15
scheduled: 2026-01-14
contexts:
  - office
projects:
  - "[[Q1 Planning]]"
timeEstimate: 90
recurrence: "DTSTART:20260115;FREQ=MONTHLY;BYMONTHDAY=15"
recurrence_anchor: scheduled
---

Notes, links and a checklist go in the body.

Properties

title: Review quarterly report

status: in-progress

priority: high

due: 2026-01-15

scheduled: 2026-01-14T09:00

completedDate: 2026-01-15

dateCreated: 2026-01-02T08:00:00Z

dateModified: 2026-01-15T10:30:00Z

tags: [task, finance]

contexts: [office]

projects: ["[[Q1 Planning]]"]

timeEstimate: 90

recurrence: "FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=MO,WE,FR"

recurrence_anchor: completion

complete_instances: ["2026-01-08"]

skipped_instances: ["2026-01-22"]

- uid: "Tasks/Draft report.md"
  reltype: FINISHTOSTART

Property names are settings. If you rename due to deadline in the plugin, the file must use deadline.

Lists must be lists, even with one item. A scalar where a list is expected is the most common reason a task file does not show up in a view.

Gotchas that cost people an evening

• Obsidian Tasks reads and writes one format at a time. If its setting is Dataview, its own emoji stop being read until you switch back.
• Dataview needs a double colon, [due:: 2026-01-15]. A single colon is not a field.
• Brackets must match. [due:: 2026-01-15) is not read.
• Obsidian Tasks keys are case sensitive in Dataview style: repeat, dependsOn and onCompletion work, Repeat and dependson do not. Task Genius matches keys without regard to case.
• The done key is completion. [done:: 2026-01-15] is just an unknown field.
• Dataview documents 🗓️ as its due shorthand, while Obsidian Tasks writes 📅. If you query emoji dates with Dataview, test your own version first. Bracketed fields avoid the question.
• Pasted text can carry non-breaking spaces or a variation selector after an emoji. Obsidian Tasks does not read those, and the line looks fine on screen.
• Dataview has shorthands for five dates only. Priority and recurrence have no shorthand and need the bracket form.
• A global filter such as #task in Obsidian Tasks makes it ignore every checkbox without that tag. Tasks that vanish from queries are often this.
• Checkbox lines inside a fenced code block are not tasks in any of these plugins.

Sources of truth

Plugins change. When something here looks wrong for your version, trust these over this page.

• Obsidian Tasks docs: Tasks Emoji Format
• Obsidian Tasks: Dataview Format
• Obsidian Tasks docs: Recurring Tasks
• Obsidian Tasks: Statuses
• Dataview: Metadata on Tasks and Lists
• Dataview: Adding Metadata (inline fields)
• Task Genius documentation
• Task Genius on GitHub
• TaskNotes documentation
• TaskNotes: Property Types Reference

Questions people ask