Struggling to get recurring tasks working...

[guilfoos]

I'm really struggling with setting up recurring tasks in a way that seems intuitive to me. This was pretty easy with the Tasks plugin - I know a particular bill posts around X day, and is due around Y day every month, set it up to recur monthly, and off we go. And I rely pretty heavily on "scheduled" and "due" both. Scheduled to put an item on the pool of available tasks (a Base view embedded in my daily note of all non-closed tasks scheduled on or before today), and due to be "must be done by today" (another Base view). But man, recurring tasks a) don't schedule in a way I understand, b) don't "close" in a way I understand, and c) are very difficult to filter for in these Base views.

As an example of how convoluted my Base views are getting to try and get recurring tasks to show up...

views:
  - type: table
    name: Default view
    filters:
      and:
        - file.inFolder("/x/TaskNotes")
        - not:
            - file.hasTag("x/readme", "assigned", "waiting")
            - scheduled > "2025-11-06"
        - due <= "2025-11-06"
        - or:
            - and:
                - status != "done"
                - recurrence == null
            - and:
                - "!recurrence.isEmpty()"
                - due <= "2025-11-06"
                - '!complete_instances.contains("2025-11-06")'
    order:
      - file.name
      - due
    sort:
      - property: file.name
        direction: ASC
      - property: file.basename
        direction: ASC
    columnSize:
      file.name: 579

But this doesn't even work, because I have a recurring task that was scheduled 11/1 and due 11/1 that is not done that did not show up. I marked the task "done" today, and it put "2025-10-31" in the "complete_instances" field and set "scheduled" and "due" to today's date! And it's a monthly task? (I know I can refactor that to be a bit cleaner, but it has been evolving to add filters that solve one problem at a time, but it still doesn't work)

What am I getting wrong here? Right now, recurring tasks are completely worthless because I cannot manage them with non-recurring tasks. I've read the docs and, well, I'm no dummy but they make my head hurt. How can I create a task that is scheduled and due on the same day once a month, and find that using Base filters?

[guilfoos]

Like, a pattern of "DTSTART:20251104;monthly" had a task scheduled today, due the 25th. I checked it off today, and it is now scheduled... for tomorrow?

[guilfoos]

OK, in playing with the tool I'm figuring a few things out. It seems that recurrence ignores the "status" field? Meaning if you add "recurrence" to a completed task, filters get very confused. Simpler to make sure the status is "open". And just selecting "monthly" for recurrence doesn't do what I would expect (had to read the RFC). But I still had a task with "recurs on the 6th of each month" that I ticked off today didn't schedule for Dec 6th, and the complete_instances date is 10-31. Despite it showing as "done" in the widget view.

[0xSnib]

This might be helpful (as I was tearing my hair out trying to work out what it was trying to do)

No automatic scheduled date: When you create a task with recurrence, it does NOT automatically set a scheduled date. The scheduled date must be explicitly provided in the task creation data. The task creation logic in TaskService.createTask() simply stores whatever scheduled and due dates you provide.

2. What Happens When Marked "Done"

When you complete a recurring task instance via toggleRecurringTaskComplete():

1. Adds completion record: The completion date gets added to the complete_instances array

2. Advances scheduled date: Calls updateToNextScheduledOccurrence() which:

   • Uses the recurrence rule (RRULE) to find the next uncompleted occurrence
   • Updates the scheduled field to that next occurrence date
   • Preserves time components if the original scheduled date had time

3. Due Date Behavior

If you add a due date to a recurring task:

• The due date is independent and optional

• When the task is completed, if the maintainDueDateOffsetInRecurring setting is enabled:

  • It calculates the offset between original scheduled and due dates
  • Applies the same offset to the new scheduled date
  • Updates the due date accordingly

Example:

• Original: scheduled: "2025-01-08", due: "2025-01-10" (2-day offset)
• After completion: scheduled: "2025-01-15", due: "2025-01-17" (offset maintained)

If the setting is disabled: Only the scheduled date advances; the due date stays the same.

4. Key Points

• Scheduled date = current instance: Represents when this occurrence should be done
• Due date = deadline: Optional deadline for the current instance
• Complete_instances array: Tracks which specific dates have been completed
• Recurrence rule: Defines the pattern (daily, weekly, etc.) using RFC 5545 RRULE format

[0xSnib]

(So head to settings and enable that maintainDueDateOffsetInRecurring, this should be the default behaviour imo)

[skolsocial]

(So head to settings and enable that maintainDueDateOffsetInRecurring, this should be the default behaviour imo)

This is SO CONFUSING compared to the original notes. The recurring functionality is SO BROKEN.

Here's what should happen:

• When a task is completed, the date should roll to the new date. END OF STORY.

But what I am seeing is not that. And the Bases logic is overwhelmingly complex.

Why is this so bad?

[skolsocial]

(So head to settings and enable that maintainDueDateOffsetInRecurring, this should be the default behaviour imo)

I just completed a recurring task that was due on December 31st and scheduled for December 31st. The recurrence is set for the final Friday of each month.

The setting "Maintain due date offset in recurring tasks" is turned on.

Here's what happened:

• The status is Open
• The Due Date remains at December 31, 2025. THIS IS BAD, BAD, BAD. It is EVIL and why the task is now broken.
• The scheduled date rolled to January 30, 2026. I guess this is good.
• The complete instance was added to the list of completeinstances for today's date.

What SHOULD happen:

• The Due Date should be set to the scheduled date. If there was an offset (there was not), then that should roll as well. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. And now, the task gets lost.