# Recurring Tasks and Custom Statuses <span class="related-pages">#feature/statuses</span> > [!Note] > This page assumes basic familiarity with [[Recurring Tasks]]. > > Also, for examples in this page we adjusted the Tasks settings so that [[Recurring Tasks#Order of the new task|new task recurrences are added *below* the previous one.]] ## Determining the next status When you click on the checkbox of a task, the Tasks plugin applies the following logic: ^[Except when the task status has type `NON_TASK`. See [[#When the current status type is NON_TASK]] for an example.] 1. When a task line checkbox is clicked, the next status symbol is looked up in the user's Task plugin's [[Status Settings]]. 2. If the next status symbol is of type `DONE`: - A [[Dates#Done date|Done date]] is added (if enabled in user settings). - If the task line has a Recurrence rule, a new task is created, with the next status symbol after the `DONE` symbol. - If that next status is neither `TODO` nor `IN_PROGRESS`, a different status is chosen. See [[#When DONE is not followed by TODO or IN_PROGRESS]] below. > [!Important] > Every time Tasks detects you clicked on a task checkbox, the plugin reads the current status symbol - inside the `[` and `]` - and looks it up in your Tasks status settings, to determine what the next status symbol will be. ## Worked example, with recurring task ### Starting point Suppose that we have adjusted the default Tasks settings slightly, to give us the **following Tasks status settings**: <!-- include: DocsSamplesForStatuses.test.DefaultStatuses_todo-in_progress-done.approved.detailed.mermaid.md --> ```mermaid flowchart LR classDef TODO stroke:#f33,stroke-width:3px; classDef DONE stroke:#0c0,stroke-width:3px; classDef IN_PROGRESS stroke:#fa0,stroke-width:3px; classDef CANCELLED stroke:#ddd,stroke-width:3px; classDef NON_TASK stroke:#99e,stroke-width:3px; 1["'Todo'<br>[ ] -> [/]<br>(TODO)"]:::TODO 2["'In Progress'<br>[/] -> [x]<br>(IN_PROGRESS)"]:::IN_PROGRESS 3["'Done'<br>[x] -> [ ]<br>(DONE)"]:::DONE 1 --> 2 2 --> 3 3 --> 1 linkStyle default stroke:gray ``` <!-- endInclude --> And we have selected the Tasks setting to put [[Recurring Tasks#Order of the new task|the new recurrence below the initial one]]. Now imagine we have the **following task line**: ```text - [ ] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-15 ``` - It is a recurring task. - It recurs every day. - And it is due on `2023-10-15` (today). ### First click - advances to IN_PROGRESS The **first time we click on the task's checkbox** or run Tasks' **Toggle task done** command, the line becomes: ```text - [/] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-15 ``` - Notice that `[ ]` has become `[/]` ... - ... because the next status symbol after `space` is `/`. - From the settings, we see the status type is now `IN_PROGRESS`. ### Second click - advances to DONE and recurs The **next time we click on the task's checkbox** or run Tasks' **Toggle task done** command we toggle the task, the line becomes **two lines**: ```text - [x] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-15 ✅ 2023-10-15 - [ ] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-16 ``` Let's look at that in more detail. ### Breaking down the result Let's look at the **first of those two lines:** ```text - [x] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-15 ✅ 2023-10-15 ``` - Notice that `[/]` has become `[x]` ... - ... because the next status symbol after `/` is `x`. - From the settings, we see the status type is now `DONE`. - So a [[Dates#Done date|Done date]] is added (if enabled in user settings). Let's look at the **second of those two lines**: ```text - [ ] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2023-10-16 ``` - This new task line was created because: - the original task had a Recurrence rule, - and its status type had advanced to `DONE`. - Notice that in the new task line, the status is `[ ]` ... - ... because the next status symbol after `x` is ``. - And the Due date has advanced a day. ## When DONE is not followed by TODO or IN_PROGRESS In the following example, `DONE` is followed by `CANCELLED`. <!-- include: DocsSamplesForStatuses.test.DefaultStatuses_done-toggles-to-cancelled.approved.detailed.mermaid.md --> ```mermaid flowchart LR classDef TODO stroke:#f33,stroke-width:3px; classDef DONE stroke:#0c0,stroke-width:3px; classDef IN_PROGRESS stroke:#fa0,stroke-width:3px; classDef CANCELLED stroke:#ddd,stroke-width:3px; classDef NON_TASK stroke:#99e,stroke-width:3px; 1["'Todo'<br>[ ] -> [/]<br>(TODO)"]:::TODO 2["'Done'<br>[x] -> [-]<br>(DONE)"]:::DONE 3["'In Progress'<br>[/] -> [x]<br>(IN_PROGRESS)"]:::IN_PROGRESS 4["'Cancelled'<br>[-] -> [ ]<br>(CANCELLED)"]:::CANCELLED 1 --> 3 2 --> 4 2-. "🔁" .-> 1 3 --> 2 4 --> 1 linkStyle default stroke:gray ``` <!-- endInclude --> > [!important] Status type for next recurrence: always `TODO` or `IN_PROGRESS` > When toggling a recurring task creates the next recurrence, it only makes sense for the new task to be `TODO` or `IN_PROGRESS`, so that the new task is found by `not done` searches.) > > The dashed arrow with "recurring" emoji in the above diagram indicates that Tasks will skip the `Cancelled` status for new recurrences, and jump to `Todo`. This means that even though the new recurrence of any completed recurring tasks looks like it will always be `CANCELLED`, tasks will look at the other statuses in the loop and: 1. It will follow the arrows, and select the first `TODO` status it finds. 2. If there wasn't a `TODO` found, it will follow the arrows again, and select the first `IN_PROGRESS` status it finds. 3. If that fails too, it will just select the status symbol `space` . > [!example] > For example, when the following task is toggled, in a vault with the status settings in the diagram above: > > ```text > - [/] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2024-10-16 > ``` > > ... it will become ... > > ```text > - [x] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2024-10-16 ✅ 2023-10-16 > - [ ] Do something 🔁 every day 📅 2024-10-17 > ``` > > Note that the new task has `TODO` status, so it will show up in standard Tasks searches. > [!released] > This improved selection of status for new recurrences was introduced in Tasks 5.4.0. ## When the current status type is NON_TASK [[Status Types#NON_TASK|NON_TASK]] is a special status type to use for checklists that do not represent tasks. <!-- include: DocsSamplesForStatuses.test.DefaultStatuses_pro-con-cycle.approved.detailed.mermaid.md --> ```mermaid flowchart LR classDef TODO stroke:#f33,stroke-width:3px; classDef DONE stroke:#0c0,stroke-width:3px; classDef IN_PROGRESS stroke:#fa0,stroke-width:3px; classDef CANCELLED stroke:#ddd,stroke-width:3px; classDef NON_TASK stroke:#99e,stroke-width:3px; 1["'Pro'<br>[P] -> [C]<br>(NON_TASK)"]:::NON_TASK 2["'Con'<br>[C] -> [P]<br>(NON_TASK)"]:::NON_TASK 1 --> 2 2 --> 1 linkStyle default stroke:gray ``` <!-- endInclude --> With the above custom statuses in Tasks settings, clicking on task lines with checkboxes `[P]` and `[C]` will: - never add a Done date - never create a new instance, even if the task line has a recurrence rule.