I kept losing my own ideas, so I built a VS Code todo list that reminds me before I forget

#vscode #productivity #webdev #showdev

I message myself things on MS Teams so I won't forget them. A feature to add, a bug to fix, some idea I want to try. Then I forget them anyway. The message just sits in a chat I never reopen, and by the time I've got a free moment to do it, it's gone.

So I built TodoPad, a todo list that lives in the VS Code sidebar, right where I work. It's in front of me instead of buried in a chat, and it can remind me before something slips.

(It's free on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX, and the source is on GitHub under MIT. Links at the bottom.)

The part that actually matters: reminders

Most todo extensions are just a list. You write something down and it sits there until you happen to look at it, which is the same reason my Teams messages never worked.

TodoPad lets you set a reminder on any item. When it's due you get a VS Code notification with Mark Done, Snooze, or Dismiss. The part I actually needed: if you ignore it, it doesn't disappear. It comes back about a minute later and keeps nudging you until you deal with it. And because the reminder is saved with the task, it still works after you restart the editor.

What it does

Two lists: a global one that follows you across every project, and a per-workspace one
Quick-add with priority flags (!h / !l), drag to reorder, a small progress bar
Reminders with notifications that re-fire if ignored and survive restarts
Scans your code for TODO/FIXME/HACK/XXX and jumps you to the line
Optional Jira, GitLab, and GitHub integration, so your assigned tickets and the MRs/PRs waiting on your review show up next to your todos