Project Management

✅ The data a task carries

* Project X
  :PROPERTIES:
  :ID: proj-x
  :ASSIGNEE: jrk          ← whole subtree assigned to jrk (inherited)
  :END:
** TODO Run analysis
   SCHEDULED: <2026-07-01 Wed>
   :PROPERTIES:
   :ID: analysis
   :EFFORT: 2d
   :END:
** NEXT Make figures                      :@ana:   ← @tag also assigns
   :PROPERTIES:
   :ID: figures
   :EFFORT: 4h
   :DEPENDS: id:analysis
   :END:
** TODO [#A] Write paper
   DEADLINE: <2026-07-20 Mon>
   :PROPERTIES:
   :ID: paper
   :EFFORT: 1d
   :DEPENDS: id:analysis id:figures
   :END:

• EFFORT accepts 2d, 4h, 0:30, 90m (a day = 8 hours).

• :ASSIGNEE: holds one or more handles; it is inherited from ancestor subtrees, and @name tags count as assignees too.

✅ Task table

Insert a table with cmd:scimax.org.insertProjectTable, or write the dynamic block yourself and refresh it with C-c C-c:

#+BEGIN: project-table :columns task,todo,priority,assignee,deadline,effort,blocked
#+END:

Parameters:

The blocked column shows 🔒 when a dependency in the block's scope is not yet done. Columns may also include file, the task's file relative to this one.

With :scope project, the table gathers tasks from every .org file under the project root (the nearest folder above this file with .git, .projectile and the like), read from disk, with this file's unsaved text. A file column is added by default, dependencies between files count for blocked, and :id does not apply:

#+BEGIN: project-table :scope project :groupby assignee
#+END:

✅ Project view

cmd:scimax.project.view (Scimax: Project View (Gantt Chart)) opens a panel with every TODO task in the active file's project on a graphical Gantt chart. The tasks come from all the .org files under the project root, read the same way as the task table's :scope project, and the panel reloads whenever one of them is saved.

Each row shows the task's state, priority, a 🔒 when it is blocked, its title and its assignees, with a bar on the timeline coloured by status: green done, red blocked, dark blue in progress (its SCHEDULED date has come), light blue planned, and a yellow diamond for a milestone. Priority [#A] bars are outlined. Arrows run from each dependency to the task that waits for it, and a red line marks today. SCHEDULED is a bar's start, else the end of its latest dependency, else the deadline minus the effort, else the project's earliest start (or today). EFFORT sets the length in working days of 8 hours; a task with SCHEDULED and DEADLINE but no effort runs to the deadline, and a task with only a DEADLINE is a milestone. Children of an :ORDERED: t parent follow one another. Rows (within each group) list the tasks that have a DEADLINE first, by start date, then the tasks without one, also by start date. The Outline grouping keeps the order of the headings instead.

• Double-click a task (or select it and press Enter) to open it beside the chart. The arrow keys move the selection.

• Drag a task's bar to move it, or the right end of a bar that ends on its deadline to move just the deadline. See ✅ Dragging tasks on the chart.

• Right-click a task for: Open Task, Cycle TODO State, Set Priority..., Set Tags..., Assign..., Set Effort..., Schedule..., Set Deadline..., Later by a Day, Earlier by a Day, Clock In, Refile..., Archive Subtree and Store Link. Each runs the ordinary Scimax command on the task's heading (so repeaters, CLOSED timestamps and dependency blocking behave as usual), saves the file, and comes back to the chart. The agenda view has the same menu (see Agenda View); the two date moves shift both the SCHEDULED and DEADLINE dates here.

• Depends On... in the right-click menu lists the project's other tasks (not done first, with their dates and files). Pick the task that must be done first: it is added to this task's :DEPENDS:, both headings get an :ID: if they lack one, both files are saved, and the chart redraws with the new arrow. The target can be in another file of the project. Tasks that already wait on this one, directly or through others, are not offered, so a cycle cannot be made.

• Remove Dependency... lists the task's dependencies; check the ones to drop. They are taken out of its :DEPENDS: (the property goes when none are left), the file is saved, and the arrows disappear from the chart.

• When Set Deadline... moves a task's deadline (here or in the editor, see ✅ Moving a deadline moves the tasks that wait on it), scimax offers to move the tasks that wait on it, directly or through other tasks, by the same number of days, so the gaps between them stay the same. The list shows each task's dates with every task checked: uncheck the ones to leave alone, or press Escape to move none. Their SCHEDULED and DEADLINE dates move, keeping times, repeaters and warning periods. Done tasks and tasks with no dates are not listed; an undated task already starts when its dependencies end. A task that had no deadline before has nothing to measure from, so nothing is offered.

• The toolbar filters by Assignee (or Unassigned), groups rows by assignee, file, parent heading or Outline (the file's heading tree, see Progress, rollups and the behind flag), shows or hides Done tasks, undoes and redoes drags, zooms the timeline with - and +, and scrolls to Today.

• Fit squeezes the whole date range into the panel's width, so there is no sideways scrolling: handy for a screenshot or a presentation. It keeps fitting when the panel is resized or the chart changes. As the days narrow, the day numbers thin out to one a week and then only today, weekend shading goes, and month names drop the year. Press - or + to zoom by hand again, or Fit to turn it off. The chart remembers the choice.

• Tags opens a checklist of the project's tags. Check one or more to show only the tasks that have any of them; Clear shows every task again. A task's tags include those it inherits from parent headings and from #+FILETAGS, so checking :paper: on a parent heading's tag shows all the tasks under it. @name tags are assignees and are left out of the list. The button shows the chosen tags, and the tag filter combines with the assignee filter. A task's tags appear in its tooltip.

• Files opens a checklist of the project's files that have tasks. Uncheck a file to leave its tasks out of the chart, its rollups and its exports; Show all and Hide all check or clear every file. The choice is remembered for each project, so a hidden file stays hidden when the view is reopened. To keep files out of the project altogether (the task table's :scope project too), list them in a .projectileignore or .gitignore at the project root.

** TODO Aim 1: Synthesis
*** DONE Prepare precursors
    :PROPERTIES:
    :EFFORT: 2d
    :END:
*** TODO Run reactions
    :PROPERTIES:
    :EFFORT: 4d
    :PROGRESS: 25
    :END:
*** CANCELLED Try the old route

<iframe src="project-gantt.html" style="width:100%;height:85%;border:0"></iframe>

✅ Dependency graph

cmd:scimax.org.showTaskGraph opens an interactive graph (nodes = tasks, arrows = "depends on"), colored by status:

• 🔵 ready · 🔴 blocked · 🟢 done · ⚪ unresolved id

It is seeded from the active file's tasks and expands over the dependency edges to show the connected component. Click a node to jump to that task.

People and assignments

A person is any heading tagged :person:, with contact properties:

* John Kitchin                              :person:
  :PROPERTIES:
  :ID: person-jrk
  :EMAIL: jkitchin@andrew.cmu.edu
  :NICK: jrk
  :ROLE: PI
  :END:

• *Assign*: cmd:scimax.org.assignTask (Scimax: Assign Task to Person) lists the indexed :person: headings, fuzzy-matches on handle/name/role/email as you type, and sets the current task's :ASSIGNEE: property to the picked handle(s). Run it from anywhere inside the entry; pick more than one for a shared task. Existing assignees are pre-selected. Enter takes the ticked people and the highlighted one, so arrowing to a person and pressing Enter assigns them without ticking the box; with a filter typed and nobody highlighted, it takes the only person the filter leaves. Once you tick or untick a box, Enter takes exactly the ticked people, so clearing every box unassigns.

• *Autocomplete*: while editing an :ASSIGNEE: value, completion suggests known people (name + email) and inserts their handle (:NICK:, or a slug of the name).

• *Hover*: hovering an assignee handle shows the person's name, email, and role.

• *Capture*: cmd:scimax.org.newPerson prompts for name/email/nick/role and appends a :person: heading to your people file (scimax.org.peopleFile, default {scimax.directory}/people.org).

Assignees feed the table's assignee column and grouping (:groupby assignee), the project view's assignee filter and grouping, and the agenda's @ filter.

✅ Configuration

Task-dependency settings (blocking, promotion, indicators) are documented in Task Dependencies.

✅ Notes and limitations

• Without :scope, the task table is computed from a single file (or a subtree via :id). Use :scope project to cover the whole project.

• "Blocked" and the chart's ordering resolve dependencies within the scope: a dependency on a task outside the project is not counted. The dependency graph and completion blocking (Task Dependencies) still see every indexed file.

• A project is read from disk each time the view or block refreshes. Very large trees are capped at 2,000 org files, with a warning.

• The Mermaid #+BEGIN: gantt block and its Insert Gantt Chart command were removed in favour of the project view. Updating an old gantt block reports "Unknown dynamic block type"; delete it and use the project view instead.

✅ Related Topics

• Task Dependencies: the dependency layer this builds on

• Agenda: the project agenda and the assignee filter (@)

• Agenda View: the agenda in a panel, with the same task menu as the chart

• CLI — scimax task next/who/path answers the same questions from the terminal

• TODO Items — TODO states, priorities, effort, tags and #+FILETAGS

• Timestamps — SCHEDULED/DEADLINE and clocking

• Agenda — date-based task views

• Command Reference · Configuration