TaskBox

Your Personal Task Manager

TaskBox is a standalone, feature-rich task management app designed for individuals and teams. It supports nested lists, multi-user collaboration, list sharing, admin controls, task dependencies, importance levels, pinning, statistics, printing, and full database backup/restore — all in a secure, self-hosted Docker container.

Overview

TaskBox provides a clean interface for organizing tasks, lists, and workflows locally. Use it on your own server or network with full privacy. No cloud required.

Key Features

  • Persistent State: Remembers your last active list on reload.
  • Global View Persistence: Settings for Sort/Filter are remembered for all lists by default. Manage in User Settings.
  • Custom Ordering: Manual Up/Down sorting for tasks.
  • Focused List: A dedicated, always-accessible list for your immediate priorities.
  • Global Views: View tasks from all lists in one place (File Cabinet) with list filtering.
  • Sidebar Toolbar: Centralized control for list actions (Rename, Share, Move, Merge, Delete).
  • Sidebar Modes: Toggle between Accordion (auto-close), Expand All, and Collapse All modes.
  • Nested Lists: 3-Tier hierarchical structure (Top Level → Master List → Sublist → Nested Sublist).
  • Merge Lists: Combine lists into one.
  • List Sorting & Pinning: Sort alphabetically and pin important lists.
  • Copy/Move Tasks: Move or copy tasks between lists.
  • Duplicate Prevention: Paste/import automatically filters duplicates.
  • Multi-User Support: Secure registration and login system.
  • Shared Permissions: Granular control (View Only, Modify, Full Access) + Ownership Transfer.
  • Admin Panel: User management, logs, maintenance tools.
  • Database Backup & Restore: Download or upload full SQLite database.
  • Task Management: Pin tasks, set parent/child relationships, mark importance levels.
  • Import/Export: CSV/text import & export.
  • Themes: Light, Dark, High-Contrast Orange.

How to Use TaskBox

1. List Hierarchy

TaskBox uses a strict 3-level hierarchy to keep organization clean:

  1. Top Level: The root view where your Master Lists live.
  2. Master List (Level 1): Can behave in one of two ways:
    • Task List: Contains tasks directly.
    • Container List: Contains Sublists only.
    • Rule: A list cannot contain both tasks and sublists.
  3. Sublist (Level 2): A list nested inside a Master List. It can contain tasks OR Nested Sublists.
  4. Nested Sublist (Level 3): The deepest level. It can only contain tasks.

2. Permissions

  • Owner: Can move, merge, delete, rename, transfer, or share the list.
  • Shared User: Can interact based on assigned role:
    • View Only: Read-only access.
    • Modify: Add/Edit/Complete tasks. No Deletion.
    • Full Access: All task actions.

Getting Started

  • The first user to register becomes Admin.
  • Admin creates additional users via the Admin Panel.
  • Public registration is disabled.

Focused List & Global Views

  • Focused List (Lightning Icon): A permanent list at the top of the sidebar. Toggle the lightning icon on any task to add it here.
  • Global Views (File Cabinet): View tasks across ALL lists. Filter by All Active, High Importance, Pinned, or Dependencies. Use “Filter Lists” to narrow down the view. Includes “All Due Tasks”.
  • Global Search: Persistent search bar in the header searches all lists.

Task Management

  • Add Task: Type at bottom of list.
  • Edit: Click task text.
  • Complete: Tasks move down or hide via the checkbox icon toggle.
  • Custom Order: Toggle the “Box List” icon to enable Up/Down arrows for manual sorting.
  • Importance: Low → Medium → High (Flag Icon).
  • Pin: Keeps tasks at top.
  • Task Relationships: Assign a Parent Task via the dropdown. The Parent cannot be completed until all its children are done.
  • Copy/Move: Hover → Copy icon.
  • Print: Generates a clean, checklist-style print view. Works for long lists across multiple pages.

List Actions

  • Sidebar Modes: Cycle through Accordion, Expand All, and Collapse All modes using the sidebar toolbar button.
  • Rename: (Max 20 chars).
  • Move: Valid options only; containers cannot be moved inside lists.
  • Merge: Combines lists and deletes the source.
  • Share: Assign permission levels to other users or Transfer Ownership. Admins can force transfer.
  • View Settings: Use the “Eye” icon in the list toolbar to toggle view persistence for that list. Manage global defaults in User Settings.

Copy / Paste & Import

  • Clipboard Modal:
    • Paste text to create tasks (Limit: 20 lines).
    • Copy active list (with metadata or descriptions only).
    • Load Active List for copying.
  • Import: CSV/TXT with supported headers. (Disabled in Global Views). Max file size 5MB.
  • Export: CSV/TXT (disabled for empty lists).

Admin Panel

  • User Management: Add/delete/reset users. Now supports Transfer Lists to Admin when deleting a user to prevent data loss.
  • Activity Log: Security log with CSV Export (Download Icon).
  • Database Management:
    • Export full database
    • Restore database (server restarts)
  • Maintenance:
    • Vacuum database
    • Prune orphans
    • Purge All Data
    • Reset Defaults
    • Reset Task Relationships (flattens hierarchy)

Themes

  • Light
  • Dark
  • Orange

Technical Limitations

  • User Limit: Max 10 Users.
  • List Limits (Per User): 20 Root Lists, 10 Nested Lists per container, 20 Chars per Title.
  • Task Limits (Per User): 50 Tasks per list, 5,000 Tasks total, 102 Chars per Task Description.
  • Max Depth: 3 Levels (Master → Sublist → Nested Sublist).
  • Container Rule: Lists with sublists cannot hold tasks.
  • Dependency Depth: Max 5 levels.
  • Single Session: SQLite may lock under heavy parallel writes.
  • No Offline Mode: Requires network to container.

TaskBox Snapshot

TaskBox Screenshot

Quick Start with Docker

Option 1: Using Docker Compose (Recommended)

version: '3.8'

services:
  taskbox:
    image: l1apps/taskbox:latest
    container_name: taskbox
    ports:
      - "6500:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - PORT=3000
      - JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-key
      - SESSION_TIMEOUT=7d

Start:

docker-compose up -d

Open in browser:

http://localhost:6500

Option 2: Docker CLI

docker run -d \
  --name taskbox \
  -p 6500:3000 \
  -v ./data:/app/data \
  -e JWT_SECRET=mysecurekey \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  l1apps/taskbox:latest

Option 3: Portainer (Stacks)

  1. Open Portainer.
  2. Stacks → Add Stack
  3. Paste your docker-compose.yml
  4. Deploy
  5. Open http://your-server-ip:6500

Recover Lost Admin Password

docker exec -it taskbox node reset_admin.js <admin_username> <new_password>

Version History

  • 3.11.5 – 2025-11-10
    • Admin Panel Improvements: Log Export, Transfer Lists on user delete.
    • Fixed issue where “Date Created” was not displaying on tasks.
    • Security updates and User limit increased to 10.
  • 3.11.4 – 2025-11-08
    • Fixed Admin Registration permissions.
  • 3.11.3 – 2025-11-08
    • Added “Reset Task Relationships” maintenance tool to flatten corrupt task hierarchies.
  • 3.11.2 – 2025-11-06
    • Refined Parent/Child task logic and UI.
    • Updated Tooltips and Global View Family Context.
  • 3.11.0 – 2025-11-05
    • Added Sub-task Support via Parent Task logic.
    • Removed single-dependency restriction.
  • 3.10.6 – 2025-11-02
    • Added Sidebar Accordion Mode.
    • Added Global View Persistence Settings.
    • Added Admin Take Ownership override.
    • Fixed tooltip clipping in Stats.
  • 3.10.5 – 2025-10-30
    • Added “All Due Tasks” View.
    • Added Stats Export to CSV.
    • Improved Task text wrapping.
    • UI Refinements (Add Task Clear button, Stats layout).
  • 3.10.2 – 2025-10-28
    • Fixed Docker networking issue (binding to 0.0.0.0).
  • 3.10.1 – 2025-10-27
    • Security hardening for Database Restore (Integrity Check).
    • Added File Size/Binary checks for Import.
    • Strict 102 char limit for Task descriptions with text wrapping.
    • Limited Paste functionality to 20 tasks max.
  • 3.10.0 – 2025-10-25
    • Persistent active list on reload.
    • Custom Task Ordering (Up/Down).
    • List Ownership Transfer.
    • List Title limit (20 chars).
  • 3.9.15 – 2025-10-20
    • Implemented limits: Max 5 users, Max 20 Root Lists, Max 10 Sublists, Max 50 Tasks/List, Max 5000 Total Tasks.
  • 3.9.14 – 2025-10-18
    • Improved Dependency grouping logic (Indented View).
    • Added dependency depth limit (5 levels).
    • Updated Toolbar icons and consistency.
    • Renamed High Importance to Importance (Medium+High).
  • 3.9.13 – 2025-10-15
    • Added granular Share Permissions (View, Modify, Full).
    • Enhanced dependency grouping logic.
    • Updated UI icons (Lightning Bolt for Focus, Flag for Importance).
    • Added state resets for view filters on list change.
  • 3.9.12 – 2025-10-10
    • Fixed CSV export quoting issues.
    • Restricted Share permissions (Owner-only add).
    • Added Debug Mode (use ?tooltips=on) to identify UI elements.
  • 3.9.11 – 2025-10-08
    • Added “Filter Lists” dropdown to Global Views.
    • Improved Dependency visualization in Global Views.
    • Updated Focused List icons (Blue List/Folder) and Focused task toggle (Blue Circle/Check).
    • Fixed multi-page printing overflow.
  • 3.9.10 – 2025-10-06
    • Fixed multi-page printing overflow issues.
    • Import functions are now explicitly disabled when using Global Views to prevent errors.
  • 3.9.9 – 2025-10-04
    • Global Views (Focused, All Tasks) upgraded with Sorting, Search, and Printing.
    • Added Export capability for Focused and Global lists.
    • Added Clipboard Copy for Global views.
  • 3.9.8 – 2025-10-02
    • Added permanent “Focused” list.
    • Added Task Focus Toggle (Target Icon) to tasks.
    • Global Views now exclude completed tasks by default.
  • 3.9.7 – 2025-09-30
    • Added Global Views (“File Cabinet”) for All Tasks, Pinned, etc.
    • Hierarchy Controls: Visual nesting limit indicators.
  • 3.9.6 – 2025-09-28
    • Increased nesting depth to 3 levels.
    • Added persistent view settings.
  • 3.9.5 – 2025-09-26
    • Added Database Backup & Restore.
    • Print font standardized (Arial 11pt).
    • Print checkbox size fixed.
    • Upload limit increased to 100MB.
  • 3.9.4 – 2025-09-24
    • Redesigned print layout.
    • Added sortable columns to Statistics.
    • Removed “Float Active List” behavior.
    • Print button hidden for container lists.
  • 3.9.3 – 2025-09-22
    • Optimized Check/Uncheck All (batch API).
    • Improved print CSS.
    • Improved React list rendering performance.
  • 3.9.2 – 2025-09-20
    • Added list sorting.
    • Added list pinning.
    • Added Expand/Collapse All.
    • Improved Statistics sorting.
  • 3.9.1 – 2025-09-17
    • Duplicate prevention added.
    • Descriptions Only copy mode added.
    • Local search bar improved.
    • Export disabled for empty lists.
    • Move/Merge logic improved.
  • 3.9.0 – 2025-09-15
    • Major refactor using Context API.
    • Global search bar added.
    • Copy/Paste modal improved.
  • 3.8.0 – 2025-09-10
    • Added Copy/Move Task modal.
    • Permission logic improved.
    • Sharing inheritance improved.
  • 3.7.4 – 2025-09-01
    • Sorting logic refactored.
    • Error handling improved.
  • 3.7.3 – 2025-08-25
    • Statistics now exclude empty lists.
  • 3.7.2 – 2025-08-20
    • Added Paste modal.
    • Added custom warning modals.
  • 3.7.1 – 2025-08-15
    • Fixed Add Task behavior for container lists.
  • 3.7.0 – 2025-08-10
    • Priority sorting improved.
    • Tooltip layout improvements.
  • 3.6.0 – 2025-08-05
    • SQLite foreign key enforcement enabled.
    • Tooltip z-index fixes.
  • 3.5.0 – 2025-08-01
    • Sidebar Toolbar added.
    • Admin refresh after maintenance actions.
  • 3.4.0 – 2025-07-28
    • Demo “Groceries” list added.
    • Reset to Defaults added.
  • 3.3.0 – 2025-07-20
    • Rename lists added.
    • Admin maintenance tools expanded.
    • Simplified sidebar UI.
  • 3.2.0 – 2025-07-10
    • Merge Lists introduced.
    • Strict hierarchy rules enforced.
  • 3.1.1 – 2025-07-06
    • Build errors corrected.
  • 3.1.0 – 2025-07-05
    • Nested lists introduced.
    • Recursive sharing implemented.
  • 3.0.0 – 2025-07-01
    • Initial folder hierarchy introduced.
    • Tree view sidebar.
    • Move List feature added.
  • 2.9.1 – 2025-06-27
    • Sorting fixes.
  • 2.9.0 – 2025-06-25
    • Version displayed in header.
  • 2.8.0 – 2025-06-20
    • Sort indicators added.
  • 2.7.0 – 2025-06-15
    • Admin log clearing added.
  • 2.6.0 – 2025-06-10
    • Resizable sidebar added.
    • Advanced import/export modal added.
  • 2.5.0 – 2025-05-28
    • User settings added.
    • Date Created added.
  • 2.0.0 – 2025-05-10
    • Multi-user authentication added.
    • List sharing added.
    • Pinned tasks feature added.
  • 1.0.0 – 2025-04-20
    • Initial release.
    • Multiple lists, Task CRUD, SQLite, Docker support.

Support

This App is free and self-hosted.
Click here to contact us for Support