rusk

A minimal cross-platform terminal task manager

   

• Install
• Basic Usage
  • Working with Multiple Tasks
  • Interactive Editing
  • Data Safety & Backup
    • Automatic Backups
    • Manual Restore
  • Aliases
• Configuration
  • Shell Completion
    • Quick Install (Recommended)
    • Manual Installation
      • Bash
      • Zsh
      • Fish
      • Nu Shell
      • PowerShell
  • Database Location

Install

Linux/MacOS/Windows

cargo install --git https://github.com/tagirov/rusk

The binary will be installed to:

• Linux/MacOS: $HOME/.cargo/bin/rusk
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin\rusk.exe

Make sure that these paths are added to your $PATH environment variable to use rusk command globally.

Arch Linux (AUR)

paru -S rusk

Manually

git clone https://github.com/tagirov/rusk && cd rusk

cargo build --release

Linux/MacOS

sudo install -m 755 ./target/release/rusk /usr/local/bin

Windows

copy .\target\release\rusk.exe "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\"

Basic Usage

# Add a new task
rusk add Buy groceries

# Add a task with a deadline
rusk add Finish project report --date 31-12-2025

# Or with short year and slash separator:
rusk add Finish project report --date 31/12/25

# Leading zero for day and month is optional:
rusk add Finish project report --date 1-3-25

# View all tasks
rusk list

# or simply
rusk

# Mark a task as done
rusk mark 1

# Mark a task as undone (toggle)
rusk mark 1

# Edit task text (replace)
rusk edit 1 Complete the project documentation

# Edit task date
rusk edit 1 --date 25/12/2025

# Edit both text and date
rusk edit 1 Update documentation --date 23-12-25

# Delete a task
rusk del 1

# Delete all completed tasks
rusk del --done

# Get help for any command
rusk --help

# Get help for a specific command
rusk add --help
rusk del --done --help 

Working with Multiple Tasks

Multiple task IDs must be comma-separated (no spaces allowed between IDs)

# Mark multiple tasks as done
rusk mark 1,2,3

# Edit multiple tasks with the same text
rusk edit 1,2,3 Update status to completed

# Delete multiple tasks
rusk del 1,2,3

Interactive Editing

# Edit task text interactively
rusk edit 1

# Edit task text and date interactively
rusk edit 1 -d

# Interactive editing of tasks in sequence
rusk edit 1,2,3

Data Safety & Backup

Automatic Backups

• Every save operation creates a .json.backup file
• Backups are stored in the same directory as your database
• Atomic writes prevent data corruption during saves

Manual Restore

# Restore from the automatic backup
rusk restore

# This will:
# 1. Validate the backup file
# 2. Create a safety backup of current database (if valid)
# 3. Restore tasks from backup

Aliases

rusk a (add)
rusk l (list)
rusk m (mark)
rusk e (edit)
rusk d (del)
rusk r (restore)

-d (--date)
-h (--help)
-V (--version)

Configuration

Shell Completion

For detailed installation instructions, see completions/README.md.

It provides autocomplete for commands, task IDs, and task text during editing by pressing <tab> button.

Features:

• Command completion: Autocomplete commands (add, edit, mark, del, etc.) and their aliases
• Task ID completion: Tab-complete task IDs for edit, mark, and del commands
• Smart text completion: When typing rusk edit 3 <tab>, automatically suggests the current task text for easy editing. (rusk edit 3<tab> will complete the ID)
• Flag completion: Autocomplete --date, --done, etc.
• Date suggestions: When using --date<tab> or -d<tab> flag, suggests default dates: Today, Tomorrow, One week ahead, Two weeks ahead

Windows Support:

• Git Bash: Works with bash completions (uses Unix-style paths)
• WSL: Works with bash, zsh, fish, and nu completions
• Nu Shell: Works natively on Windows (uses %APPDATA%\nushell\completions\)
• PowerShell: Works natively on Windows (uses Documents\PowerShell\rusk-completions.ps1)
• CMD: Basic commands work (add, list, mark, del, edit with text/date). Interactive editing (rusk edit without arguments) requires Windows 10+ and may have limited functionality. Tab completion is not supported. Colors work on Windows 10+ (build 1511 and later).

Database Location

By default, rusk stores tasks to:

• Linux/MacOS: $HOME/.rusk/tasks.json
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.rusk\tasks.json

You can customize the database location using the RUSK_DB environment variable:

# Use a custom database file
export RUSK_DB="/path/to/your/tasks.json"

# Use a custom directory (tasks.json will be created inside)
export RUSK_DB="/path/to/your/project/"

# Use different task lists for different projects
cd ~/projects/website
RUSK_DB="./tasks.json" rusk add Fix responsive layout

cd ~/projects/api
RUSK_DB="./tasks.json" rusk add Add authentication endpoint

# Each project has its own task list

Debug Mode: When running in debug mode (cargo run or debug builds), rusk uses a temporary database location to avoid affecting your production data:

• Linux/MacOS: $TMPDIR/rusk_debug/tasks.json (usually /tmp/rusk_debug/tasks.json)
• Windows: %TEMP%\rusk_debug\tasks.json (usually C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp\rusk_debug\tasks.json)

In debug mode, the RUSK_DB environment variable is ignored, and the database path is printed to the console when the program starts.

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