 Tasks |
 Calendar |
 Side capsule |
X-TODO is a lightweight desktop planner for Windows that keeps your task list and your daily schedule in one always-on note. Write tasks as a nested outline, then switch to the calendar and block them onto a real day, week, or month timeline. When you need the screen back, fold the whole thing into a side capsule at the edge. It runs as a single native exe and saves everything to one local file, reopening exactly where you left it.
- Outline-style tasks. One line per task, up to three levels deep. Fold a parent, drag a branch to reorder, and finished items collapse into a Completed section.
- Day / week / month calendar. In day view, drag across empty hours to block out time; drag a block to move it, drag its edges to resize, all snapping to 15 minutes. Week and month give the overview, and clicking a day opens it for editing.
- Three desktop modes. Keep it as a normal window, sink it into the desktop, or fold it into a side capsule that slides out on hover.
- Local-first storage. Everything is a single JSON file in
%APPDATA%, with optional hourly backup to a folder you choose. - Themeable. Five built-in light themes, custom
.xthemefiles, or follow the Windows light/dark mode. - Stays in the tray. Closing hides it, a double-click brings it back, and startup launch is optional.
- Native and small. Pure Win32 + Direct2D, one portable exe, about 1 MB.
Open Releases, download x-todo.exe from the latest version, and double-click it. Portable, no install. Development builds are still available from the Actions artifacts.
Tasks are stored in
%APPDATA%\x-todo\data.json. Settings can also mirror that file to<backup folder>\data.json. Uninstalling leaves the app data folder untouched; copy it to another machine and your list comes along.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Add | Click "＋ New item" at the bottom, or press Enter while editing to insert after the current item and its children |
| Done / undo | Click the box in front of an item; child items move with it as one block |
| Edit | Click the item text and type |
| Indent / outdent | Edit an active item, then press Tab or Shift+Tab |
| Collapse children | Click the disclosure arrow on a parent item |
| Rename / delete list | Double-click a list tab to rename it, or right-click a tab for rename/delete |
| Delete | Hover an item, click ×, confirm; child items are deleted with it |
| Reorder | Drag the handle on the right of an item; child items move with it |
| Move / resize | Drag the title bar to move, drag the edges to resize |
| Switch layout | Right-click the tray icon: normal window / desktop / side capsule |
| Open calendar | Click the calendar button in the title bar to switch between lists and the calendar |
| Block time | In day view, drag across empty hours to create a block; drag its body to move, drag its edges to resize |
| Edit a block | Click a block to edit its title and start/end time inline; right-click to delete |
| Calendar view | Use the Day / Week / Month control in the calendar header; click a day in week or month to open it |
| Settings | Open Settings from the title-bar or tray menu to change language, startup launch, and backup folder |
| Backup | Pick a folder in Settings; X-TODO overwrites <folder>\data.json about once per hour |
Five built-in themes: Paper, Mint, Sky, Rose, and Sand. Right-click the tray icon or open the title-bar menu and pick one under "Theme". Choose "Follow system" to track the Windows light/dark mode automatically. Switching a theme recolors the main window, menus, the confirm dialog, the Settings window, the theme manager, and the inline editor. The folded side entry and tray keep fixed app colors.
Drop a .xtheme file into %APPDATA%\x-todo\themes\ and click "Reload" in the theme manager. The file is strict JSON describing colors and display names only — no images, scripts, URLs, or external paths. Rough shape:
{
"schema": 1,
"id": "custom.morning-paper",
"name": { "zh": "晨纸", "en": "Morning Paper" },
"dark": false,
"colors": { "paper": "#fbf7ec", "text": "#33312c", "checkFill": "#7c9a6b", "danger": "#c8755e" },
"capsule": { "slimPaper": "#fbf7ec", "slimAlpha": 0.6 },
"tray": { "background": "#fbf7ec", "mark": "#7c9a6b" }
}Colors are #rrggbb. The full field set (21 in colors, 10 in capsule, 4 in tray) is large; "Export current theme" in the theme manager writes a ready-to-edit template. The folded side entry uses fixed app colors; capsule remains in the theme format.
On push, GitHub Actions builds it with MSVC and uploads the exe to that run's Artifacts. Version tags such as v0.1.0 also publish a GitHub Release with the exe attached.
To build it yourself on Windows with Visual Studio (Desktop development with C++):
cmake -B build -A x64
cmake --build build --config MinSizeRelStack: C++17, Win32, Direct2D / DirectWrite, CMake, statically linked CRT, single exe.
JSON parsing uses nlohmann/json v3.11.3 (MIT), vendored as a single header in third_party/nlohmann/.