Operon system map

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 has many parts, but they fall into three simple groups: ways to make tasks, ways to see them, and ways to control and automate them. You will not use all of these. This page tells you what each one is for so you can reach for the right one.

Ways to make tasks

  • Inline tasks: a task written on a single line inside any note. The lightest option, good for quick to-dos that live next to your writing. See Inline tasks.
  • File tasks: a whole note that is a task, with its fields in the frontmatter. Use this when a task deserves its own page: notes, subtasks, links, longer context. See File tasks.
  • Task Creator: a guided dialog that builds a task for you so you never have to write the syntax by hand. Run Create New Operon Task. See Task Creator.
  • Task Editor: opens an existing task to change its fields. Run Create or edit inline task on a task. See Task Editor.

Not sure which kind of task to use? See Inline vs file tasks.

Ways to see tasks

  • Filter View: filtered, saved lists of tasks from across your vault. Your everyday "what should I work on" surface. Run Operon Filter View. See Filter View.

  • Task Finder: fast search to jump to a single task when you remember it but not where it is. Run Task Finder. See Task Finder.

  • Calendar: tasks placed on dates and times, including due markers and recurring tasks. Use it to plan when. Timed presets can show rolling days or a fixed calendar week on desktop and tablet. Run Operon Calendar. See Calendar overview and Calendar presets and time grid.

  • Kanban: tasks as cards grouped by a column property and an optional row property. Use Status for workflow stages, or other properties for dates, people, and other planning dimensions. Run Operon Kanban. See Kanban overview.

  • Table: tasks as rows and columns, like a spreadsheet, for comparing fields, sorting, grouping, and summarizing them. Add the Task Tree column to open parent and subtask context in the rows, or open Gantt beside the Table to plan those rows across time and dependencies. Use it to plan by comparison and sequence. Run Operon Table. See Table overview.

  • Canvas Task Cards: arrange tasks as a project map, gather existing work from the Canvas Task Pool, and set parent–child or blocking relationships on connections. Run Add task to Canvas from an editable Canvas. See Canvas Task Cards.

  • Excalidraw Task Cards: arrange tasks beside sketches, convert drawing text into tasks, and edit relationships on arrows. See Excalidraw Task Cards.

  • Task Pool: gather existing tasks for either visual surface using shared search and task modes. See Canvas and Excalidraw Task Pool.

  • Operon Groups in Canvas: organize cards with a property rule, apply that rule by dropping a task into the group, and route cards that no longer match a single-value group. Editing the rule does not bulk-update the tasks inside. See Operon Groups in Canvas.

  • Embedded Task Cards: keep one live task beside the text of a note, with its fields, progress, and controls. Use Copy task card embed in Task Editor. See Embedded Task Cards.

  • Pinned Task Dock: keeps chosen tasks always in view. It can float over your notes (run Toggle Pinned Tasks dock) or live in a side panel (run Open Pinned Tasks, or set it to open in the sidebar). See Pinned Task Dock.

  • Upcoming Tasks: automatically groups dated tasks by day in a sidebar. Current and next timed tasks also appear in the desktop Status Dock. See Upcoming Tasks.

  • Status Dock: a compact desktop surface for tracking, breaks, overdue and today task lists, recent saved sessions, ongoing calendar tasks, the next-task countdown, and duplicate-ID warnings. Drag it to reposition it, or run Toggle status dock to hide or show it. It is separate from the list of tasks you pin. See Status Dock.

Planning a day or week by date? Use the Calendar. Planning by workflow stage or property intersections? Use the Kanban. Comparing fields, task hierarchy, and a longer schedule? Use the Table and its Gantt timeline.

Ways to control and automate

  • Property Value Pool: search and favorite reusable values, then apply them to task cards on Canvas or Excalidraw. See Canvas and Excalidraw Property Value Pool.
  • Pipelines and statuses: the workflow stages a task moves through (for example, the columns you see in Kanban). Set these up once to match how you work. See Pipelines and statuses.
  • Recurring tasks: tasks that repeat on a schedule, such as every Monday. See Recurring tasks.
  • Time tracking: start and stop a timer on a task with Start/stop time tracker, then review sessions in the Time Session History panel. For focused work sessions, open the FlowTime panel. See Time tracking.
  • Command palette: almost everything above has a command, and many commands are context-aware. The same command does different things depending on whether you are on selected text, an empty line, a task, or a view. See Command palette reference.

When you are starting out

You only need two things to begin: one inline task and one Filter View. Add file tasks, Calendar, Kanban, recurrence, and time tracking later, as the work calls for them. The guided path is in Getting started with Operon.