AsciiDoc Task & Daily Log System

A comprehensive task management and daily logging system built entirely in AsciiDoc using partials, attributes, and variable interpolation.

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Category

IDEAS

Status

Idea

Priority

High - dogfooding opportunity

Premise

Build the ultimate task and daily log system using AsciiDoc’s native features:

  • Partials for reusable task definitions, recurring items, templates

  • Attributes for status tracking, dates, priorities, tags

  • Variables for dynamic content, counters, computed values

  • Includes with tag filtering for selective rendering

Dogfood the documentation system itself - if AsciiDoc can document infrastructure, it can manage tasks.

Goals

  • Single source of truth for all tasks (partials)

  • Daily logs auto-include relevant tasks via tags

  • Status tracking via attributes ({task-status}, {due-date})

  • Progress visualization using attribute-driven tables

  • Cross-referenced task dependencies

  • Recurring tasks with date math

  • Review views: by project, by priority, by due date

Core Concepts

Task Definition (Partial)

partials/tasks/task-vyos-ha.adoc
// tag::definition[]
:task-id: TASK-2026-001
:task-title: Complete VyOS HA Deployment
:task-status: in-progress
:task-priority: P0
:task-project: infrastructure
:task-due: 2026-04-01
:task-created: 2026-03-01
:task-tags: networking, ha, vyos

[#{task-id}]
=== {task-title}

[cols="1,1,1,1"]
|===
|Status |Priority |Due |Project
|{task-status} |{task-priority} |{task-due} |{task-project}
|===

* [ ] Phase 16: VRRP configuration
* [ ] Phase 17: BGP peering with k3s
* [x] Phase 1-15: Base deployment
// end::definition[]

// tag::summary[]
|{task-id} |{task-title} |{task-status} |{task-priority} |{task-due}
// end::summary[]

Daily Log Integration

pages/2026/03/WRKLOG-2026-03-27.adoc
= WRKLOG-2026-03-27

== Today's Focus

// Pull in specific task
include::partial$tasks/task-vyos-ha.adoc[tag=definition]

== All P0 Tasks

[cols="1,2,1,1,1", options="header"]
|===
|ID |Title |Status |Priority |Due
include::partial$tasks/task-vyos-ha.adoc[tag=summary]
include::partial$tasks/task-k3s-deploy.adoc[tag=summary]
include::partial$tasks/task-wazuh.adoc[tag=summary]
|===

Dynamic Status Attributes

partials/task-status-defs.adoc
// Status definitions with icons
:status-todo: [ ] TODO
:status-in-progress: [~] IN PROGRESS
:status-blocked: [!] BLOCKED
:status-done: [x] DONE

// Priority colors (for HTML output)
:p0-style: color: red; font-weight: bold
:p1-style: color: orange
:p2-style: color: blue

Computed Views

pages/trackers/tasks-by-priority.adoc
= Tasks by Priority

== P0 - Critical
include::partial$views/p0-tasks.adoc[]

== P1 - High
include::partial$views/p1-tasks.adoc[]

== P2 - Normal
include::partial$views/p2-tasks.adoc[]

Architecture

partials/
├── tasks/                    # Individual task definitions
│   ├── task-vyos-ha.adoc
│   ├── task-k3s-deploy.adoc
│   └── task-wazuh.adoc
├── views/                    # Computed views (by priority, project, etc.)
│   ├── p0-tasks.adoc
│   ├── p1-tasks.adoc
│   └── by-project-infra.adoc
├── templates/               # Task templates
│   ├── task-template.adoc
│   └── daily-log-template.adoc
└── task-status-defs.adoc    # Shared attribute definitions

pages/
├── trackers/
│   ├── tasks-master.adoc    # All tasks view
│   ├── tasks-by-priority.adoc
│   ├── tasks-by-project.adoc
│   └── tasks-by-due-date.adoc
└── 2026/03/
    └── WRKLOG-*.adoc        # Daily logs include relevant tasks

Advantages Over External Tools

Feature AsciiDoc System Todoist/Notion/etc.

Version control

Git native

Export/sync required

Cross-references

xref native

Limited linking

Documentation integration

Same system

Separate tool

Offline-first

Yes

Varies

Custom views

Unlimited

Template-limited

Audit trail

Git history

Limited

Export formats

PDF, HTML, DOCX

Limited

Implementation Phases

  1. Phase 1: Task partial format and includes

  2. Phase 2: Daily log integration with tag filtering

  3. Phase 3: Computed views (priority, project, due date)

  4. Phase 4: Makefile targets for task operations

  5. Phase 5: Validation scripts (overdue detection, orphan tasks)

Inspiration

  • Current worklog system (already uses partials)

  • Org-mode task management

  • Plain-text accounting (ledger-cli philosophy)

  • Documentation-as-code

Notes

Originated: 2026-03-26 (Claude Code session)

This is essentially "dogfooding" - using the documentation system to manage the documentation work itself.

Key insight: If AsciiDoc partials + attributes can document complex infrastructure, they can track tasks. The include:: with tag= filtering is the secret weapon.