Task Lists

MarkNode turns Markdown task list items into interactive checkboxes you can click to toggle. The same checkboxes appear in the source editor and the rendered preview, and toggling either one writes the change back to the underlying file — so the Markdown source remains the single source of truth.

Writing a Task List

Task lists use the GitHub Flavoured Markdown syntax: an unchecked item is - [ ] text and a checked item is - [x] text. Ordered task lists work the same way with 1. in place of the dash.

- [ ] Write the first draft
- [x] Outline the chapter
- [ ] Review and edit

Clicking to Toggle

In both the editor and the preview, clicking a checkbox toggles it. The change is written back to the file immediately and is part of your undo history — press Cmd+Z (Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Z) to revert a toggle just like any other edit.

When you click a checkbox in the source editor, the underlying [ ] or [x] is rewritten in place. Surrounding whitespace, the list marker, and the task text are preserved exactly as you wrote them.

Visual Treatment

Checked items are shown with a strikethrough and dimmed text, so you can quickly scan a list for what is still outstanding. The styling applies to both the editor and the preview.

Bulk Operations

From the Edit > Task List menu you can:

  • Check all in current file — set every task item in the document to checked.
  • Uncheck all in current file — set every task item to unchecked. Useful for resetting a weekly review or template.

The whole bulk change is a single undo step, so one Cmd+Z restores every item at once.

If you right-click a task item in the preview, the context menu offers the same Check all and Uncheck all commands plus Reset this list only, which only affects the contiguous list around the item you clicked. This is handy in documents that contain several independent checklists.

Tip: When a bulk operation changes more than 20 items, a brief notification appears with the count and an Undo button — so you can back out without hunting for the keyboard shortcut.

Where Task Lists Appear

  • Editor — interactive checkboxes appear in place of the raw [ ] / [x] text on every line that is not currently being edited. When you put the cursor on a task line, the raw brackets are revealed so you can edit the marker as plain text.
  • Preview — checkboxes render as clickable controls (not the disabled inputs you may have seen in other Markdown previewers).
  • Outline panel — task lists are not part of the heading structure and do not appear in the outline.
  • Mind map — task lists nested under a heading do not generate their own nodes; only headings become nodes.