Getting started with Operon

Operon is a task and project management system that unifies inline tasks and file-based tasks in the same workflows, with filters, Calendar planning, Kanban boards, recurrence, pinned tasks, and time tracking. It lives inside your Obsidian notes. Your tasks stay as plain Markdown and YAML, and Operon adds the structure, views, and automation on top.

The most common first reaction to Operon is that it looks like a lot. Inline tasks, file tasks, filters, pipelines, a Calendar, a Kanban board, recurrence, time tracking. That is real, but here is the important part:

You do not need all of it to start. You need one task and one view.

The shortest useful path

If you do nothing else, do these four things in order:

  1. Install it. See Install and enable Operon.
  2. Set up the basics. Check a few settings once so tasks behave the way you expect. See Essential settings to configure first.
  3. Make one task. See Create your first task.
  4. See your tasks together. See Build your first filtered view.

That is enough to actually use Operon. Everything else is there for when you want it.

Before the path: understand the shape

Two short pages will save you a lot of confusion later:

  • Operon system map: what each part of Operon is for, and when you would reach for it. Read this if you feel overwhelmed by how many features there are.
  • Operon core concepts: the core idea Operon is built on. Your tasks are Markdown, identified and connected.

If a term is unfamiliar, Glossary of Operon terms defines them all in one place.

How to grow into it

Operon is meant to scale with the work, not force a system on you. Start with quick inline tasks inside your notes. When a task grows into something with its own context, turn it into a file task, a note that is itself a task. Add views, recurrence, and time tracking only when the work asks for them.

When you are ready for more, the full map is in Operon Docs MOC.