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Getting started — install InventTasks and set up a workspace

Install and first launch#

Install and enable#

  1. Download inventtasks.zip from https://inventtasks.solidinvent.pl and unzip it into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/ (the archive already contains the inventtasks/ folder), or copy a release build (main.js, manifest.json, styles.css) into .obsidian/plugins/inventtasks/.
  2. Restart Obsidian or reload plugins.
  3. Enable InventTasks under Settings → Community plugins.

Desktop and mobile file-handling instructions are included as INSTALL.md in the download. To update a manual installation, disable InventTasks, replace the installed plugin files with the new release, reload Obsidian, and enable it again. Your task data remains in the workspace folder inside the vault.

Open InventTasks#

  • Click the InventTasks ribbon icon (one per configured workspace/vault entry).
  • Or run the command Open InventTasks from the command palette.

The main view opens with the sidebar navigator and your current location.

Demo workspace#

On first launch InventTasks creates the workspace configuration and its hidden system Lists, but it does not silently create sample tasks. An empty workspace offers:

  • Create your first Space
  • Load starter content — one Space, one List, and a few learning Items

You can also use Settings → InventTasks → Add starter content. For a broader sample with one Space, one Folder, three Lists, 25 active Items, custom fields, relationships, Docs, dates, and time tracking, use Add rich content for testers. Both actions add to existing data and stay within the free plan limits.

Default workspace root folder: Tasks/ (change per vault entry in plugin settings).

Workspaces, hierarchy, and storage#

Terminology#

  • An Obsidian vault is the folder opened by Obsidian.
  • An InventTasks workspace is a task-manager root inside that vault. The plugin settings also label these entries Vaults because each behaves like a separate InventTasks instance.
  • A self-hosted server has remote objects of type Task manager or Vault. A Task manager object carries one InventTasks workspace; a Vault object carries the rest of an Obsidian vault through Vault sync.

Workspaces (Vaults)#

You can run multiple InventTasks workspaces inside one Obsidian vault. Each workspace has:

  • Its own root folder containing _workspace.md and Spaces
  • Its own ribbon icon and display name
  • Its own per-workspace settings (timezone, notifications state, backups, hotkeys, …)

Switch by clicking a ribbon icon or Set active in settings. Calendar accounts, the SMTP account, and the ntfy account are configured once for the plugin; Item data and Markdown configuration remain separate per workspace. You can also remove every InventTasks workspace and use only the independent Vault sync module.

Hierarchy#

Workspace → Space → (optional Folder) → List → Item → Subitem
Level On disk Purpose
Workspace _workspace.md Global defaults: statuses, priorities, custom fields, features
Space Folder + _space.md Major area (e.g. Work, Personal)
Folder Optional subfolder + _folder.md Groups lists inside a Space
List Folder + _list.md Container for items; each item has exactly one home list
Item *.md in a List folder One unit of work
Subitem Separate *.md with parent_task in frontmatter Direct subitems, or three total tree levels when nested subitems are enabled

Docs live in _docs/ and appear in the sidebar tree. Items can also appear in additional lists via frontmatter, but status and custom fields always come from the home list. Membership of a Folder or a Space is decided by the home list too: an Item you add to a List somewhere else shows up when you open that List — marked with a ↪ badge naming its home — but it is not counted in the Folder or Space above that List.

Important paths#

  • _workspace.md, _space.md, _folder.md, _list.md — configuration
  • _views/view-*.md — saved view definitions, at workspace or location level
  • _templates/ — reusable blueprints
  • _trash/ — soft-deleted items
  • _attachments/<item_id>/ — item attachment files
  • _workspace-state.md — shared notification/sync state (should sync across devices)
  • _tasks-calendar.ics — optional ICS feed at the InventTasks workspace root

Sync notes#

  • All InventTasks task data is plain Markdown. Obsidian Sync (or iCloud/Dropbox/Git) can keep Items and config aligned without the InventTasks server.
  • If you edit an item in Obsidian's editor while InventTasks is open, the plugin re-reads on save. Avoid hand-editing structural keys (id, list, relationship IDs) unless you understand the schema.
  • Sync _workspace-state.md so inbox read/snooze state and external-send deduplication stay consistent across devices.
  • For external notifications, prefer one active desktop dispatcher per vault — two desktops checking simultaneously can duplicate email/ntfy before shared state syncs.
  • Do not sync the same InventTasks workspace through two independent systems at once unless you understand their conflict rules. For example, avoid running both Obsidian Sync and InventTasks task-workspace sync over the same files.