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Primico

Quick-add grammar

The quick-add line turns one sentence into a task: Pay rent every 1st !p2 #Home is a task called Pay rent, priority P2, filed under Home, repeating on the 1st of every month. Everything is optional; whatever the grammar does not claim stays in the title.

The grammar is QuickAddParser, its regular expressions are QuickAddPatterns, and every keyword lives in QuickAddLexicon. Adding a language is covered in Localise the app.

How a line is read

Section titled “How a line is read”
  1. Tokens are matched in a fixed order: priority → project → tags → recurrence → due date → time. Each kind takes its first match that does not overlap a token already taken; tags are the one kind that repeats.
  2. Matching is case-insensitive, and a keyword must stand alone as a word (no letter, digit or _ directly before or after it).
  3. Every matched token is removed from the title. The rest is the title, with runs of whitespace collapsed and trailing ,, · or - trimmed. An empty title adds nothing.
  4. Matched tokens are reported as spans (TokenKind: DATE, TIME, RECURRENCE, PRIORITY, PROJECT, TAG) so the sheet can highlight them as you type.

Priority

Section titled “Priority”
Input Result
!p1 … !p4, !P1 … !P4 Priority P1 … P4
!1 … !4 Priority P1 … P4
no token P3 (Priority.DEFAULT)

Project — #

Section titled “Project — #”

# followed by letters, digits, _ or -. Matched against existing projects, in this order, case-insensitively:

  1. the exact project name — #home finds Home;
  2. the name with its spaces removed — #Q3Launch finds Q3 Launch;
  3. the first project whose name starts with it — #Ho finds Home.

# only ever selects. A #word that matches no project is still removed from the title and shown as a chip, but no project is created; the task goes to the project the sheet was opened in, or the Inbox.

Tags — @

Section titled “Tags — @”

@ followed by letters, digits, _ or -, and the @ must start a word — so mail@example.com is left alone. Any number of tags; duplicates collapse. Each handle is matched with matchingHandle, case-insensitively:

  1. the exact tag name;
  2. the tag’s handle — its name with spaces removed (@deepwork finds Deep Work);
  3. a handle prefix — only when exactly one tag matches (with workout and workshop both present, @work matches neither).

A handle that matches nothing creates a tag of that name before the task is saved. That is the difference from #, which never creates.

Recurrence

Section titled “Recurrence”

Patterns are tried in this order, and the first that matches wins. <n> is a number written as digits or as a word (see Numbers).

# Shape Example Rule
1 <n> <unit> <after-completion phrase> 3 days after done, 2 Wochen nach Erledigung AFTER_COMPLETION, interval n, that unit
2 <every> <nth> <weekday>[s] [<of the month>], where <nth> is <last>, <digits>[<ordinal>] or a number word every 2nd monday, every second monday, every last friday, jeden 2. Montag, jeden zweiten Montag des Monats monthly, NTH_WEEKDAY; last is 5 (the last one); others clamped to 1–5
3 <every> <digits><ordinal> [<of the month>] or <every> <number word> <of the month> every 1st, every 15th of the month, jeden 1., jeden ersten des Monats monthly, DAY_OF_MONTH, day clamped to 1–31
4 <every> <last> <workday> / <every> <last> <day> every last weekday, jeden letzten Werktag, jeden letzten Tag monthly, LAST_WEEKDAY / LAST_DAY
5 <every> [<doubled> | <n>] <unit> [<on> <weekday>[s]] every 2 weeks on thu, every other day, alle 2 Wochen am Donnerstag, jeden Tag, jeden dritten Tag interval n (2 for other/zweiten, else 1), that unit, optionally one weekday
6 <every> <weekday>[s] [, | <and> <weekday>[s]]… every monday, every mon and thu, jeden Mo und Do weekly, those days
7 a period word daily, weekly, täglich, monatlich interval 1, that unit

A spelled-out ordinal only makes a day-of-month rule when the month phrase follows: jeden ersten des Monats is the 1st of the month, jeden dritten Tag is every third day.

Due date

Section titled “Due date”

Tried in this order; today is the device’s date.

# Shape Example Date
1 a today word today, tonight, heute, heute abend today
2 a day-after-tomorrow word day after tomorrow, übermorgen today + 2
3 a tomorrow word tomorrow, morgen today + 1
4 <in> <n> <unit> in 3 days, in one week, in drei Tagen today + n days/weeks/months/years
5 ISO date YYYY-MM-DD 2026-12-24 that date
6 [<on>/<at>] D.M. or D.M.YYYY 24.12., am 24.12.2026 that date; without a year, this year, or next year if it has passed
7 [<on>/<at>] D[.] <month> 24 Dec, 24. Dez as above
8 <month> D Dec 24 as above
9 [<next>/<on>] <weekday> friday, next friday, on fri, nächsten Freitag, am Freitag the next such day after today (a Friday typed on a Friday is a week out)
10 <next> <week> next week, nächste Woche today + 7

An impossible date (31.02.) is still consumed but sets no date. Weekday names of two letters (Mo, Di, So) count only inside a recurrence, because they are ordinary German words.

Time

Section titled “Time”
# Shape Example Time
1 [<at>] H:MM [<clock>] 17:00, at 17:00, um 17:00 Uhr that time; hour > 23 or minute > 59 sets none
2 [<at>] H <clock> 18 Uhr, um 9 Uhr H:00 — needs the German Uhr, so English never reaches it
3 [<at>] H am / H pm 9am, at 9 pm, 12am 1–12 only; 12am is 00:00, 12pm is 12:00

Which due date wins

Section titled “Which due date wins”
Line contains Due date
an explicit date that date — even alongside a recurrence
a recurrence and no date SCHEDULE: RecurrenceEngine.nextAfter(rule, yesterday) — for a weekday or day-of-month rule, the first matching day from today on; for a plain interval, yesterday plus one interval (daily is today, every 3 days is today + 2, weekly is today + 6). AFTER_COMPLETION: today
only a time today — Kochen 18 Uhr is today at 18:00
nothing no due date

A recurrence beats the bare-time fallback: every monday at 9am is due next Monday (or today, on a Monday) at 09:00, not today.

Keywords

Section titled “Keywords”

The line is read with QuickAddLexicon.forLocale(currentLocale()). English is always folded in, so every 2 weeks works in a German install. Weekday and month names are not listed anywhere: they come from java.time for the English locale, German (in a German install) and the app’s current locale — full and short forms, lowercased, trailing dot removed — which is why a French install still reads vendredi.

Slot English German (added on top)
unit day days week weeks month months year years tag tage tagen woche wochen monat monate monaten jahr jahre jahren
period daily weekly monthly yearly annually täglich taeglich wöchentlich woechentlich monatlich jährlich jaehrlich
every every jeden jede jedes alle
doubled (= 2) other zwei zweiten zweite zweites
after completion after done after completion after finishing after i finish after i'm done after im done after it's done after its done nach erledigung nach der erledigung nach abschluss nach fertigstellung nach dem erledigen nachdem ich fertig bin nach erledigt
today today tonight heute heute abend
tomorrow tomorrow morgen
day after tomorrow day after tomorrow übermorgen uebermorgen
in in in
next next nächsten nächste nächstes naechsten naechste kommenden kommende
week week woche
last last letzten letzte letztes
workday weekday werktag werktags arbeitstag
day day tag
of the month of the month des monats im monat
at at um am an
clock — uhr
and and und
on on am an
ordinal suffix st nd rd th .

Spaces inside a phrase match any run of whitespace. Umlauts match in either case on every platform (see the ICU note in Localise the app).

Spelled-out numbers

Section titled “Spelled-out numbers”

Anywhere the grammar accepts digits it accepts these words, cardinal and ordinal alike.

Value English German
1 one first ein eine einen einem einer, erst-
2 two second zwei, zweit-
3 three third drei, dritt-
4 four fourth vier, viert-
5 five fifth fünf fuenf, fünft- fuenft-
6 six sixth sechs, sechst-
7 seven seventh sieben, siebt- siebent-
8 eight eighth acht, acht-
9 nine ninth neun, neunt-
10 ten tenth zehn, zehnt-
11 eleven eleventh elf, elft-
12 twelve twelfth zwölf zwoelf, zwölft- zwoelft-

A German ordinal stem (-) takes any of the endings e, en, es, er, em: dritte, dritten, drittes, dritter, drittem.

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

All dates assume today is Wednesday 12 August 2026, the date QuickAddParserTest pins; most rows are that test’s own cases. German rows are read with the German lexicon.

Input Title Due Time Other
Pay rent every 1st !p2 #Home Pay rent 2026-09-01 — P2, project Home, monthly on day 1
Ship the notes #Q3Launch Ship the notes — — project Q3 Launch
Call the dentist tomorrow at 17:00 !p1 Call the dentist 2026-08-13 17:00 P1
Chase the invoice in 3 days Chase the invoice 2026-08-15 —
Follow up in one week Follow up 2026-08-19 —
Steuer 24.12. Steuer 2026-12-24 —
Water the plants daily at 9am Water the plants 2026-08-12 09:00 daily
Water the plants 3 days after done Water the plants 2026-08-12 — 3 days after completion
Take out recycling every 2 weeks on thu Take out recycling 2026-08-13 — every 2 weeks on Thursday
Weekly review every friday Weekly review 2026-08-14 — weekly on Friday
Team sync every 2nd monday Team sync 2026-09-14 — 2nd Monday of the month
Team sync every second monday Team sync 2026-09-14 — same rule, spelled out
Retro every last friday Retro 2026-08-28 — last Friday of the month (nthWeek 5)
Water plants every three days Water plants 2026-08-14 — every 3 days
Buy milk Buy milk — — nothing parsed
Kochen 18 Uhr Kochen 2026-08-12 18:00 bare time → today
Kochen morgen 19 Uhr Kochen 2026-08-13 19:00
Zahnarzt anrufen morgen um 17:00 Zahnarzt anrufen 2026-08-13 17:00
Rückruf übermorgen um 9 Uhr Rückruf 2026-08-14 09:00
Bericht nächsten Freitag Bericht 2026-08-14 —
Rechnung nachfassen in drei Tagen Rechnung nachfassen 2026-08-15 —
jeden Tag Frühstück zubereiten Frühstück zubereiten 2026-08-12 — daily
Müll rausbringen alle 2 Wochen am Donnerstag Müll rausbringen 2026-08-13 — every 2 weeks on Thursday
Miete zahlen jeden 1. Miete zahlen 2026-09-01 — monthly on day 1
Miete zahlen jeden ersten des Monats Miete zahlen 2026-09-01 — monthly on day 1
Blumen gießen jeden dritten Tag Blumen gießen 2026-08-14 — every 3 days
Blumen gießen 3 Tage nach Erledigung Blumen gießen 2026-08-12 — 3 days after completion
Bericht jeden letzten Werktag Bericht 2026-08-31 — last weekday of the month
Jour fixe jeden 2. Montag Jour fixe 2026-09-14 — 2nd Monday of the month
Payer le loyer vendredi (French locale) Payer le loyer 2026-08-14 — weekday name from java.time
Post the parcel @errand Post the parcel — — tag Errand (existing)
Chase the invoice @waiting Chase the invoice — — creates tag waiting
Post it @errand @deepwork @errand Post it — — tags Errand, Deep Work, once each
Reply to mail@example.com Reply to mail@example.com — — not a tag

Search syntax

Section titled “Search syntax”

The Search screen (TaskLists.kt, searchList) matches every task, completed ones included, sorted by the current sort mode.

Query Matches
blank nothing
@ alone nothing
@text tasks wearing a live tag whose name or handle contains text (case-insensitive)
text tasks whose title or notes contain text, or that wear a tag whose name or handle contains it

Command palette prefixes

Section titled “Command palette prefixes”

Desktop only, Ctrl/Cmd+K (CommandPaletteModel.kt, CommandPaletteDialog.kt).

First character Restricts to Entries
> commands New task, New project, Sync now, Switch light and dark, Switch comfortable and compact, Show or hide the sidebar, Keyboard shortcuts, and Go to Today / Upcoming / Inbox / Projects / Search / Settings
# projects every project, by name
@ tags every tag, as @handle
anything else everything commands, projects, tags and open tasks (a task’s project path is matched too, weaker than its title)

Scoring is a subsequence match that rewards the first character (+8), a word start (+4) and consecutive letters (+3), and penalises gaps. Results are grouped by kind in the order commands, projects, tags, tasks, with at most 6 per kind. An empty query lists the first 6 of each kind. ↑/↓ move, Enter runs, Esc closes.

Section titled “Related”