Todoist Automation via Rube MCP

Automate Todoist operations including task creation and management, project organization, section management, filtering, and bulk task workflows through Composio's Todoist toolkit.

Toolkit docs: composio.dev/toolkits/todoist

Prerequisites

• Rube MCP must be connected (RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS available)

• Active Todoist connection via RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit todoist

• Always call RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS first to get current tool schemas

Setup

Get Rube MCP: Add https://rube.app/mcp as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.

• Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS responds

• Call RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS with toolkit todoist

• If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete Todoist OAuth

• Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

Core Workflows

1. Create and Manage Tasks

When to use: User wants to create, update, complete, reopen, or delete tasks

Tool sequence:

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS

• List projects to find the target project ID [Prerequisite]

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS

• List sections within a project for task placement [Optional]

• TODOIST_CREATE_TASK

• Create a single task with content, due date, priority, labels [Required]

• TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS

• Create multiple tasks in one request [Alternative]

• TODOIST_UPDATE_TASK

• Modify task properties (content, due date, priority, labels) [Optional]

• TODOIST_CLOSE_TASK

• Mark a task as completed [Optional]

• TODOIST_REOPEN_TASK

• Restore a previously completed task [Optional]

• TODOIST_DELETE_TASK

• Permanently remove a task [Optional]

Key parameters for CREATE_TASK:

• content : Task title (supports markdown and hyperlinks)

• description : Additional notes (do NOT put due dates here)

• project_id : Alphanumeric project ID; omit to add to Inbox

• section_id : Alphanumeric section ID for placement within a project

• parent_id : Task ID for creating subtasks

• priority : 1 (normal) to 4 (urgent) -- note: Todoist UI shows p1=urgent, API p4=urgent

• due_string : Natural language date like "tomorrow at 3pm" , "every Friday at 9am"

• due_date : Specific date YYYY-MM-DD format

• due_datetime : Specific date+time in RFC3339 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ

• labels : Array of label name strings

• duration

• duration_unit : Task duration (e.g., 30
• "minute" )

Pitfalls:

• Only one due_* field can be used at a time (except due_lang which can accompany any)

• Do NOT embed due dates in content or description -- use due_string field

• Do NOT embed duration phrases like "for 30 minutes" in due_string -- use duration

• duration_unit

• priority in API: 1=normal, 4=urgent (opposite of Todoist UI display where p1=urgent)

• Task IDs can be numeric or alphanumeric; use the format returned by the API

• CLOSE_TASK marks complete; DELETE_TASK permanently removes -- they are different operations

2. Manage Projects

When to use: User wants to list, create, update, or inspect projects

Tool sequence:

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS

• List all projects with metadata [Required]

• TODOIST_GET_PROJECT

• Get details for a specific project by ID [Optional]

• TODOIST_CREATE_PROJECT

• Create a new project with name, color, view style [Optional]

• TODOIST_UPDATE_PROJECT

• Modify project properties [Optional]

Key parameters:

• name : Project name (required for creation)

• color : Todoist palette color (e.g., "blue" , "red" , "green" , "charcoal" )

• view_style : "list" or "board" layout

• parent_id : Parent project ID for creating sub-projects

• is_favorite / favorite : Boolean to mark as favorite

• project_id : Required for update and get operations

Pitfalls:

• Projects with similar names can lead to selecting the wrong project_id; always verify

• CREATE_PROJECT uses favorite while UPDATE_PROJECT uses is_favorite -- different field names

• Use the project id returned by API, not the v2_id , for downstream operations

• Alphanumeric/URL-style project IDs may cause HTTP 400 in some tools; use numeric ID if available

3. Manage Sections

When to use: User wants to organize tasks within projects using sections

Tool sequence:

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS

• Find the target project ID [Prerequisite]

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS

• List existing sections to avoid duplicates [Prerequisite]

• TODOIST_CREATE_SECTION

• Create a new section in a project [Required]

• TODOIST_UPDATE_SECTION

• Rename an existing section [Optional]

• TODOIST_DELETE_SECTION

• Permanently remove a section [Optional]

Key parameters:

• project_id : Required -- the project to create the section in

• name : Section name (required for creation)

• order : Integer position within the project (lower values appear first)

• section_id : Required for update and delete operations

Pitfalls:

• CREATE_SECTION requires project_id and name -- omitting project_id causes a 400 error

• HTTP 400 "project_id is invalid" can occur if alphanumeric ID is used; prefer numeric ID

• Deleting a section may move or regroup its tasks in non-obvious ways

• Response may include both id and v2_id ; store and reuse the correct identifier consistently

• Always check existing sections first to avoid creating duplicates

4. Search and Filter Tasks

When to use: User wants to find tasks by criteria, view today's tasks, or get completed task history

Tool sequence:

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS

• Fetch incomplete tasks with optional filter query [Required]

• TODOIST_GET_TASK

• Get full details of a specific task by ID [Optional]

• TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE

• Retrieve completed tasks within a date range [Optional]

• TODOIST_LIST_FILTERS

• List user's custom saved filters [Optional]

Key parameters for GET_ALL_TASKS:

• filter : Todoist filter syntax string

• Keywords: today , tomorrow , overdue , no date , recurring , subtask

• Priority: p1 (urgent), p2 , p3 , p4 (normal)

• Projects: #ProjectName (must exist in account)

• Labels: @LabelName (must exist in account)

• Date ranges: 7 days , -7 days , due before: YYYY-MM-DD , due after: YYYY-MM-DD

• Search: search: keyword for content text search

• Operators: & (AND), | (OR), ! (NOT)

• ids : List of specific task IDs to retrieve

Key parameters for GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE:

• since : Start date in RFC3339 format (e.g., 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z )

• until : End date in RFC3339 format

• project_id , section_id , parent_id : Optional filters

• cursor : Pagination cursor from previous response

• limit : Max results per page (default 50)

Pitfalls:

• GET_ALL_TASKS returns ONLY incomplete tasks; use GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE for completed ones

• Filter terms must reference ACTUAL EXISTING entities; arbitrary text causes HTTP 400 errors

• Do NOT use completed , !completed , or completed after in GET_ALL_TASKS filter -- causes 400 error

• GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE limits date range to approximately 3 months between since and until

• Search uses search: keyword syntax within the filter, not a separate parameter

5. Bulk Task Creation

When to use: User wants to scaffold a project with multiple tasks at once

Tool sequence:

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS

• Find target project ID [Prerequisite]

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS

• Find section IDs for task placement [Optional]

• TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS

• Create multiple tasks in a single request [Required]

Key parameters:

• tasks : Array of task objects, each requiring at minimum content

• Each task object supports: content , description , project_id , section_id , parent_id , priority , labels , due (object with string , date , or datetime ), duration , order

Pitfalls:

• Each task in the array must have at least the content field

• The due field in bulk create is an object with nested fields (string , date , datetime , lang ) -- different structure from CREATE_TASK's flat fields

• All tasks can target different projects/sections within the same batch

Common Patterns

ID Resolution

Always resolve human-readable names to IDs before operations:

• Project name -> Project ID: TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS , match by name field

• Section name -> Section ID: TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS with project_id

• Task content -> Task ID: TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS with filter or search: keyword

Pagination

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS : Returns all matching incomplete tasks (no pagination needed)

• TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE : Uses cursor-based pagination; follow cursor from response until no more results

• TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS and TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS : Return all results (no pagination)

Due Date Handling

• Natural language: Use due_string (e.g., "tomorrow at 3pm" , "every Monday" )

• Specific date: Use due_date in YYYY-MM-DD format

• Specific datetime: Use due_datetime in RFC3339 format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ )

• Only use ONE due field at a time (except due_lang which can accompany any)

• Recurring tasks: Use natural language in due_string (e.g., "every Friday at 9am" )

Known Pitfalls

ID Formats

• Task IDs can be numeric ("2995104339" ) or alphanumeric ("6X4Vw2Hfmg73Q2XR" )

• Project IDs similarly vary; prefer the format returned by the API

• Some tools accept only numeric IDs; if 400 error occurs, try fetching the numeric id via GET_PROJECT

• Response objects may contain both id and v2_id ; use id for API operations

Priority Inversion

• API priority: 1 = normal, 4 = urgent

• Todoist UI display: p1 = urgent, p4 = normal

• This is inverted; always clarify with the user which convention they mean

Filter Syntax

• Filter terms must reference real entities in the user's account

• #NonExistentProject or @NonExistentLabel will cause HTTP 400

• Use search: keyword for text search, not bare keywords

• Combine with & (AND), | (OR), ! (NOT)

• completed filters do NOT work on GET_ALL_TASKS endpoint

Rate Limits

• Todoist API has rate limits; batch operations should use BULK_CREATE_TASKS where possible

• Space out rapid sequential requests to avoid throttling

Quick Reference

Task Tool Slug Key Params

List all projects TODOIST_GET_ALL_PROJECTS

(none)

Get project TODOIST_GET_PROJECT

project_id

Create project TODOIST_CREATE_PROJECT

name , color , view_style

Update project TODOIST_UPDATE_PROJECT

project_id , name , color

List sections TODOIST_GET_ALL_SECTIONS

project_id

Create section TODOIST_CREATE_SECTION

project_id , name , order

Update section TODOIST_UPDATE_SECTION

section_id , name

Delete section TODOIST_DELETE_SECTION

section_id

Get all tasks TODOIST_GET_ALL_TASKS

filter , ids

Get task TODOIST_GET_TASK

task_id

Create task TODOIST_CREATE_TASK

content , project_id , due_string , priority

Bulk create tasks TODOIST_BULK_CREATE_TASKS

tasks (array)

Update task TODOIST_UPDATE_TASK

task_id , content , due_string

Complete task TODOIST_CLOSE_TASK

task_id

Reopen task TODOIST_REOPEN_TASK

task_id

Delete task TODOIST_DELETE_TASK

task_id

Completed tasks TODOIST_GET_COMPLETED_TASKS_BY_COMPLETION_DATE

since , until

List filters TODOIST_LIST_FILTERS

sync_token

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