Google Tasks CLI Skill

This skill enables you to manage Google Tasks directly from the command line using the gtasks CLI tool.

Prerequisites

Before using any commands, ensure the following requirements are met:

1. GTasks Installation

Check if gtasks is installed on the system:

# Cross-platform check (works on macOS, Linux, Windows Git Bash)
gtasks --version 2>/dev/null || gtasks.exe --version 2>/dev/null || echo "gtasks not found"

# Or use which/where commands
# macOS/Linux:
which gtasks

# Windows (Command Prompt):
where gtasks

# Windows (PowerShell):
Get-Command gtasks

If gtasks is not installed:

1. Download the binary for your system from GitHub Releases
2. Install it:
   • macOS/Linux: Move to /usr/local/bin or add to PATH
   • Windows: Add to a folder in your PATH environment variable
3. Verify installation: gtasks --version

IMPORTANT for Agents: Always check if gtasks is installed before attempting to use it. If the command is not found, inform the user and provide installation instructions.

2. Environment Variables

Set up Google OAuth2 credentials as environment variables:

export GTASKS_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com"
export GTASKS_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

How to get credentials:

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Enable the Google Tasks API
4. Create OAuth2 credentials (Application type: "Desktop app")
5. Note the authorized redirect URIs that gtasks uses:
   • http://localhost:8080/callback
   • http://localhost:8081/callback
   • http://localhost:8082/callback
   • http://localhost:9090/callback
   • http://localhost:9091/callback

For persistent setup, use a secrets manager or a ~/.env file with restrictive permissions — do not commit these values to version control or add them to shared shell profile files:

# Recommended: store in a file with restricted permissions
echo 'export GTASKS_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"' >> ~/.gtasks_env
echo 'export GTASKS_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"' >> ~/.gtasks_env
chmod 600 ~/.gtasks_env
# Source it from your shell profile
echo 'source ~/.gtasks_env' >> ~/.zshrc

2. Authentication

Once environment variables are set, authenticate with Google:

gtasks login

This will open a browser for OAuth2 authentication. The token is stored in ~/.gtasks/token.json with 0600 permissions. Verify with ls -la ~/.gtasks/token.json. If you no longer need access, run gtasks logout to revoke and delete the token.

Core Concepts

• Task Lists: Containers that hold tasks (like "Work", "Personal", "Shopping")
• Tasks: Individual to-do items within a task list
• Task Properties: Title (required), notes/description (optional), due date (optional), status (pending/completed)

Command Structure