pending.nvim

Edit tasks like text. :w saves them.

A buffer-centric task manager for Neovim. Tasks live in a plain buffer — add with o, delete with dd, reorder with dd/p, rename by editing. Write the buffer and the diff is computed against a JSON store. No UI chrome, no floating windows, no abstractions between you and your tasks.

How it works

School
  ! Read chapter 5                             Feb 28
  Submit homework                              Feb 25

Errands
  Buy groceries                                Mar 01
  Clean apartment

Category headers sit at column 0. Tasks are indented below them. ! marks priority. Due dates appear as right-aligned virtual text. Done tasks get strikethrough. Everything you see is editable buffer text — the IDs are concealed, and metadata is parsed from inline syntax on save.

Install

luarocks install pending.nvim

lazy.nvim:

{ 'barrettruth/pending.nvim' }

Requires Neovim 0.10+. No external dependencies for local use. Google Calendar sync requires curl and openssl.

Usage

:Pending opens the task buffer. From there, it's just vim:

Key	Action
o / O	Add a new task
dd	Delete a task (on :w)
p	Paste (duplicates get new IDs)
:w	Save all changes
<CR>	Toggle complete (immediate)
<Tab>	Switch category / priority view
g?	Show keybind help

Inline metadata

Type metadata tokens at the end of a task line before saving:

Buy milk due:2026-03-15 cat:Errands

On :w, the date and category are extracted. The description becomes Buy milk, the due date renders as virtual text, and the task moves under the Errands header.

Quick add

:Pending add Buy groceries due:2026-03-15
:Pending add School: Submit homework

Archive

:Pending archive      " purge done tasks older than 30 days
:Pending archive 7    " purge done tasks older than 7 days

Configuration

No setup() call required. Set vim.g.pending before the plugin loads:

vim.g.pending = {
  data_path = vim.fn.stdpath('data') .. '/pending/tasks.json',
  default_view = 'category',  -- 'category' or 'priority'
  default_category = 'Inbox',
  date_format = '%b %d',      -- strftime format for virtual text
  date_syntax = 'due',        -- inline token name (e.g. 'by' for by:2026-03-15)
}

All fields are optional. Absent keys use the defaults shown above.

Google Calendar sync

One-way push of tasks with due dates to a dedicated Google Calendar as all-day events.

vim.g.pending = {
  gcal = {
    calendar = 'Tasks',
    credentials_path = '/path/to/client_secret.json',
  },
}

:Pending sync

On first run, a browser window opens for OAuth consent. The refresh token is stored at stdpath('data')/pending/gcal_tokens.json. Completed or deleted tasks have their calendar events removed. Due date changes update events in place.

Mappings

The plugin defines <Plug> mappings for custom keybinds:

vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>t', '<Plug>(pending-open)')
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>T', '<Plug>(pending-toggle)')

Plug mapping	Action
<Plug>(pending-open)	Open task buffer
<Plug>(pending-toggle)	Toggle complete
<Plug>(pending-view)	Switch view
<Plug>(pending-priority)	Toggle priority flag
<Plug>(pending-date)	Prompt for due date

Data format

Tasks are stored as JSON at stdpath('data')/pending/tasks.json. The schema is versioned and forward-compatible — unknown fields are preserved on round-trip.

Documentation

:checkhealth pending