TaskTracker: Developer Context Journal 📝


Your development memory across AI sessions.

TaskTracker is a lightweight CLI tool that maintains context about your development work. It's designed for developers who use AI assistants and need to preserve project context across different sessions, tools, and time.

🎯 Why TaskTracker?

Every developer using AI assistants knows this pain:
- Start new chat → Explain entire project context again
- Switch AI tools → Lose all conversation history
- Take a break → Forget where you left off
- Debug an issue → Can't remember what you already tried

TaskTracker solves this by being your persistent development memory.

🚀 Quick Start

``bash


Install globally

npm install -g tasktracker-cli

Initialize in your project

cd your-project
tt init

Set your project vision

tt prd "Building a REST API for user management with JWT auth"

Start documenting your work

tt j "Implemented user registration endpoint"
tt j --type decision "Using bcrypt for password hashing"
tt j --type blocker "JWT refresh token logic is complex"

Generate context for your AI

tt c # Quick context
tt cf # Full context with history
`

📖 Core Features

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Track your progress, decisions, and blockers:
`bash
tt j "Completed user authentication flow"
tt j --type decision "Switching from MongoDB to PostgreSQL"
tt j --type blocker "CORS issues with frontend"
tt j --tags api,auth "Added rate limiting to login endpoint"
`

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Parse and maintain your project requirements:
`bash
tt prd "Build a task management API with real-time updates"
tt prd requirements.md # Or from a file
tt prd-show # View parsed requirements
`

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Generate rich context for any AI assistant:
`bash
tt c # Quick context (last day)
tt cf # Full context (last 7 days)
tt cf 14 # Custom timeframe
tt cf --output ctx.md # Save to file
`

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Find and export your development history:
`bash
tt journal-search "authentication" # Search entries
tt journal-show --type decision # Filter by type
tt journal-export markdown # Export journal
`

💡 Real-World Usage

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`bash

Get back up to speed

tt c

Copy output to your AI assistant

`

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`bash

Track progress

tt j "Added user profile endpoints"

Document decisions

tt j --type decision "Using Redis for session storage - built-in expiration"

Note blockers

tt j --type blocker "WebSocket connection drops after 30 seconds"
`

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`bash

Document the issue

tt j --type blocker "Users can't login - 401 errors"

Add context

tt j "Checked: JWT secret is correct, token format is valid"
tt j "Suspecting: Token expiration or timezone issue"

Get focused context for AI

tt cf 1 # Just today's context
`

📚 All Commands

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- tt journal "text" (alias: tt j) - Add entry
- tt journal-show (alias: tt js) - Show entries
- tt journal-search "query" - Search entries
- tt journal-export [format] - Export journal

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- tt context-quick (alias: tt c) - Quick context
- tt context-full [days] (alias: tt cf) - Full context

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- tt prd "description" - Set project requirements
- tt prd-show - View current PRD
- tt prd-context - Generate PRD context

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- tt init - Initialize TaskTracker
- tt stats - Show project statistics
- tt help [command] - Get help

🔧 Command Options

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`bash
tt j "text" --type [progress|decision|blocker|idea|context]
tt j "text" --tags tag1,tag2,tag3
tt j "text" --files file1.js,file2.py
`

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`bash
tt journal-show --type decision
tt journal-show --tag architecture
tt journal-show --date 2024-01-15
`

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`bash
tt cf --output context.md
tt journal-export json --output backup.json
`

🎨 What Makes TaskTracker Different

1. Not Another Task Manager - It's a context journal, not a todo list
2. AI-First Design - Built specifically for AI-assisted development
3. Zero Friction - Simple commands that fit your workflow
4. Local & Private - Your data stays in your project

🤝 Integration Guide

See AI Integration Guide for detailed patterns and workflows with:
- Cursor
- ChatGPT / Claude
- GitHub Copilot
- Custom integrations

📈 Best Practices

1. Be Specific: "Fixed null check in auth middleware" > "fixed bug"
2. Document Why: Include reasoning in decisions
3. Tag Consistently: Use tags to group related work
4. Regular Context: Regenerate context at session start

🚧 Current Status

Version 3.0 - Recently refactored from a task manager to a focused developer context journal.

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- ✅ All journal functionality (add, show, search, export)
- ✅ PRD parsing and management
- ✅ AI context generation (quick & full)
- ✅ Proper CLI argument parsing
- ✅ Clean, maintainable codebase
- ✅ Comprehensive test coverage

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- No cloud sync (by design - local only)
- No team features (focused on individual developers)
- Basic search (no fuzzy matching yet)
- Limited to CLI (no GUI planned)

🛠️ Development

`bash


Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/tasktracker-cli/tasktracker.git
cd tasktracker
npm install

Run tests

npm test

Lint code

npm run lint:check
npm run lint:fix
``

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed development guidelines.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

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1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes with tests
4. Submit a pull request

🐛 Issues & Support

- Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
- Feature Requests: GitHub Discussions
- Documentation: docs/ directory

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built by developers, for developers who use AI assistants.

Special thanks to all contributors who help make TaskTracker better.

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Stop re-explaining your project. Start preserving context.

⭐ Star us on GitHub | 📦 Install from npm | 📖 Read the docs