obsidian-task-export-plugin

Automatically export outstanding tasks from your Obsidian vault to CSV for ManicTime integration.

Description

An Obsidian plugin that monitors your customer project files and automatically exports outstanding tasks to CSV format. Integrates seamlessly into your Obsidian workflow with command palette support, automatic file watching, and configurable export options.

This is a TypeScript port of the markdown-task-export C# console application, adapted for Obsidian with enhanced UI features.

Features

• 🎨 Command Palette Integration - Export tasks with keyboard shortcuts
• 🔄 Automatic Export - Watch for file changes and auto-export
• ⚙️ Settings Panel - Fully configurable export behavior
• 🎯 Ribbon Icon - Quick access from sidebar
• 📊 Status Bar - Shows last export time
• 🔔 Notifications - Success/error feedback
• 🚀 Debounced Updates - Efficient file watching
• 📁 Selective Monitoring - Only watches relevant folders
• ⚡ High Performance - Async processing, file caching

Installation

From Obsidian Community Plugins

Plugin not yet published to community store

1. Open Obsidian Settings
2. Navigate to Community Plugins
3. Search for "Task Export Tool"
4. Click Install and Enable

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
2. Extract main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css to:

   VaultFolder/.obsidian/plugins/task-export-to-csv/
   

3. Reload Obsidian
4. Enable plugin in Settings → Community Plugins

Development Build

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/tailormade-eu/obsidian-task-export-plugin.git
cd obsidian-task-export-plugin

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build plugin
npm run build

# For development with auto-reload
npm run dev

Quick Start

1. Install and enable the plugin
2. Open Settings → Task Export Tool
3. Configure "Customers Folder" path (default: Customers)
4. Press Ctrl/Cmd + P → "Export Outstanding Tasks"
5. Find outstanding_tasks.csv in your vault root

Usage

Manual Export

Via Command Palette:

1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + P
2. Type "Export Outstanding Tasks"
3. Press Enter
4. Notification shows export success

Via Ribbon Icon:

• Click the export icon (📊) in left sidebar

Automatic Export

1. Open Settings → Task Export Tool
2. Enable "Auto Export"
3. Choose trigger: "On Save" or "On File Change"
4. Edit any .md file in Customers folder
5. CSV automatically updates in background

Status Bar

View last export time and status in bottom status bar:

• ✅ "Last export: 2 minutes ago" (success)
• ⚠️ "Export failed" (error - click for details)

Settings

Configuration Options

Setting	Description	Default	Type
Output Path	CSV file location (relative to vault)	outstanding_tasks.csv	Text
Customers Folder	Root folder with customer files	Customers	Text
Auto Export	Enable automatic export	false	Toggle
Export on Save	Trigger on file save	true	Toggle
Export on Modify	Trigger on any modification	false	Toggle
Show Notifications	Display export notifications	true	Toggle
CSV Delimiter	Choose comma or semicolon delimiter	, (comma)	Dropdown
Compress Levels	Remove empty hierarchy columns	false	Toggle
Include Header	Include CSV header row in output	true	Toggle
Debounce Delay	Wait time after changes (seconds)	3	Number

Note for European Users: If Excel doesn't open the CSV correctly, try changing the delimiter to semicolon in settings. Many European locales use semicolon as the standard CSV delimiter since comma is used as the decimal separator.

Accessing Settings

Settings → Plugin Options → Task Export Tool

Commands

Command	Description	Default Hotkey
Export Outstanding Tasks	Manually trigger export	None
Toggle Auto-Export	Enable/disable automatic export	None
Open Export Settings	Jump to plugin settings	None

Custom Hotkeys

Assign hotkeys via: Settings → Hotkeys → Search "Task Export"

Input Format

Vault Structure

YourVault/
├── Customers/                  ← Configured folder
│   ├── Customer A/
│   │   ├── Project 1.md
│   │   └── Project 2.md
│   └── Customer B/
│       └── SubFolder/
│           └── Project X.md
├── outstanding_tasks.csv       ← Output file
└── .obsidian/
    └── plugins/
        └── task-export-to-csv/

Markdown Task Format

Standard Markdown task checkboxes:

## Section

- [ ] Outstanding task
- [x] Completed task (ignored)
- [ ] Task with sub-items
  - [ ] Sub-task (nested)

### Subsection

- [ ] Another task

Output Format

CSV with dynamic columns (comma-separated by default, configurable to semicolon):

CustomerName,Level1,Level2,Level3,Task
Customer A,Project 1,Section,Outstanding task
Customer A,Project 1,Section,Task with sub-items
Customer A,Project 1,Section,Sub-task (nested)
Customer A,Project 1,Section,Subsection,Another task

Notes:

• Level columns: The plugin uses generic Level1..LevelN columns for hierarchical path data. These contain, in order: any subfolder segments under the customer folder, then the project (markdown file) name, followed by markdown header segments and parent task text as present.
• Compression: When Compress Levels is enabled the CSV will omit empty trailing Level columns for each row; when disabled rows are padded to the maximum level depth.
• The delimiter can be changed to semicolon (;) in the plugin settings for better compatibility with European Excel versions.

Example

For a file under the Customers folder such as Customers/<CustomerName>/<Subfolder...>/<ProjectName>.md containing a top-level task in a Section, a produced CSV row will look like:

CustomerName,Level1,Level2,Task
<CustomerName>,<Subfolder>,<ProjectName>,Section - Outstanding task

Technical Details

Technology Stack

• TypeScript
• Obsidian Plugin API
• esbuild (bundling)
• Node.js (development)

Project Structure

obsidian-task-export-plugin/
├── src/
│   ├── main.ts              # Plugin entry point
│   ├── settings.ts          # Settings interface
│   ├── exporter.ts          # Export logic
│   ├── parser.ts            # Markdown parsing
│   ├── csv-writer.ts        # CSV generation
│   ├── file-watcher.ts      # File monitoring
│   └── types.ts             # TypeScript interfaces
├── manifest.json            # Plugin metadata
├── package.json             # Dependencies
├── tsconfig.json            # TypeScript config
├── esbuild.config.mjs       # Build config
└── README.md

Key APIs Used

• app.vault.getMarkdownFiles() - File enumeration
• app.vault.read(file) - File reading
• app.vault.adapter.write() - CSV writing
• app.workspace.on('file-modified') - File watching
• addCommand() - Command registration
• addSettingTab() - Settings UI
• addRibbonIcon() - Sidebar icon
• addStatusBarItem() - Status bar

Performance Optimization

• File Caching: Only re-parse modified files
• Debouncing: Waits for changes to settle (configurable delay)
• Async Processing: Non-blocking file operations
• Selective Watching: Only monitors Customers folder
• Incremental Updates: Smart change detection

Expected Performance

• Initial scan of 100 files: < 2 seconds
• Auto-export after file change: < 500ms
• Memory footprint: < 10MB
• CPU usage: Minimal (idle when no changes)

Development

Setup

npm install

Build Commands

# Development build with watch mode
npm run dev

# Production build (minified)
npm run build

# Type checking
npm run check

# Lint code
npm run lint

Testing

# Run tests
npm test

# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverage

Hot Reload

Install Hot Reload Plugin for automatic plugin reload during development.

Debugging

1. Open Developer Tools: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I
2. Check Console tab for logs
3. Use console.log() in code
4. Set breakpoints in Sources tab

Troubleshooting

Plugin Not Loading

1. Check console for errors: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I
2. Verify files in .obsidian/plugins/task-export-to-csv/:
   • main.js
   • manifest.json
   • styles.css (optional)
3. Check Obsidian version compatibility in manifest.json
4. Disable and re-enable plugin

Auto-Export Not Working

1. Verify "Auto Export" is enabled in settings
2. Check "Customers Folder" path is correct
3. Ensure files are .md format
4. Check console for errors
5. Try manual export first

CSV Not Generated

1. Verify output path is writable
2. Check at least one unchecked task exists
3. Look for error notifications
4. Check console for detailed errors
5. Try different output location

Performance Issues

1. Disable "Export on Modify" (use "On Save" instead)
2. Increase "Debounce Delay" in settings
3. Check file cache is working (look for "Using cached" in console with verbose logging)
4. Reduce number of files in Customers folder

Roadmap

• Basic task extraction
• Command palette integration
• Auto-export on file changes
• Settings panel
• Export templates
• Multiple output formats (JSON, XML)
• Task filtering (by date, tags)
• Statistics dashboard
• Direct ManicTime API integration
• Custom task patterns
• Scheduled exports
• Export history

Contributing

Contributions welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
6. Push to branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
7. Open a Pull Request

Code Style

• Use TypeScript strict mode
• Follow Obsidian plugin conventions
• Add JSDoc comments for public APIs
• Keep methods focused and testable
• Write tests for new features

Related Projects

• markdown-task-export - C# console application version

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Support

• 🐛 Report Bugs: GitHub Issues
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• 📖 Documentation: Wiki
• ⭐ Star the repo if you find it useful!

Acknowledgments

• Built with the Obsidian Plugin Developer Guide
• Inspired by the need for better task tracking integration
• Thanks to the Obsidian community

Author

Created for personal use in managing customer project tasks with time tracking integration.