# TODO.md

> The markdown task list a repository already keeps, plus three lines of
> frontmatter so a machine knows it is looking at a list of things to be done —
> and which list.

- Canonical home: https://todo.md.org.ai/
- The canonical file (text/markdown): https://todo.md.org.ai/TODO.md
- Register this belongs to: https://md.org.ai/

## Status — read this before citing

New. NO version number, NO 1.0, and no adoption is claimed. Published so it can
be broken. Do not represent it as adopted, ratified, or standard.

## The body: ordinary GFM

A TODO.md is a markdown file whose task lists are the list. `- [ ]` is open,
`- [x]` is done, nesting is allowed. No heading is required, no section is
required, no ordering rule applies. A hand-written TODO.md from last year is
already valid.

## The addition: three keys of frontmatter

    ---
    $id: https://todo.md.org.ai/TODO.md
    $type: ItemList
    $context: https://schema.org.ai
    ---

- `$id` — the file's own address.
- `$type` — `ItemList`, looked up at https://schema.org.ai/ItemList ("a list of
  items of any sort"), not coined. Its members are ListItem.
- `$context` — https://schema.org.ai, where that vocabulary lives.

Frontmatter is inert to a markdown renderer, so the file remains an ordinary
markdown task list for any tool that ignores it.

## Optional tokens (from todo.txt, unchanged in meaning)

Conventions, NOT requirements. A TODO.md with none of them is valid.

- `(A)` `(B)` `(C)` — priority, highest first, right after the checkbox.
- `+project` — the project the item belongs to.
- `@context` — where or with whom the item can be done.
- `key:value` — any other field; `due:YYYY-MM-DD` is the common one.

Example: `- [ ] (A) Write the register index @web +md.org.ai due:2026-08-01`

## Related surfaces

- https://md.org.ai — the register of .md standards.
- https://schema.org.ai — the vocabulary `$context` points at.
- https://agents.md.org.ai — the same three keys on AGENTS.md.
- https://foundation.org.ai — The Org.AI Foundation.