Taskly.
The tool I built myself so I never lose my thread
A desktop task app built around one ritual: log my tasks before I lock my machine, and find them again the moment I come back.
Taskly is a personal productivity tool, in native desktop form rather than yet another browser tab, so it fits into the real end-of-day gesture: locking your machine. It's also my playground to push my target stack (TanStack Start, Better-Auth, AI) all the way, on a single codebase that runs both on web and as an installable app.
My role · Personal project, designed and built soloBetween two work sessions, the thread gets lost: you close the laptop with three things in mind, and the next day you spend twenty minutes remembering where you were. The critical moment, right before leaving, is exactly when you write nothing down. I wanted a tool that turns that switch-off moment into a capture reflex, with no discipline required.
The lock ritual (the core)
Taskly hooks into the screen lock via native per-OS code. When I lock my machine, it steps in and asks me to note my tasks before I leave. On unlock, it takes me straight back to my list. The gesture becomes unavoidable.
The day's front door
On the first launch of the day, if no task is logged, a full-screen modal blocks access and asks for my tasks for the day. No way to start working without setting my intention first.
One codebase, web + native desktop
A TanStack Start app (SSR, file-based routing, React 19) wrapped in Tauri. The same code runs in the browser and as a native installable app, with the server embedded in the desktop binary.
A context-aware AI copilot
An assistant wired to Groq via the Vercel AI SDK, streaming. Not generic: it's fed real context (my projects, my tasks), so it can answer about where I'm at.
A real task manager underneath
Beyond the ritual: projects, tasks with states and labels, board/list, drag & drop, command palette. All persisted in PostgreSQL (Prisma), with Better-Auth + Google auth.
What it actually changed.
Instant resume
On unlock, Taskly drops me right back on my list: no more "what was I doing again this morning?".
Nothing slips through
Impossible to close or start without logging my tasks: the ritual does the work for me.
A real desktop tool
A native desktop app, tied into my machine right up to the screen lock, where one more browser tab would just get forgotten.
My stack validated for real
TanStack Start, Better-Auth, AI SDK and Tauri proven end to end on a product I actually use.