Task notes

A task note is a note in ICAP/Tasks/ that records one task. Obsidian’s Bases, and other tools, can list tasks by the properties of these notes. The list is the activity, in ICAP/Activity.base.

ICAP writes task notes only when Record tasks as notes is on (Settings → Files). The setting is off by default. When you turn it on, ICAP writes the notes of your recent tasks and makes Activity.base.

When ICAP writes a task note

Task	Task note
A note-making task (Create a concept note from selection, Collect key concepts of this note into notes, Write a comparison note…)	Always.
A request block	Only when the conversation becomes a task: the agent used a tool, the agent made, changed or deleted a file, the agent asked you a question, or the block has more than one round.
A request block with one question and one answer	Never.
An explanation, recall, check or quiz	Never.

The slash commands /model, /thinking and /compact are not rounds. For a request block, all rounds update the same task note.

ICAP finds a task note by its icap-id, not by its path. You can rename a task note or move it to a different folder.

Where task notes go

Task notes go to ICAP/Tasks/. To use a different folder, change ICAP folder in the settings. The folder holds Activity.base, and the task notes are in its Tasks folder.

If you delete a task note, ICAP does not write it again by itself. To write it again, run Rebuild task notes from recent activity. This command knows only the latest 60 tasks.

Properties

Property	Type	Meaning
icap	text	Always task. A tool finds task notes by this property.
icap-id	text	The id of the task. For a request block, it is the id of the block.
icap-status	text	The status of the task. See the next table.
icap-source	list of links	The note that the task is about: the note with the request block, or the note where the task started.
icap-changed	list of links	The files that the task made or changed.
icap-started	date and time, local	When the latest run started.
icap-ended	date and time, local	When the latest run ended. It is absent while the status is running, needs-you or review.
icap-cost	number, or the text unknown	The cost of all runs of the task, in US dollars.
icap-tokens	number	The tokens in and out of all runs, cached tokens included.
icap-cache	number, 0 to 100	The percentage of the prompt that the provider read from its cache.
icap-model	text, provider/id	The model of the latest run.

If a property has no value, ICAP does not write it. ICAP changes only these properties. It does not change other properties, and it does not change the body of a task note after it makes the note.

Status values

icap-status	Meaning
running	The agent works on the task.
needs-you	The agent asked you a question and waits for the answer.
review	The agent proposed an edit to a note. You did not apply it or decline it yet.
done	The task is complete.
failed	The task stopped because of an error.
cancelled	You stopped the task, or Obsidian closed while the task ran. You can continue it from its block.

draft and queued are reserved. This version does not write them.

The status shows only what the task is. What the task does at this second, for example which file it reads, is not in the note.

The cost

icap-cost is an estimate from the list prices of the model. If the provider reports what it billed, ICAP uses that number.

Note

icap-cost is never 0 for “not known”. When ICAP cannot tell the cost, it writes unknown. This occurs for a model without list prices, for example a custom endpoint, and for a task from before ICAP recorded costs. A task that has ended always has icap-cost.

If you log in with a subscription, the provider does not bill per token. The number then shows what the same use costs at list prices.

The Activity base

ICAP makes ICAP/Activity.base one time. After that, the file is yours, and ICAP does not write it again. There is one exception: a base made by an earlier version gets the Activity view as its first view, one time.

The base shows all notes where icap is task. It has these views:

View	What it shows
Activity	ICAP’s own view (icap-activity), newest first. It needs the plugin.
Needs me	A table of tasks with the status needs-you or review.
In progress	A table of tasks with the status queued or running.
All	A table of all tasks, grouped by status. The cost and the tokens have a sum.

The three tables work without the plugin. If you uninstall the plugin, Bases says that the view type of Activity is unknown. The tables still work.

The All table has a Minutes column, from icap-started to icap-ended. A sum of the cost does not include unknown.

Property names in a base

The property names have a hyphen. Bases reads a hyphen in an expression as a minus sign. Write the names in two different ways:

Where	Write
In a filter or a formula	note["icap-status"]
As a column, a group, or a display name	note.icap-status

Caution

In a filter or a formula, always write note["icap-status"]. Bases reads a bare icap-status as icap minus status.

To see the activity, see Activity.