Todoist Automation

---
name: todoist-automation
description: "Automate Todoist task management, projects, sections, filtering, and bulk operations via Rube MCP (Composio). Always search tools first for current schemas."
requires:
  mcp: [rube]
---

# Todoist Automation via Rube MCP

Automate Todoist operations including task creation and management, project organization, section management, filtering, and bulk task workflows through Composio's Todoist toolkit.

## Prerequisites

- Rube MCP must be connected (RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS available)
- Active Todoist connection via `RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS` with toolkit `todoist`
- Always call `RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS` first to get current tool schemas

## Setup

**Get Rube MCP**: Add `https://rube.app/mcp` as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.


1. Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming `RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS` responds
2. Call `RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS` with toolkit `todoist`
3. If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete Todoist OAuth
4. Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

## Core Workflows

### 1. Create and Manage Tasks

**When to use**: User wants to create, update, complete, reopen, or delete tasks

**Tool sequence**:
1. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` - List projects to find the target project ID [Prerequisite]
2. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS` - List sections within a project for task placement [Optional]
3. `TODOIST_CREATE_TASK` - Create a single task with content, due date, priority, labels [Required]
4. `TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS` - Create multiple tasks in one request [Alternative]
5. `TODOIST_UPDATE_TASK` - Modify task properties (content, due date, priority, labels) [Optional]
6. `TODOIST_CLOSE_TASK` - Mark a task as completed [Optional]
7. `TODOIST_REOPEN_TASK` - Restore a previously completed task [Optional]
8. `TODOIST_DELETE_TASK` - Permanently remove a task [Optional]

**Key parameters for CREATE_TASK**:
- `content`: Task title (supports markdown and hyperlinks)
- `description`: Additional notes (do NOT put due dates here)
- `project_id`: Alphanumeric project ID; omit to add to Inbox
- `section_id`: Alphanumeric section ID for placement within a project
- `parent_id`: Task ID for creating subtasks
- `priority`: 1 (normal) to 4 (urgent) -- note: Todoist UI shows p1=urgent, API p4=urgent
- `due_string`: Natural language date like `"tomorrow at 3pm"`, `"every Friday at 9am"`
- `due_date`: Specific date `YYYY-MM-DD` format
- `due_datetime`: Specific date+time in RFC3339 `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ`
- `labels`: Array of label name strings
- `duration` + `duration_unit`: Task duration (e.g., `30` + `"minute"`)

**Pitfalls**:
- Only one `due_*` field can be used at a time (except `due_lang` which can accompany any)
- Do NOT embed due dates in `content` or `description` -- use `due_string` field
- Do NOT embed duration phrases like "for 30 minutes" in `due_string` -- use `duration` + `duration_unit`
- `priority` in API: 1=normal, 4=urgent (opposite of Todoist UI display where p1=urgent)
- Task IDs can be numeric or alphanumeric; use the format returned by the API
- `CLOSE_TASK` marks complete; `DELETE_TASK` permanently removes -- they are different operations

### 2. Manage Projects

**When to use**: User wants to list, create, update, or inspect projects

**Tool sequence**:
1. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` - List all projects with metadata [Required]
2. `TODOIST_GET_PROJECT` - Get details for a specific project by ID [Optional]
3. `TODOIST_CREATE_PROJECT` - Create a new project with name, color, view style [Optional]
4. `TODOIST_UPDATE_PROJECT` - Modify project properties [Optional]

**Key parameters**:
- `name`: Project name (required for creation)
- `color`: Todoist palette color (e.g., `"blue"`, `"red"`, `"green"`, `"charcoal"`)
- `view_style`: `"list"` or `"board"` layout
- `parent_id`: Parent project ID for creating sub-projects
- `is_favorite` / `favorite`: Boolean to mark as favorite
- `project_id`: Required for update and get operations

**Pitfalls**:
- Projects with similar names can lead to selecting the wrong project_id; always verify
- `CREATE_PROJECT` uses `favorite` while `UPDATE_PROJECT` uses `is_favorite` -- different field names
- Use the project `id` returned by API, not the `v2_id`, for downstream operations
- Alphanumeric/URL-style project IDs may cause HTTP 400 in some tools; use numeric ID if available

### 3. Manage Sections

**When to use**: User wants to organize tasks within projects using sections

**Tool sequence**:
1. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` - Find the target project ID [Prerequisite]
2. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS` - List existing sections to avoid duplicates [Prerequisite]
3. `TODOIST_CREATE_SECTION` - Create a new section in a project [Required]
4. `TODOIST_UPDATE_SECTION` - Rename an existing section [Optional]
5. `TODOIST_DELETE_SECTION` - Permanently remove a section [Optional]

**Key parameters**:
- `project_id`: Required -- the project to create the section in
- `name`: Section name (required for creation)
- `order`: Integer position within the project (lower values appear first)
- `section_id`: Required for update and delete operations

**Pitfalls**:
- `CREATE_SECTION` requires `project_id` and `name` -- omitting project_id causes a 400 error
- HTTP 400 "project_id is invalid" can occur if alphanumeric ID is used; prefer numeric ID
- Deleting a section may move or regroup its tasks in non-obvious ways
- Response may include both `id` and `v2_id`; store and reuse the correct identifier consistently
- Always check existing sections first to avoid creating duplicates

### 4. Search and Filter Tasks

**When to use**: User wants to find tasks by criteria, view today's tasks, or get completed task history

**Tool sequence**:
1. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS` - Fetch incomplete tasks with optional filter query [Required]
2. `TODOIST_GET_TASK` - Get full details of a specific task by ID [Optional]
3. `TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE` - Retrieve completed tasks within a date range [Optional]
4. `TODOIST_LIST_FILTERS` - List user's custom saved filters [Optional]

**Key parameters for GET_ALL_TASKS**:
- `filter`: Todoist filter syntax string
  - Keywords: `today`, `tomorrow`, `overdue`, `no date`, `recurring`, `subtask`
  - Priority: `p1` (urgent), `p2`, `p3`, `p4` (normal)
  - Projects: `#ProjectName` (must exist in account)
  - Labels: `@LabelName` (must exist in account)
  - Date ranges: `7 days`, `-7 days`, `due before: YYYY-MM-DD`, `due after: YYYY-MM-DD`
  - Search: `search: keyword` for content text search
  - Operators: `&` (AND), `|` (OR), `!` (NOT)
- `ids`: List of specific task IDs to retrieve

**Key parameters for GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE**:
- `since`: Start date in RFC3339 format (e.g., `2024-01-01T00:00:00Z`)
- `until`: End date in RFC3339 format
- `project_id`, `section_id`, `parent_id`: Optional filters
- `cursor`: Pagination cursor from previous response
- `limit`: Max results per page (default 50)

**Pitfalls**:
- `GET_ALL_TASKS` returns ONLY incomplete tasks; use `GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE` for completed ones
- Filter terms must reference ACTUAL EXISTING entities; arbitrary text causes HTTP 400 errors
- Do NOT use `completed`, `!completed`, or `completed after` in GET_ALL_TASKS filter -- causes 400 error
- `GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE` limits date range to approximately 3 months between `since` and `until`
- Search uses `search: keyword` syntax within the filter, not a separate parameter

### 5. Bulk Task Creation

**When to use**: User wants to scaffold a project with multiple tasks at once

**Tool sequence**:
1. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` - Find target project ID [Prerequisite]
2. `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS` - Find section IDs for task placement [Optional]
3. `TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS` - Create multiple tasks in a single request [Required]

**Key parameters**:
- `tasks`: Array of task objects, each requiring at minimum `content`
- Each task object supports: `content`, `description`, `project_id`, `section_id`, `parent_id`, `priority`, `labels`, `due` (object with `string`, `date`, or `datetime`), `duration`, `order`

**Pitfalls**:
- Each task in the array must have at least the `content` field
- The `due` field in bulk create is an object with nested fields (`string`, `date`, `datetime`, `lang`) -- different structure from CREATE_TASK's flat fields
- All tasks can target different projects/sections within the same batch

## Common Patterns

### ID Resolution
Always resolve human-readable names to IDs before operations:
- **Project name -> Project ID**: `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS`, match by `name` field
- **Section name -> Section ID**: `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS` with `project_id`
- **Task content -> Task ID**: `TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS` with `filter` or `search: keyword`

### Pagination
- `TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS`: Returns all matching incomplete tasks (no pagination needed)
- `TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE`: Uses cursor-based pagination; follow `cursor` from response until no more results
- `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` and `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS`: Return all results (no pagination)

### Due Date Handling
- Natural language: Use `due_string` (e.g., `"tomorrow at 3pm"`, `"every Monday"`)
- Specific date: Use `due_date` in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
- Specific datetime: Use `due_datetime` in RFC3339 format (`YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ`)
- Only use ONE due field at a time (except `due_lang` which can accompany any)
- Recurring tasks: Use natural language in `due_string` (e.g., `"every Friday at 9am"`)

## Known Pitfalls

### ID Formats
- Task IDs can be numeric (`"2995104339"`) or alphanumeric (`"6X4Vw2Hfmg73Q2XR"`)
- Project IDs similarly vary; prefer the format returned by the API
- Some tools accept only numeric IDs; if 400 error occurs, try fetching the numeric `id` via GET_PROJECT
- Response objects may contain both `id` and `v2_id`; use `id` for API operations

### Priority Inversion
- API priority: 1 = normal, 4 = urgent
- Todoist UI display: p1 = urgent, p4 = normal
- This is inverted; always clarify with the user which convention they mean

### Filter Syntax
- Filter terms must reference real entities in the user's account
- `#NonExistentProject` or `@NonExistentLabel` will cause HTTP 400
- Use `search: keyword` for text search, not bare keywords
- Combine with `&` (AND), `|` (OR), `!` (NOT)
- `completed` filters do NOT work on GET_ALL_TASKS endpoint

### Rate Limits
- Todoist API has rate limits; batch operations should use `BULK_CREATE_TASKS` where possible
- Space out rapid sequential requests to avoid throttling

## Quick Reference

| Task | Tool Slug | Key Params |
|------|-----------|------------|
| List all projects | `TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS` | (none) |
| Get project | `TODOIST_GET_PROJECT` | `project_id` |
| Create project | `TODOIST_CREATE_PROJECT` | `name`, `color`, `view_style` |
| Update project | `TODOIST_UPDATE_PROJECT` | `project_id`, `name`, `color` |
| List sections | `TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS` | `project_id` |
| Create section | `TODOIST_CREATE_SECTION` | `project_id`, `name`, `order` |
| Update section | `TODOIST_UPDATE_SECTION` | `section_id`, `name` |
| Delete section | `TODOIST_DELETE_SECTION` | `section_id` |
| Get all tasks | `TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS` | `filter`, `ids` |
| Get task | `TODOIST_GET_TASK` | `task_id` |
| Create task | `TODOIST_CREATE_TASK` | `content`, `project_id`, `due_string`, `priority` |
| Bulk create tasks | `TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS` | `tasks` (array) |
| Update task | `TODOIST_UPDATE_TASK` | `task_id`, `content`, `due_string` |
| Complete task | `TODOIST_CLOSE_TASK` | `task_id` |
| Reopen task | `TODOIST_REOPEN_TASK` | `task_id` |
| Delete task | `TODOIST_DELETE_TASK` | `task_id` |
| Completed tasks | `TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE` | `since`, `until` |
| List filters | `TODOIST_LIST_FILTERS` | `sync_token` |