Overview
Not every piece of work needs to run immediately. Todos let you capture and organize planned work in a backlog, then launch items as running tasks when you’re ready.
Todos vs tasks
| Todo | Task |
|---|
| Purpose | Planned work — capture intent now, execute later | Active work — runs immediately in a container |
| Container | None (no compute used) | Full isolated environment with AI agent |
| Editable | Body, priority, effort, tags, assignee, model, branch — all editable | Prompt is fixed once launched |
| Cost | Free until launched | Consumes compute units while running |
Press Tab in the composer to toggle between creating a task and a todo. Use todos when you want to plan work before committing compute to it.
Creating a todo
- Open the composer at the bottom of the sidebar
- Press Tab to switch to Todo mode (the placeholder changes to “Describe a new todo…”)
- Write your instructions — these become the todo’s body and can be edited later
- Press Cmd/Ctrl + Enter or click Send to create
The todo appears in your task list with a checkbox icon, indicating it’s not yet running.
Todo fields
Once created, click a todo to open its detail pane where you can edit:
Body
A rich text field with full Markdown support. Use it to describe the work, add context, link to issues, or include code snippets. Unlike task prompts, the body can be edited at any time before launch.
Priority
Set urgency to help you sort and triage:
| Priority | Description |
|---|
| Urgent | Needs immediate attention |
| High | Important, should be done soon |
| Medium | Normal priority (default) |
| Low | Nice to have, no rush |
Effort
Estimate the scope of work:
| Effort | Description |
|---|
| Small | Quick fix or minor change |
| Medium | Moderate scope |
| Large | Significant feature or refactor |
Assignee
Assign a todo to a workspace member. This is useful for tracking who owns which piece of work. Assigned todos show the member’s avatar.
Provider and model
Pre-select which AI provider and model the todo should use when launched. You can also set the source branch and task mode (simple or orchestrator).
Backlog sorting
The task list supports multiple sort orders for organizing your backlog:
| Sort | Behavior |
|---|
| Manual | Drag-and-drop ordering — you control the exact position of each item |
| Priority | Urgent first, then High, Medium, Low |
| Effort | Small first (quick wins), then Medium, Large |
| Updated | Most recently updated items appear first |
Launching a todo
When you’re ready to execute a todo, click the play button on the todo’s detail pane. Whim will:
- Create an isolated branch from the todo’s configured source branch
- Spin up a container with the selected AI provider and model
- Start the agent with the todo’s body as the prompt
- Transition the todo to an active running task
You can also configure provider, model, and branch settings on the todo before launching. If not set, workspace defaults are used.
Bulk operations
Select multiple todos from the task list to perform bulk actions:
- Archive — move selected items out of the active view
- Complete — mark selected items as done
This helps keep your backlog clean as priorities shift.
