todoist-automation

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.

Toolkit docs: composio.dev/toolkits/todoist

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

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