Pulse TODO#

One list. All tasks. Every wake-up, check the pulse.

Core Principle#

Everything is a TODO. Commitments, reminders, recurring checks, idle-time work — they're all tasks in one list. The difference is dependency and timing, not priority buckets.

TODO.md Location#

TODO.md in workspace root. This is the single source of truth for all pending work.

TODO.md Format#

markdown

# TODO

## 📋 Tasks

### Do it myself
- [ ] Implement semantic search for memex #29
- [ ] Publish FlowForge v1.1.0 to npm

### Depends on human
- [ ] Cloud deployment — waiting for Luna to prepare server
- [ ] Podcast — waiting for Luna to register accounts

### Waiting on external
- [ ] Tool bug #57973 — waiting for upstream fix

## 🔄 Scheduled
- [ ] Daily review | repeat: daily 3:00 | cron: daily-review
- [ ] Morning briefing | repeat: daily 7:00 | cron: morning-briefing
- [ ] Check GitHub + inbox | repeat: every 2h | cron: check-notifications
- [ ] Remind Luna about X | once: 2026-03-31 09:45 | cron: remind-luna-x

Sections#

📋 Tasks — everything you need to do, grouped by dependency:

• Do it myself — you can start right now, no blockers
• Depends on human — need input/action from your human; nudge them or set a reminder cron
• Waiting on external — upstream fixes, third-party review, etc.; cron checks will catch status changes

🔄 Scheduled — tasks driven by cron jobs. Every repeat: or timed task MUST have a cron job.

Attributes#

Append after |:

• repeat: <schedule> — recurring task; reset after completion, never delete
• once: <YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM> — one-time scheduled task; delete or disable cron after firing
• cron: <job-name> — linked to an OpenClaw cron job (MUST stay in sync)

Key Rule: repeat/timed = cron#

Never rely on the model to remember timing. If a task has repeat: or a specific time, it MUST have a corresponding cron job. The cron is the enforcement mechanism. The TODO entry is the documentation.

• Adding a repeat: task → create cron job immediately
• Adding a timed reminder → create one-time cron job immediately
• Removing a repeat: task → disable/delete the cron job

Rules#

1. Add immediately. When a commitment is detected — from the user, from a notification, from your own work — add it before doing anything else.
2. One source of truth. If it's not in TODO.md, it doesn't exist. No mental notes.
3. Done = verified done. PR submitted ≠ done. PR merged = done.
4. Repeat tasks reset. After completing a repeat: task, uncheck it — don't delete.
5. Stale = 3 days. Item untouched for 3+ days? Either do it or delete it.
6. Move between sections. Situation changed? Move the item to the right section.
7. Cron sync. Adding/removing a scheduled task means updating OpenClaw cron too. Always.
8. Only track what needs action. "Waiting for review" on 20 PRs is not 20 TODOs — that's what notification cron is for. Track tasks where YOU need to do something.
9. Nudge, don't wait. "Depends on human" items should trigger you to message them, not sit there forever.

Choosing What to Work On#

When picking a task from "Do it myself", don't just grab the easiest one. Use this decision order:

1. Read your strategic goals#

Check SOUL.md, MEMORY.md, or wherever your north star / strategic direction is defined. If you don't have one, ask your human: "What's the most important thing we're working toward?"

2. Pick by alignment, not ease#

• Directly advances the north star → do this first, even if it's hard
• Supports the north star indirectly (tooling, learning, infrastructure) → second choice
• Useful but not aligned (quick wins, maintenance, cleanup) → only if nothing aligned is available
• Not aligned and not urgent → consider deleting it

3. Anti-pattern: path of least resistance#

If you notice yourself always picking small/easy tasks and avoiding the big aligned ones, stop. That's avoidance, not productivity. The hard aligned task is almost always more valuable than three easy unaligned ones.

4. When everything is equally aligned#

Break ties with: momentum (continue something in progress) > time-sensitive (deadline approaching) > learning value (builds knowledge you'll reuse).

Scheduling (Heartbeat Wake-Up)#

When triggered by heartbeat or any "what should I do next" moment:

1. Read TODO.md
2. Do it myself section — pick one task using the "Choosing What to Work On" logic above
3. Depends on human — anything stale? Nudge them
4. Nothing actionable or aligned → HEARTBEAT_OK

Heartbeat is for picking up unscheduled work. Scheduled work (notifications, reminders, recurring checks) is handled by cron — don't duplicate it in heartbeat.

During Conversations#

When talking with the user or working on tasks:

• User says "do X later" or "remember to" → add to TODO.md immediately
• User says "remind me at 3pm" → add to TODO.md AND create cron job
• Discover a new task while working → add to TODO.md
• Finish something → mark [x] or delete
• New recurring task → add to TODO.md with repeat: AND create cron job

Setup#

If this is your first time using pulse-todo, follow the setup guide in setup.md.

What This Replaces#

• Priority bucket systems (🔴🟡🔵⚪) that create scanning bottlenecks
• repeat: every wake items that rely on model memory for timing
• Tracking "waiting for review" as individual TODOs (use notification cron instead)
• Scattered checklists in HEARTBEAT.md