Todo Lists
Track and display todos using the Claude Agent SDK for organized task management
Todo tracking provides a structured way to manage tasks and display progress to users. The Claude Agent SDK includes built-in todo functionality that helps organize complex workflows and keep users informed about task progression.
Todo Lifecycle
Todos follow a predictable lifecycle:
- Created as
pendingwhen tasks are identified - Activated to
in_progresswhen work begins - Completed when the task finishes successfully
- Removed when all tasks in a group are completed
When Todos Are Used
The SDK automatically creates todos for:
- Complex multi-step tasks requiring 3 or more distinct actions
- User-provided task lists when multiple items are mentioned
- Non-trivial operations that benefit from progress tracking
- Explicit requests when users ask for todo organization
Examples
Monitoring Todo Changes
import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";
for await (const message of query({
prompt: "Optimize my React app performance and track progress with todos",
options: { maxTurns: 15 }
})) {
// Todo updates are reflected in the message stream
if (message.type === "assistant") {
for (const block of message.message.content) {
if (block.type === "tool_use" && block.name === "TodoWrite") {
const todos = block.input.todos;
console.log("Todo Status Update:");
todos.forEach((todo, index) => {
const status =
todo.status === "completed" ? "✅" : todo.status === "in_progress" ? "🔧" : "❌";
console.log(`${index + 1}. ${status} ${todo.content}`);
});
}
}
}
}
from claude_agent_sdk import query, AssistantMessage, ToolUseBlock
async for message in query(
prompt="Optimize my React app performance and track progress with todos",
options={"max_turns": 15},
):
# Todo updates are reflected in the message stream
if isinstance(message, AssistantMessage):
for block in message.content:
if isinstance(block, ToolUseBlock) and block.name == "TodoWrite":
todos = block.input["todos"]
print("Todo Status Update:")
for i, todo in enumerate(todos):
status = (
"✅"
if todo["status"] == "completed"
else "🔧"
if todo["status"] == "in_progress"
else "❌"
)
print(f"{i + 1}. {status} {todo['content']}")
Real-time Progress Display
import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";
class TodoTracker {
private todos: any[] = [];
displayProgress() {
if (this.todos.length === 0) return;
const completed = this.todos.filter((t) => t.status === "completed").length;
const inProgress = this.todos.filter((t) => t.status === "in_progress").length;
const total = this.todos.length;
console.log(`\nProgress: ${completed}/${total} completed`);
console.log(`Currently working on: ${inProgress} task(s)\n`);
this.todos.forEach((todo, index) => {
const icon =
todo.status === "completed" ? "✅" : todo.status === "in_progress" ? "🔧" : "❌";
const text = todo.status === "in_progress" ? todo.activeForm : todo.content;
console.log(`${index + 1}. ${icon} ${text}`);
});
}
async trackQuery(prompt: string) {
for await (const message of query({
prompt,
options: { maxTurns: 20 }
})) {
if (message.type === "assistant") {
for (const block of message.message.content) {
if (block.type === "tool_use" && block.name === "TodoWrite") {
this.todos = block.input.todos;
this.displayProgress();
}
}
}
}
}
}
// Usage
const tracker = new TodoTracker();
await tracker.trackQuery("Build a complete authentication system with todos");
from claude_agent_sdk import query, AssistantMessage, ToolUseBlock
from typing import List, Dict
class TodoTracker:
def __init__(self):
self.todos: List[Dict] = []
def display_progress(self):
if not self.todos:
return
completed = len([t for t in self.todos if t["status"] == "completed"])
in_progress = len([t for t in self.todos if t["status"] == "in_progress"])
total = len(self.todos)
print(f"\nProgress: {completed}/{total} completed")
print(f"Currently working on: {in_progress} task(s)\n")
for i, todo in enumerate(self.todos):
icon = (
"✅"
if todo["status"] == "completed"
else "🔧"
if todo["status"] == "in_progress"
else "❌"
)
text = (
todo["activeForm"]
if todo["status"] == "in_progress"
else todo["content"]
)
print(f"{i + 1}. {icon} {text}")
async def track_query(self, prompt: str):
async for message in query(prompt=prompt, options={"max_turns": 20}):
if isinstance(message, AssistantMessage):
for block in message.content:
if isinstance(block, ToolUseBlock) and block.name == "TodoWrite":
self.todos = block.input["todos"]
self.display_progress()
# Usage
tracker = TodoTracker()
await tracker.track_query("Build a complete authentication system with todos")