Todo Tracking

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Original Documentation

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:

  1. Created as pending when tasks are identified
  2. Activated to in_progress when work begins
  3. Completed when the task finishes successfully
  4. 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#


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#


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")
Link last verified June 7, 2026. View original ↗
Source: Anthropic Platform Docs
Link last verified: 2026-02-26