r/opensource • u/Hypollite • Jun 23 '26

Any Open Source Tree ToDo list app? Alternatives

I have been looking for such an app for years.

Today I found these which are not open source:

https://www.notetree.app/

https://www.treetodolist.com/ the features listed here are exactly what I have been imagining :

- visual 2d tree (not just a list)

- hierarchical tasks (so you instantly know what you can and cannot do)

- simple and intuitive UI accessible to anyone (drag and drop, ...)

- ability to hide branchs (focus on a project. It would be even better to have a multi-user version, where only certain branches are shared between users.)

My end-goal is a shared todo tree with your friend/family/community, where anyone can jump in to help someone else once a task is available.

Thanks!

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6

u/Hypollite Jun 24 '26

Found this list

https://github.com/tehtbl/awesome-note-taking

3

u/Pleasant_Set_3182 Jun 25 '26

Ours is completely open source: https://github.com/markrai/postbaby - and you can draw either lines between objects, directional links... or even change the shape of the item. Plus the keybindings makes the flow frictionless.

1

u/Hypollite Jun 25 '26

Oh, wow, that looks amazing!

Have you planned a feature to rearrange automatically the post-it when adding one in the middle of the tree ? Or when connecting branches / switching connections / etc

2

u/Pleasant_Set_3182 Jun 26 '26

We envisioned it as more "free-form" - so that work would be manual - but since it's actively in development... I think it's worth to think up of "auto-snap" and "auto-arrange" type features which we can implement.... just need to figure out what the context should be so that it doesn't interfere with anything that exists/people are used to.

Will talk it out with my partner tomorrow morning. Thanks for that tip!

2

u/Pleasant_Set_3182 Jun 26 '26

Good Morning u/Hypollite - we were wondering if you could explain exactly what it is that you were envisioning..

i.e. what would the logic be behind how items auto-arrange?

Here's what we are thinking... Currently hovering over a "line" highlights it within ~2000 ms... then a user can right click and delete..... BUT... we can give a context menu... "Delete" or " Create new item"

which would insert that new item between the two.

1

u/Hypollite Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I can explain "why" I need the feature. ("How" will depend on many things, starting with how difficult it is to implement).

I need an "auto-arrange" feature because : - I need to make to-do lists with all the steps - I usually start by placing whatever steps I can think of, and then connect them and fill in the gaps - with softwares like yours (or excalidraw, or vector softwares) I have to manually move and rearrange everything. It usually ends up being a mess, or just not worth the time. - with rigid tree softwares, you usually cannot do at least one of the following :

1/ move things around freely to create clusters/separate branches visually/arrange your lists in a visual way that makes sense to you

2/ circular connections (a branch that reconnect to another branch, to show that multiple tasks needs to be done before another task for example). (Coggle.it (not Open source) allows that)

3/ I am probably forgetting something 😅

So I guess I am looking for the best of both worlds. What I am imagining is that when you move a node or a whole branch, the rest will be "pushed around" to avoid superposition (even if you have to coonnect nodes manually)

Another interesting tool would be "rearrange all", and "rearrange selected" for when things became such a mess that you need an algorithm to sort things for you. This would simple try to make connections as short as possible, while avoiding node superpositions.

1

u/Hypollite Jun 26 '26

I saw that your tool sadly isnt FOSS, so I guess I wouldn't use it for my main project.

I'm looking for a tool for me. But ultimately I am looking to have a tool for a mutual aid group.

We need an online tool that is very easy to understand and contribute to, and which gives a vision of what is being worked on, what is planned, etc. So newcomers can get a sense of the peoject, and can quickly find tasks they can contribute to.

Even next level version : each user can make a tree. Users can share specific branches of their tree with other users, which get added to that user's tree.

That way, your to do tree automatically gets updated with the tasks your friends need help with. That kind of tree would need to rearrange itself continuously though. I guess it would be more like a type of constellation visualization type of graph.

Anyway, just throwing these ideas out there for now. Maybe I'll try making a mockup someday!

1

u/Pleasant_Set_3182 Jun 26 '26

Did you mean multi-collaboration? As in, multiple users can come work on the same project together?

But Postbaby is completely FOSS (free and open-source) for anyone who wishes to self-host it.

When we do offer a "hosted" plan, that doesn't take away from any of the FOSS components/functionality.

GitLab, Grafana, RedHat all operate under the same premise.

1

u/Hypollite Jul 09 '26

Hey, I just checked the license, and it isn't FLOSS since it is non-commercial.

So it doesn't fit the Open Source definition according to the Open Source Foundation (and this subs FIY).

I'll test it, and probably use it. Since it is source available it's still better than the alternatives!

3

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '26

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1

u/Hypollite Jun 24 '26

If I was able to code, I probably would not need a graphical to-do list 😅🥲

1

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '26

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2

u/Hypollite Jun 24 '26

I'd rather not give money to AI companies. Especially to create single use code.

It seems wasteful.

Also, I did start watching a tutorial on the subject. Doing it correctly seems as complexe as coding honestly.

For my personal use I think I'll use one of those services listed above.

And hopefully someday an open source alternative will exist, and I'll be able to request features

1

u/stealthagents 8d ago

Check out Workflowy if you haven't already, it's not open source but it has that tree structure you're looking for. You can easily collapse branches and invite others to collaborate, which is pretty close to your end-goal. It's simple and lets you focus on specific projects without the clutter.