Succession Plan
A lightweight, terminal-based productivity and task management tool for planning and tracking succession-related tasks. Add items, set priorities, view daily and weekly overviews, set reminders, and export your data — all from the command line with zero dependencies.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
succession-plan add <text> | Add a new item to your task list (timestamped with today's date) |
succession-plan list | List all items currently in the data log |
succession-plan done <item> | Mark an item as completed |
succession-plan priority <item> [level] | Set priority for an item (default: medium) |
succession-plan today | Show items scheduled for today |
succession-plan week | Show a weekly overview of tasks |
succession-plan remind <item> [when] | Set a reminder for an item (default: tomorrow) |
succession-plan stats | Show total number of items tracked |
succession-plan clear | Clear all completed items |
succession-plan export | Export all data to stdout |
succession-plan help | Show help message with all available commands |
succession-plan version | Show current version (v2.0.0) |
Data Storage
- Default location:
~/.local/share/succession-plan/ - Override: Set the
SUCCESSION_PLAN_DIRenvironment variable, orXDG_DATA_HOMEto customize the base path - Data file:
data.log— plain text, one item per line, prefixed with date - History file:
history.log— timestamped log of every command executed - All data is stored locally on your machine. No cloud sync, no network calls.
Requirements
- Bash 4+ (uses
set -euo pipefail) - Standard Unix utilities:
date,grep,wc,cat - No external dependencies or API keys required
When to Use
- Succession planning projects — Track key positions, candidate assessments, and transition milestones as simple task items
- Daily planning — Use
todayto see what's on your plate andaddto capture new items as they arise throughout the day - Priority management — Set priority levels on tasks to keep focus on what matters most during busy transition periods
- Team handoff tracking — Log knowledge transfer items, training sessions, and handoff checkpoints with reminders
- Quick task capture in automation — Pipe items into
succession-plan addfrom scripts or cron jobs to build a log of automated events
Examples
# Add a new succession planning item
succession-plan add "Interview candidate for VP Engineering role"
# Add multiple items for a transition roadmap
succession-plan add "Document current processes for Q2 handoff"
succession-plan add "Schedule shadowing sessions with successor"
succession-plan add "Review knowledge base completeness"
# Set priority on a critical item
succession-plan priority "VP Engineering role" high
# Check what's due today
succession-plan today
# View the weekly overview
succession-plan week
# Set a reminder for a follow-up
succession-plan remind "Final candidate review" "next Monday"
# List all tracked items
succession-plan list
# Check statistics
succession-plan stats
# Export data for reporting
succession-plan export > succession-report.txt
# Clear completed items when done
succession-plan clear
How It Works
Succession Plan uses a simple append-only log file (data.log) to store items. Each entry is prefixed with the date it was added. Every command you run is also logged to history.log with a timestamp, giving you full traceability of your planning activities.
The tool follows Unix philosophy: it does one thing well, outputs plain text to stdout, and plays nicely with pipes and redirection.
Tips
- Combine with
grepto filter items:succession-plan list | grep "VP" - Redirect export for backup:
succession-plan export > backup-$(date +%F).txt - Use in CI/CD or cron to auto-log events:
echo "Deploy completed" | xargs succession-plan add
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