Views

A view is a task list you define yourself. You write a rule for what counts, and matching tasks show up in the view automatically.

Don't want to write the rule yourself?

Send this AI-readable spec to any assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, …), describe in plain language what you want to see, and it will write the rule for you — paste the result straight into the Rule field:

https://tasks.hamsterbase.com/view-rules.txt

Use views to keep lists the built-in ones don't cover, for example:

• Everything tagged work that's already overdue
• Tasks in the inbox that have no tag and no date
• Anything in your Reading area you've been ignoring

Where to find it

Views live in the desktop sidebar, in a section called Views. Click the + next to the section heading to add one.

Creating a view

1. In the sidebar's Views section, click +.
2. Type a name in the page header.
3. Open the detail panel on the right and write a rule in the Rule field.
4. As soon as the rule is valid, matching tasks appear in the list.

If you leave the rule empty, the main area shows a list of starter rules — click any of them to fill the rule in. You don't need to write anything from scratch to get started.

You can drag views in the sidebar to reorder them. To delete a view, use the ⋯ menu in its detail panel.

Writing rules

A rule describes "what kind of task belongs in this view". Each task is referred to as item, and you write a condition about it.

For example:

item.status === 'created' && item.tags.includes('work')

means the task is unfinished and has the work tag.

Fields you can use

Field	What it means
item.title	The task's title
item.notes	The notes / description
item.status	Status: 'created' unfinished / 'completed' done / 'canceled' cancelled
item.tags	The list of tags on the task
item.startDate	Start date (null if not set)
item.dueDate	Due date (null if not set)
item.completionAt	When the task was completed (null if not completed)
item.createdAt	When the task was created
item.parent	Where it lives: 'inbox' / 'project' / 'area' / 'heading' / 'task' (sub-task)
item.projectTitle	Name of the enclosing project
item.areaTitle	Name of the enclosing area

Keywords you can use

When writing date-based rules, these built-in keywords come in handy:

Keyword	Meaning
TODAY	Today
DAY	The length of one day — use it to write things like "7 days from now"
SOMEDAY	"Someday" — a task you've parked for "some day later"

What you can write

Syntax	What it does
===, !==	Equal to / not equal to
>, >=, <, <=	Compare numbers and dates
&&, ||, !	And / or / not
item.tags.includes('x')	The tags list contains x
item.title.includes('x')	The title contains x
item.tags.length	How many tags the task has
... === null	Check whether a date field is unset

If you'd rather not write a rule from scratch, the starter list in the rule docs panel will fill one in for you — tweak from there.

Starter rules at a glance

What you want	Rule
Not yet done	item.status === 'created'
Completed	item.status === 'completed'
In the inbox	item.parent === 'inbox'
Available now (Anytime)	item.status === 'created' && (item.startDate === null || item.startDate <= TODAY)
Parked for Someday	item.startDate === SOMEDAY
Overdue	item.dueDate !== null && item.dueDate < TODAY
Due in the next 7 days	item.dueDate !== null && item.dueDate < TODAY + 7 * DAY
Tagged work	item.tags.includes('work')
Inside a project	item.parent === 'project'

A few practical examples

Work tasks due within 3 days

item.tags.includes('work') &&
  item.status === 'created' &&
  item.dueDate !== null &&
  item.dueDate < TODAY + 3 * DAY

Inbox items with no tag and no date — likely needs triage

item.parent === 'inbox' && item.tags.length === 0 && item.startDate === null

Everything in the Reading area

item.areaTitle === 'Reading'

Completed in the last 30 days

item.status === 'completed' &&
  item.completionAt !== null &&
  item.completionAt > TODAY - 30 * DAY

The list "freezes" while you're inside the view

A view's task list is locked the moment you open it, and is only re-matched when you re-open the view or change the rule.

So if you complete a task or change its date while you're in the view — and that makes it no longer match the rule — the task still stays in the list until you leave and come back.

This is intentional: the task you just acted on doesn't vanish out from under you, and the list feels steadier to work in.

When the rule has an error

If your rule has a problem (mismatched brackets, a typo, an unknown field, etc.), the detail panel shows a message under the Rule field telling you what's wrong. The main area falls back to the starter docs until you fix it.

Where views are stored

Views live in the same encrypted database as your tasks. On Pro and Lifetime, views sync between devices along with everything else. On the free (local-only) tier, a view stays on the device where you created it.

Opening a newer view on an older app

Views are versioned. If a view was created with a newer version of the app, an older version will refuse to open or edit it and prompt you to update — this prevents new fields or syntax from being silently dropped.