Product updates

What changed, and what is next.

Plainlist moves in public: small, practical improvements to the same file-owned workflow. macOS comes first, with Windows, iOS, and Android coming soon.

Beta — early access

Linux is here, early.

Same file-owned .todo workflow, running natively on Linux — built and tested on Ubuntu-family desktops. It's early: tested on one machine so far, so treat it as a beta. One known rough edge — the tray icon needs the AppIndicator GNOME extension on vanilla Fedora/GNOME installs; it works out of the box on Ubuntu, Mint, and KDE.

Download AppImage or .deb · .rpm

What we are building next.

Each one stays true to the same rule: a plain line in your .todo file, a richer view in the app.

Coming soon

Your file, everywhere.

Plainlist is macOS-first today. Windows, iOS, and Android are next, built on the same file-owned model — your .todo stays the source of truth, with no cloud account in the middle.

You decide

Vote on what comes after.

The roadmap is shaped in public. Tell us where the daily loop still feels slow, and vote up the features you want most on the feedback board.

Recently shipped.

The same workflow, getting faster release by release.

v1.4.1Aug 2026

Plainlist now has a command-line companion.

Scripts and AI agents can read and edit your .todo file directly, without opening the app.

• New plainlist CLI — list, add, search, and complete tasks, plus add habits and goals, from the terminal.
• Help menu → "Copy CLI Install Command" copies the install command straight to your clipboard.
• Without a file specified, the CLI automatically targets whichever .todo file you already have open in Plainlist.

v1.4.0Jul 2026

Track work in stages, not just done or not-done.

Plus a checklist inside today's plan, a habit grid, and find-in-file.

• Add a stages: line to a file and every task gets a stage — todo, doing, waiting, blocked, done. Click a task's mark to move it along; the file still reads as plain text.
• Focus rows show that stage too, and clicking one opens the ladder instead of jumping straight to done.
• A planned task now carries its subtasks with it: open the card in Focus to tick off the pieces without leaving today's plan.
• Habit history gets a Grid view — 21 days at a glance, fullscreen for the whole board.
• ⌘F finds text in the editor.
• Focus's Defer menu regained Pick a date… for any day the presets don't cover.
• Fixed: on a narrow window the line actions no longer paint over the file and sync labels in the status bar.

v1.3.2Jul 2026

Esc closes the popup, not your whole window.

Plus a faster way to push a planned task to another day.

• Press Esc to dismiss the open popup — the date picker, a menu, add-goal or add-habit — instead of hiding the entire window.
• The Focus … menu on a planned task now offers Defer: this weekend, next week, next month, or remove from the plan.
• Deferring moves only the task's start — due dates stay put.

v1.3.1Jul 2026

Defer slipped work, plus safer multi-device editing.

Push overdue tasks to later, protect your file across devices, and a fix for the add-goal menu.

• From Focus, defer overdue or slipped tasks to this weekend, next week, or next month — or drop them from the plan — one at a time or all at once.
• If your file changed in another app or on another device since you opened it, saving now flags a conflict to resolve instead of silently overwriting it.
• Completed tasks are hidden by default for a tidier editor — toggle anytime in View.
• Fixed: the ＋ to add a goal or habit now opens its menu (it was rendering invisibly).

v1.3.0Jul 2026

Finished goals become a record of wins.

Achievements, safe sync-conflict resolution, and a cleaner goal editor.

• Complete a goal and it no longer vanishes — it moves to an 🏆 Achievements section: recent wins in Focus, the full history in List, each with the date you finished it.
• If a synced folder (Nextcloud, Dropbox, iCloud) leaves a "conflicted copy" next to your file, Plainlist now detects it and offers a safe side-by-side compare and merge — nothing is overwritten without your choice, and the original is backed up first.
• The goal editor shows full titles instead of cutting them to "…", with a roomier calendar for setting a timeframe.
• Cleaner goal rows, filters that wrap instead of scrolling sideways, and fewer stray clicks closing the drawers.

v1.2.0Jul 2026

See your goals on a timeline you can actually read.

A sharper goals-and-habits planner, plus a round of visual fixes.

• Goal names now sit clearly beside their timeline bars instead of getting cut off to "…".
• Show or hide your goals in the planner with a single 🎯 pill.
• Click a day's anytime count to open that day's flexible tasks in the sidebar.
• Habit quota progress now counts your completions even after they've been archived.
• Fixed a couple of display glitches — a trial notice that could render invisible, and stray text near the bottom bar.

v0.19.1Jul 2026

Weekly-quota habits now track live in Focus.

Flexible habits stay in view all day, so you can see progress at a glance without opening the drawer.

• A @quota(3/week) habit stays in your Focus list all day, showing how many you've done and how many are left.
• Once you hit the target for the period it shows as met, instead of disappearing.
• Fixed-schedule habits still clear once you've handled them for the day.
• The goal-timeframe picker no longer runs off the bottom of the screen in a short window.

v0.19.0Jul 2026

Goals and Habits, in the same file.

Two new layers land in Plainlist — keep the goals you're working toward and the habits you're building right beside your tasks, all in one .todo file.

• Set a goal with 🎯 and an optional timeframe (@span), then nest the tasks that move it.
• Keep habits on a fixed schedule (@every(mon/wed/fri)) or a flexible quota (@quota(3/week)).
• A Habits drawer shows what's ready today, your streaks, and Week/Month history.
• Add or edit a habit right inline — type /habit or use the Add-Habit popup.

v0.17.6Jun 2026

Faster planning, fewer clicks.

This update speeds up the everyday loop in Plan.

• Check off tasks straight from the planner — the box on each Plan card is now a real checkbox, so you can mark work done without opening it.
• 3-Day and Week can open in a wider window when you switch to Plan, then restore your editor size when you leave.
• Each span remembers your choice, so it only asks once.

v0.17.5Jun 2026

Check off tasks straight from the planner.

The square on each Plan card is now a real checkbox, not just a color dot.

• Click the box to mark a task done without opening it; completed tasks leave the plan list.
• The box carries its category color as a ring, and fills in when the task is done.
• App Store launch and rendering fixes for a smoother first open on macOS.

June 2026

Power-user editing, without a mode.

Select multiple task lines and apply the same metadata in one undoable action.

• Bulk-set Done, Due, Estimate, Priority, or Plan across selected task lines.
• Command palette bulk actions appear when the editor selection spans multiple tasks.
• The file still receives ordinary readable tags like @due, @est, and @start.

June 2026

Project context across Focus and Plan.

Tasks now carry clearer project context when you are working outside the raw outline.

• Focus rows and Add to today show the nearest project first.
• Timed blocks, Anytime chips, selected bars, and unplanned drawers include project context where it helps scanning.
• Project labels stay muted so they add orientation without competing with the task itself.

June 2026

Archive finished projects, not just tasks.

Plainlist can mark a finished project with @archived(YYYY-MM-DD) while keeping it in the same owned file.

• Archived projects drop out of Plan, Focus, and normal lists.
• Done keeps archived project history visible as read-only context.
• Open tasks under a project stay protected so work is not hidden by accident.

June 2026

More ways to make it feel like yours.

Appearance now reaches beyond light and dark.

• Added Monokai, Day One, and VS Code Dark+ inspired themes.
• Theme and font scale settings apply across the app.
• Category colors remain plain words in the file and visual chips in the app.