AskHumanToWork

The todo hub where your AI asks you to work.

AI agents (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, any MCP client) capture todos into your list — with due dates and provenance ("why this exists") — and AskHumanToWork reliably reminds you until they're done. Optionally (Pro), todos mirror out to Microsoft To Do / Google Tasks so they appear where you already look.

Why

Heavy AI users generate implicit todos constantly: "you should follow up on X", "remember to deploy Y on Friday". Those evaporate in chat history. AskHumanToWork captures them at the source — the AI conversation itself — and closes the loop with an escalating reminder engine.

Every AI-created todo shows who added it and why:

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Tutorial — zero to your first AI-captured todo

0. Prerequisites

• Node ≥ 20 and pnpm (npm i -g pnpm)
• PostgreSQL 16, Redis, and Mailpit (local email catcher)
• Flutter 3.x (only for the mobile app)

macOS one-liner for the services:

brew install postgresql@16 redis mailpit
brew services start postgresql@16 redis mailpit
createdb askhumantowork

(Prefer containers? docker compose up -d starts the same three services.)

1. Install & configure

git clone https://github.com/KuronokiCorp/AskHumanToWork.git && cd AskHumanToWork
pnpm install

cp .env.example .env
# In .env, set:
#   ENCRYPTION_KEY  → run: openssl rand -base64 32
#   VAPID keys      → run: npx web-push generate-vapid-keys   (for browser push; optional)

2. Build, migrate, seed

pnpm build
pnpm db:migrate
pnpm db:seed

The seed prints your demo credentials — copy the MCP token now, it's stored only as a hash:

Seeded demo data.
  Login:     demo@askhumantowork.local / demo1234
  MCP token: tfa_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3. Run it (3 terminals)

pnpm dev:api                                    # API on :3000, MCP endpoint at /mcp
pnpm --filter @askhumantowork/api dev:worker    # reminder + sync engine
pnpm dev:web                                    # web app on :5173

Open http://localhost:5173 and sign in with the demo account. You'll see seeded todos, including AI-captured ones in the AI Inbox.

4. Add your first todo (human style)

In the quick-add box, natural language just works:

Ship the release notes @friday 5pm #Work !2

@… = due date (resolved in your timezone, server-side) · #… = project (auto-created) · !1-3 = priority.

5. Connect Claude — the main event

claude mcp add askhumantowork \
  --env TODO_API_TOKEN=tfa_your_token_here \
  --env TODO_API_URL=http://localhost:3000 \
  -- node <repo>/packages/mcp/dist/bin.js

(Once the askhumantowork-mcp package is published to npm, replace the last line with -- npx -y askhumantowork-mcp. Claude Desktop users: see the equivalent JSON config in packages/mcp/README.md.)

Now, in any Claude session:

You: remind me to review the auth PR tomorrow at 3pm

Claude: (calls add_todo with due_natural: "tomorrow 3pm" and origin_context: "You asked while we were discussing the auth refactor.") Added — it'll remind you tomorrow at 2pm and 3pm. → http://localhost:5173/t/…

Refresh the AI Inbox — the todo is there, with Claude's name and the reason it exists.

Also try:

• "what's on my plate today?" → Claude calls get_agenda
• "I finished the auth PR" → complete_todo (reminders cancelled)
• The /capture-followups prompt → Claude scans the whole conversation and files every commitment as a todo.

6. Watch a reminder fire

Reminders ladder automatically: 1 day before → 1 hour before → at due → daily overdue nudges. To see one in 20 seconds:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/todos \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tfa_your_token" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"Reminder demo","dueNatural":"in 10 minutes","reminders":["in 20 seconds"]}'

Open the Mailpit UI at http://localhost:8025 — the reminder email arrives, including the AI provenance if an agent created the todo. (Enable browser push in Settings → Notifications for native notifications; quiet hours are respected.)

7. Mobile app (Flutter)

cd mobile && flutter run          # iOS simulator or Android emulator

Sign in with the demo account. Same Today/Upcoming/Projects/AI Inbox views; server reminders are mirrored as local notifications; completing a todo on the phone syncs back instantly.

8. Mirror to Microsoft To Do / Google Tasks (Pro)

Third-party sync is a Pro-plan feature. As the seeded admin you're already Pro; upgrade other users on Settings → Admin.

1. Register an OAuth app — Microsoft: Azure Portal → App registrations, delegated Tasks.ReadWrite + offline_access, redirect URI http://localhost:3000/api/integrations/ms-todo/callback · Google: Cloud Console → OAuth credentials, scope https://www.googleapis.com/auth/tasks, redirect URI http://localhost:3000/api/integrations/google-tasks/callback
2. Paste client id/secret in Settings → Admin (or the .env vars).
3. Settings → Integrations → Connect, pick a target list, direction (two-way / outbound), and filters (AI-only, priority threshold).

AskHumanToWork stays the source of truth: mirrors degrade per provider capability (Google Tasks has date-only due dates and no reminders — our reminder engine still covers you), and completing a task in the external app completes it here and cancels the reminders (2-minute polling).

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Reference

Architecture

AI agents ──MCP (stdio / HTTP)──►┐
Web (React) ──REST──────────────►│  Fastify API ──► PostgreSQL (source of truth)
Flutter app ──REST──────────────►┘       │
                                         ├─► BullMQ/Redis: reminder ladder + sync outbox
                                         ├─► Email (SMTP) + Web Push reminders
                                         └─► Adapters: Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks (Pro)

Package	What
packages/shared	zod schemas, enums, server-side natural-language date resolution
packages/db	Drizzle ORM schema, migrations, seed
packages/core	domain services, entitlements, sync engine, provider adapters
packages/api	Fastify REST API, auth, /mcp HTTP transport, background workers
packages/mcp	askhumantowork-mcp — publishable stdio MCP connector
packages/web	React web app (Vite + Tailwind + TanStack Query)
mobile/	Flutter app (Riverpod + dio + local notifications)

MCP surface

Tools: add_todo (natural dates, origin_context provenance, idempotent, sync_to routing) · list_todos · search_todos · update_todo · complete_todo · reschedule_todo · get_agenda · list_projects · list_integrations · resolve_time

Resources: todo://agenda/today · todo://agenda/overdue · todo://projects Prompts: capture-followups · review-my-todos

Remote clients can skip the local install entirely: Streamable HTTP MCP at POST <server>/mcp with Authorization: Bearer <token>.

Auth model

Web = cookie sessions. Mobile = long-lived device tokens (POST /api/auth/login with mode:"token"). AI agents = scoped Personal Access Tokens (todos:read/write, projects:read, integrations:read) created in Settings → API tokens.

Plans

Everything is free except third-party sync (Pro). Gating is enforced server-side (connect → HTTP 402, no outbound fan-out, inbound pollers skip). Until billing ships, admins set plans on the Admin page.

Deploying

Single-image deploy — the API container also serves the built web app (SERVE_WEB=true) and runs migrations on start; a second container from the same image runs the reminder/sync worker:

cp .env.example .env      # set SESSION_SECRET + ENCRYPTION_KEY (+ VAPID keys)
docker compose --profile app up -d --build
# → http://localhost:3000 (web + API + MCP), worker running, Postgres/Redis/Mailpit included

For a real host (Fly.io / Railway / a VPS): build the Dockerfile, provide DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, SMTP credentials, and set COOKIE_SECURE=true + TRUST_PROXY=true behind HTTPS. Sessions and rate limits are Redis-backed, so multiple API instances are safe.

Publishing the npm connector

cd packages/mcp && npm login && pnpm publish

Ships only dist/ with two runtime deps; prepublishOnly builds automatically.

Tests

pnpm typecheck && pnpm test        # TS packages (incl. date-resolution unit tests)
cd mobile && flutter analyze       # Flutter

A scripted end-to-end regression (auth, todos, dedup, agenda, MCP both transports, reminder delivery/cancellation, plan gating) lives in the feature-tester agent charter at .claude/agents/feature-tester.md — Claude Code users can run it with "run the feature-tester".

Roadmap

Recurring todos · edit-in-place UI · web search & tag filters · notification action buttons · FCM/APNs mobile push · morning AI digest · Graph webhooks (realtime inbound) · Todoist adapter · Stripe billing · cloud deploy.