joplin-plugin-gtd-calendar/SPEC.md

# GTD Calendar — Project Specification (v1 Draft)

A fork of [WeMakeMachines/joplin-plugin-event-calendar](https://github.com/WeMakeMachines/joplin-plugin-event-calendar) (MIT) that inverts the plugin's data model: instead of events living as YAML inside the calendar note, the calendar is **populated by real Joplin notes and todos** in the surrounding folder tree, with clickable drilldown to the source note.

**Working name:** `joplin-plugin-gtd-calendar`
**Proposed manifest id:** `com.victorwiebe.joplin.plugin.gtd-calendar` (must differ from upstream's id so both plugins can coexist during development)

---

## 1. Concept

A note anywhere in a folder contains a ` ```gtd-calendar ` fenced block. That block renders as a Day/Week/Month calendar populated by notes and todos in scope. Items opt in (by default) via a ` ```gtd ` fenced block in their body. Clicking a calendar event opens the underlying note.

Dateless items are not lost — they collect in an **Unscheduled** section below the calendar grid, functioning as a GTD next-actions / someday-maybe bucket.

---

## 2. Schema Reference

### 2.1 The `gtd-calendar` block (lives in the calendar note)

```
```gtd-calendar
view: month            # day | week | month | month-grid   (default: day)
title: Editorial Schedule
scope: this-folder     # this-folder | children | <integer depth>   (default: this-folder)
notes: gtd-only        # gtd-only | all | none     (default: gtd-only)
todos: gtd-only        # gtd-only | all | none     (default: gtd-only)
sort: asc              # asc | desc                (default: asc)
sort-type: title       # title | modified_date    (default: title)
```

| Key | Values | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `view` | `day`, `week`, `month` (also `d`/`w`/`m`), `month-grid` (also `grid`) | `day` | Grouping granularity. `day`/`week`/`month` render the compact tile strip spanning all events; `month-grid` renders a classic 7-column grid of the entire *current* calendar month with weekday headers, dimmed adjacent-month days, today highlighted, and clickable event chips in each day cell. Events outside the displayed month are counted in a footnote. |
| `title` | string | none | Rendered as a heading above the calendar. |
| `scope` | `this-folder`, `children`, or an integer | `this-folder` | `children` = unlimited recursion into subfolders. An integer *n* = this folder plus *n* levels of descendants (`0` ≡ `this-folder`). Documentation will caution that broad scopes scan every note body in the tree. |
| `notes` | `gtd-only`, `all`, `none` | `gtd-only` | Which plain notes participate. `all` includes notes without a `gtd` block (they receive default styling and are Unscheduled unless... see §3.2). |
| `todos` | `gtd-only`, `all`, `none` | `gtd-only` | Same semantics for todos. |
| `sort` | `asc`, `desc` | `asc` | Order of events **within** each day/week/month grouping and within Unscheduled. Groupings themselves always run chronologically. |
| `sort-type` | `title`, `modified_date` | `title` | Field used by `sort`. `modified_date` maps to Joplin's `updated_time`. |

Unknown keys are ignored with a console warning. A malformed block renders an inline error box rather than failing silently (improvement over upstream, which swallows parse errors into the console).

### 2.2 The `gtd` block (lives in participating notes/todos)

```
```gtd
date: 2026-07-04       # required for notes to be scheduled; optional override for todos
bg-colour: teal        # any CSS color value
fg-colour: white
icon: 🦴
title: Override title  # optional; defaults to the note's own title
text: Hover text       # optional; tooltip detail, as upstream
```

| Key | Applies to | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| `date` | notes | Required for the item to appear **in the grid**; without it the note goes to Unscheduled. Accepts `yyyy-mm-dd` (and `mm-dd-yyyy` for upstream parity). |
| `date` | todos | Optional. If present, **overrides** `todo_due` (explicit beats implicit). |
| `bg-colour` / `bgColor` | both | Event tile background. Both spellings accepted; `bg-colour` is canonical for this fork. |
| `fg-colour` | both | Event tile text color (new vs. upstream). |
| `icon` | both | Emoji/short string, as upstream. Defaults: type indicator (see §4). |
| `title` | both | Overrides the note title on the tile. |
| `text` | both | Tooltip body. |

An **empty** ` ```gtd ` block is valid and meaningful: it is the opt-in signal with all defaults.

---

## 3. Data Model Rules

### 3.1 Date resolution

1. **Todos:** `todo_due` from the Joplin API. A `date:` in the `gtd` block overrides it.
2. **Notes:** `date:` from the `gtd` block only. No fallback to created/updated time — those are not event dates and would produce misleading calendars.
3. **No resolvable date** → item is rendered in the **Unscheduled** section below the grid.

### 3.2 Inclusion matrix

An item appears on the calendar iff its type's mode admits it:

| Mode | Has `gtd` block | No `gtd` block |
|---|---|---|
| `gtd-only` (default) | ✅ included | ❌ excluded |
| `all` | ✅ included | ✅ included (default styling) |
| `none` | ❌ excluded | ❌ excluded |

The calendar note itself is always excluded from results, as is any note whose only `gtd-calendar` block makes it a calendar (a note may, however, be both an event and contain a calendar if it has both block types — edge case, supported, documented).

### 3.3 Completed todos

**v1 decision:** completed todos (`todo_completed > 0`) render with strikethrough + checked indicator, and a future `completed: show | hide` calendar option is reserved. (Logged as decision D3 below; cheap to change.)

---

## 4. Rendering

- Reuses upstream's grouping/renderer architecture (`DayGrouping`/`WeekGrouping`/`MonthGrouping` + DOM renderers + CSS asset), including the empty-grouping placeholders and current-date highlight.
- **Fixes upstream bug:** `Calendar/index.ts` imports `WeekGrouping` from `Month/MonthGrouping`, so the week view silently groups by month. Corrected in the fork.
- **Type distinction:** todos render with a checkbox glyph (☐ / ☑ when completed); notes render with a document glyph. Glyphs are suppressed if the item supplies its own `icon`. A subtle border-style difference (solid vs. dashed, TBD in CSS) keeps the distinction visible under custom colours.
- **Unscheduled section:** pinned below the grid, with its own header, honoring `sort` / `sort-type`.
- **Drilldown:** each tile is clickable and opens the source note.

---

## 5. Architecture

Upstream is a single synchronous markdown-it content script with no data API access. The fork becomes a three-part plugin:

```
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Markdown-it content      │  Intercepts ```gtd-calendar fences.
│    script (renderer)        │  Parses YAML config, emits a placeholder
│                             │  <div> carrying the config as data-attrs.
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               │ (rendered HTML)
┌──────────────▼──────────────┐
│ 2. Webview asset script     │  Finds placeholders, calls
│    (runs in rendered note)  │  webviewApi.postMessage(config).
│                             │  Receives event data, builds the
│                             │  calendar DOM via the (reused)
│                             │  grouping/renderer classes.
│                             │  Click → postMessage({open: noteId}).
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               │ postMessage / onMessage
┌──────────────▼──────────────┐
│ 3. Main plugin process      │  joplin.contentScripts.onMessage:
│    (index.ts)               │  • resolve current note's folder
│                             │    (joplin.workspace.selectedNote)
│                             │  • build folder tree, apply scope
│                             │  • fetch notes/todos (id, title,
│                             │    is_todo, todo_due, todo_completed,
│                             │    updated_time, body)
│                             │  • parse ```gtd blocks from bodies
│                             │  • apply inclusion matrix, return
│                             │    structured event list
│                             │  • handle open: joplin.commands
│                             │    .execute('openNote', noteId)
└─────────────────────────────┘
```

### Performance notes

- Folder tree and note list fetched per render request; paginated API calls (`page`/`has_more`).
- Body scanning is limited to items in scope. For large scopes, pre-filter with Joplin's search API (`body:"```gtd"`-style query) before fetching full bodies. Cache by `updated_time` if needed; not a v1 requirement.
- Refresh model: re-render occurs on note switch (Joplin behavior). `joplin.workspace.onNoteChange` live refresh is a stretch goal, not v1.

### Platform caveats

- Desktop is the target. Mobile plugin support is partial; `openNote` behavior there is unverified. The "embed search" pairing remains a documented fallback for mobile users.

---

## 6. Implementation Phases

1. **Phase 0 — Scaffolding.** Fork, rename (manifest id, plugin name, file names), build pipeline verified (`npm install && npm run dist`), upstream week-view bug fixed, upstream tests green.
2. **Phase 1 — Plumbing.** Placeholder rendering for `gtd-calendar` fences; webview ⇄ plugin message round-trip proven with a hardcoded payload.
3. **Phase 2 — Data layer.** Folder tree + scope resolution; note/todo fetching; `gtd` block parsing; inclusion matrix; date resolution; unit tests for all of it (the upstream Jest setup carries over).
4. **Phase 3 — Rendering.** Wire real data into the reused renderers; Unscheduled section; type glyphs; fg-colour support; sort options.
5. **Phase 4 — Drilldown & polish.** Click-to-open; error boxes for malformed YAML; docs/README; scope-performance warnings.

---

## 7. Decision Log / Open Items

| # | Decision | Status |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | Defaults: `notes: gtd-only`, `todos: gtd-only` | ⚠️ **Confirm** — earlier discussion said todos are *always* included (i.e. `todos: all` default); the final message specified `gtd-only` as default for both. Spec follows the final message. |
| D2 | `gtd` `date:` overrides `todo_due` (vs. emitting a warning) | Adopted; revisit if confusing in practice. |
| D3 | Completed todos: shown struck-through in v1; `completed:` option reserved | Proposed, unconfirmed. |
| D4 | `sort`/`sort-type` act within groupings only; grid is always chronological | Confirmed. |
| D5 | Colour key spelling: `bg-colour`/`fg-colour` canonical, `bgColor` accepted for upstream parity | Proposed. |
| D6 | Future options parked: `completed:`, tag-based filtering, week-start day, live refresh | Backlog. |

---

## 8. Licensing & Attribution

Upstream is MIT (© Franco Speziali / WeMakeMachines). The fork retains the MIT license, preserves the original copyright notice, and credits upstream in the README per standard practice.
---

## 9. Roadmap (post-1.0 / post-launch)

Recorded direction, not commitments. Each gets a focused design pass before work begins; real-world use of the shipped plugin may reorder this.

### v0.2.0 — Repeating to-dos (visualisation) + configurable strip horizon

Recurrence itself is delegated to an existing community plugin (open-environment approach; we don't reimplement it). Candidates evaluated: BeatLink's original *Repeating To-Dos* (unmaintained), the *[Revived]* fork (maintained, GitHub issues only), and *Repeating To-dos v2* by TheScriptingGuy (`com.github.TheScriptingGuy.joplin-plugin-repeating-todos`, best-documented). All share the same mechanic: on completion the to-do's alarm date is reset to the next occurrence and the to-do is unmarked — so at any moment a recurring to-do is a **single** to-do at its next due date, with the recurrence rule stored in the note body.

- **Option A (shipped in 0.2.0):** detect recurrence and mark those events with a ↻ glyph. *Implementation note:* v2 of the plugin stores recurrence in Joplin's `userData` (not the note body) and maintains a `recurring` **tag** as its query index — so detection is by tag presence on to-dos (constant `RECURRING_TAG`), not body-scanning. Cleaner than the originally-planned body parse, and reuses the tag-fetching the kanban work will need. No series projection — the to-do shows at its next due date.
- **Option B (in pocket):** parse the recurrence rule and project all future occurrences across the visible window. Deferred because the body format has proven to be a moving target across forks; promote to a 0.2.x only if Option A's single-occurrence view proves insufficient, and target a specific fork's format at that time.
- **README:** recommend the maintained fork (v2 first, Revived as fallback); warn about the known "recurrence block injected into all notes" failure mode; note coexistence (their plugin moves the anchor, ours draws the marker).

**Configurable strip horizon.** `day`/`week`/`month` strip views currently span first-event to last-event (plus today). Add a horizon option to `gtd-calendar` (working name `weeks:` or `horizon:`, default ~8 weeks forward) controlling how far ahead the strip extends — relevant both generally and for how many future occurrences Option B would draw. **`month-grid` is explicitly excluded**: it always shows the entire current calendar month, by design, and that is not configurable.

*Note: multiple `gtd-calendar` blocks in one note already work as of 0.1.0 (each fence renders independently) — e.g. a "week ahead" strip plus a "month grid" in a single dashboard note. No work required; document as a recommended pattern.*

### v0.3.0 — Kanban board (read-only) — SHIPPED

Decision: a **second block type within this plugin**, not a separate plugin. Rationale: a kanban needs the entire existing data layer (`folderScope`, `collectEvents` inclusion matrix, `getNoteTagTitles`, config parsing, recurrence detection, webview messaging); a separate plugin would duplicate all of it or require a shared-library split whose overhead isn't justified for "three tag-driven columns." One plugin also serves the intended use — a calendar and a kanban in one dashboard note — with a single install and a unified config/tag vocabulary.

**The `gtd-kanban` block.** Parallel to `gtd-calendar`; lives in its own note or stacked beneath a calendar (multiple blocks already render independently).

```
```gtd-kanban
title: Editorial Board
scope: this-folder        # this-folder | children | N — same semantics as gtd-calendar
todos: gtd-only           # gtd-only (default) | all | none
sort-type: due-date       # due-date (default) | title | modified-date
sort: asc                 # asc | desc
in-progress-tag: in-progress   # configurable; default "in-progress"
card-detail: hover        # hover (default) | always | none
done-window: 7            # days; integer or "all"; default 7
```

**Columns (always three, always shown even when empty):** Backlog · In Progress · Done.

**Bucketing rules:**
- **Done wins.** Any to-do with `todo_completed > 0` → *Done*, regardless of tags.
- Else, carrying the in-progress tag → *In Progress*.
- Else → *Backlog*.
- **Backlog shows everything** uncompleted and untagged — dated or not, near or far. (Acknowledged: can grow long; compact cards mitigate.)

**Sorting (within each column):**
- `sort-type: due-date | title | modified-date`, with `sort: asc | desc`.
- Under `due-date`, to-dos **without** a due date sort *after* all dated ones.

**Done column window:** shows only to-dos completed within `done-window` days (default 7); `all` shows the full history. Prevents unbounded growth.

**Cards:** compact by default — title, due date, ↻ if recurring, click-to-open. `card-detail` controls the hover panel: `hover` (default), `always` (details inline), `none` (no panel). Notes are excluded entirely (to-dos only).

**Read-only in 0.3.0:** reflects state, never mutates it. Proves columns/bucketing cheaply before write-back.

**Architecture:** reuses the calendar's pipeline. New `gtd-kanban` markdown-it fence → placeholder → webview requests data → plugin runs scope + inclusion + tag fetch (already built) + bucketing → returns three columns → webview renders. `IN_PROGRESS_TAG` constant mirrors `RECURRING_TAG`, exposed via `in-progress-tag:` config from the start.

**`sort-type` vocabulary reconciliation:** the calendar block's `sort-type` (currently `title | modified_date`) is unified toward `due-date | title | modified-date` across both blocks so they read consistently. For the calendar, `due-date` is accepted but falls back to chronological where less meaningful. (Note the spelling shift `modified_date` → `modified-date` for cross-block consistency; the old spelling stays accepted as an alias to avoid breaking existing calendars.)

### v0.4.0 — Drag-and-drop kanban (write-back)

The first feature that makes the plugin a **controller** of data rather than a viewer — warrants its own design pass.

- Dragging a card writes back to Joplin via the existing webview→plugin channel:
  - → *In Progress*: add the `in-progress` tag (create the tag if absent; resolve its id; associate).
  - → *Done*: set `todo_completed`.
  - → *Backlog*: remove the tag / clear completion.
- **Open design questions for that pass:** optimistic UI vs. wait-for-confirmation; behaviour on write failure; whether drops need undo; re-query/refresh of kanban and any affected calendars after a successful write; the trust implications of a rendered view mutating other notes.
- Feasibility: confirmed possible (we already execute `openNote` from the webview; data writes use the same channel with more responsibility). Complexity lives in tag management and the write/refresh cycle, not the dragging.