GTD in Emacs. No packages, no dependencies — just Elisp.

A GTD setup for org-mode, inspired by the workflow and feel of Things 3. Works with Doom Emacs and vanilla Emacs (GUI + terminal).

Not the org-gtd MELPA package. This is an independent configuration loaded directly from your config.

(setq my/gtd-file "~/path/to/your/gtd.org")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/org-gtd.el")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-cmd.el")

Contents: Features · Installation · Daily Workflow · How It Works · Keybindings · Demo · Scope

Views

• Live dashboard — counts for every view in a 30/70 split; click a row to open it
• Agenda views — Inbox / Today / Upcoming / Anytime / Waiting / Someday / Logbook
• Dynamic context views — auto-detects all @tags, no code changes when you add new ones
• Logbook decorations — DONE entries show a checkmark prefix; CANCELLED entries show strikethrough
• Empty-state messages — views display contextual messages when no tasks match (e.g. "Nothing due today.")

Editing

• State picker — ⌘ e opens a one-line prompt; single keypress sets state or promotes a task to a top-level project
• Completed tasks auto-sink — DONE/CANCELLED tasks move to the top of the done group automatically
• Smart completion — completing a task with active children prompts to complete all of them together
• Hide done — ⌘ ' toggles DONE/CANCELLED tasks in and out of view; persists across outline cycles
• Direct Inbox editing — narrows to Inbox in place, no capture buffer

Organization

• Clear project states — PROJECT state marks active projects; indicators show active (no prefix), blocked/deferred (~), stale (●), or empty (?)
• Intuitive keybindings — ⌘ k complete, ⌘ n add, ⌘ M move, and more
• Interactive help — SPC ? / ⌘ ? opens a cheatsheet; press any key to execute the action

Automation

• Auto-save — saves on idle and on leaving insert mode; dashboard refreshes on every save
• Auto-open — gtd.org opens automatically on Emacs startup (configurable via my/gtd-open-on-startup)

git clone https://github.com/<you>/org-gtd ~/dotfiles/org-gtd

#+TITLE: GTD
#+TODO: PROJECT NEXT WAIT SOMEDAY | DONE CANCELLED
#+TAGS: @home(h) @office(f) @standup(s) @ask(a)

* Inbox

* My First Project
** NEXT First task :@office:
** NEXT Second task :@ask:

(setq my/gtd-file "~/path/to/your/gtd.org")

(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/org-gtd.el")        ;; always load first
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-cmd.el")   ;; ⌘ keys (GUI/macOS)
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-ccg.el")   ;; C-c g prefix
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-f5.el")    ;; F5 prefix
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-doom.el")  ;; SPC leader (Doom only)
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/doom-overrides.el") ;; Doom/evil conflict fixes (load last)

(setq my/gtd-file "~/path/to/your/gtd.org")

(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/org-gtd.el")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-cmd.el")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-ccg.el")

(setq my/gtd-file "~/path/to/your/gtd.org")

(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/org-gtd.el")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-ccg.el")
(load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-f5.el")

1. Today (SPC 1 / C-c g 1) — scheduled + overdue
2. Context view (SPC 7 / C-c g 7) → pick @office or @home → all NEXT tasks for that context

Know the project? Open gtd.org, navigate to the project, press ⌘ n / C-c g n.

Quick thought? Press SPC i / C-c g i → narrows to Inbox → type task → SPC - / C-c g - to zoom out when done.

Open Inbox view (SPC 0 / C-c g 0), navigate to an item, then:

• ⌘ M / C-c g m — refile to an existing project
• ⌘ e / C-c g e — use the state picker to set state or promote to project

⌘ k / C-c g k → marks DONE, auto-sinks into the done group within the project.

Blocked? S-Right to cycle to WAIT.

Projects = level-1 headings with PROJECT state (or no state). Has subtask children.

Tasks = subtask headings with a state (NEXT, WAIT, SOMEDAY).

Inbox = raw unprocessed items under * Inbox. No state needed.

PROJECT → NEXT → WAIT → SOMEDAY → DONE → CANCELLED

Tags starting with @ are contexts. Add them to #+TAGS: in your gtd.org:

@home    @office    @standup    @ask

The context picker auto-detects them — no code changes needed when you add new ones.

Opening gtd.org (or pressing SPC / / ⌘/) shows a live count dashboard in the left pane. Counts update automatically on state changes, reschedules, and saves. The Contexts section includes a "No context" row for untagged NEXT tasks.

All actions are available across all binding systems simultaneously. Press SPC ? / ⌘ ? in Emacs for an interactive cheatsheet.

(setq my/gtd-file "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/demo.org")

emacs -Q
# GUI on macOS:
/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs -Q

(progn
  (require 'org)
  (setq my/gtd-file "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/demo.org")
  (load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/org-gtd.el")
  (load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-cmd.el")
  (load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-ccg.el")
  (load "~/dotfiles/org-gtd/bindings-f5.el")
  (find-file my/gtd-file))

Covers the ground level of GTD — capturing, clarifying, and doing. No weekly review automation, no calendar, no recurring tasks, no reference storage. The goal is a clean, fast task system in Emacs that gets out of your way. You bring the discipline.

1. Fork and create a branch: git checkout -b feature/your-idea
2. Keep org-gtd.el and bindings-*.el free of Doom macros — they must work in vanilla Emacs
3. bindings-doom.el is Doom-only — Doom macros are fine there
4. Update this README if you add or change keybindings
5. Open a PR with a clear description

GPL-3.0 — see LICENSE for details.