I currently use Todoist, but I am considering switching to Omnifocus. However, I also use Obsidian and there is an Obsidian community plugin that allows me to integrate my Todoist tasks directly with Obsidian. That plugin also allows me to create a Todoist task right within Obsidian. Once I mark a Todoist task complete in Obsidian it “syncs” that completion step with Todoist itself (and vice versa, that is marking a task complete in Todoist “syncs” that step with Obsidian. Further, you can use filters in Obsidian to call for the appearance of Todoist tasks in Obsidian to be conditional upon the task’s due date, project, etc. I had to provide my Todoist API key to the plugin, but I was happy to do so given this plugin’s functionality.
I wonder if the MPU community has thoughts on why an Obsidian community plugin of the kind described above for Todoist hasn’t yet been developed for Omnifocus. Is the absence of such a plugin for Omnifocus perhaps attributable to an issue with Omnifocus’s API? Is that absence instead attributable to Omnifocus having a smaller user base than Todoist, with that smaller user base being accountable for a lack of developer interest in creating a plugin of the kind under discussion? I know that I’m asking for speculation here, but thoughts on these questions would be most welcome.
By the way, I am aware of several workarounds when it comes to “integrating” Omnifocus and Obsidian (and by “workarounds” I’m referring to getting around the absence of an Obsidian community plugin of the kind that’s available for Todoist). However, to my mind, there’s nothing as good as being able to see Omnifocus tasks appear directly in Obsidian notes.
Leah Ferguson is an avid user of both OmniFocus and Obsidian and recently joined me on Learn OmniFocus LIVE to share how she’s using these two purple productivity apps in tandem. Here’s the free recording of this session:
Thanks for the reply, Tim. I did listen to the podcast episode with Leah Ferguson and found it very helpful. However, the question still “plagues” me; namely, what has deterred a dev from building an Obsidian plugin that allows one to integrate OmniFocus tasks automatically with Obsidian (as they’re created/completed in OmniFocus) - as has been done to date with Todoist and, as I understand it, with Things 3?
My guess is that Todoist and Things both offer some form of web based API to get access to their databases whereas Ominifocus does not (as far as I’m aware). One could potentially build something off Apple Script or something but it would all be dependent on local machine syncing between the 2 apps and only be available on the Mac. Far from an ideal solution.
I do wish OF offered some form of web API. They’ve built OF for the web after all so something must be available on their end at least. Time will tell.
Ooh amazing, I’ve just started adding this to my daily note template - I know it wasn’t the purpose of your message but thanks for the tip!
I moved recently from OmniFocus to Todoist and am loving it, mainly because I use Windows at work and Todoist works well there too (and I don’t need to pay £5 a month for a janky web interface like with OmniFocus).
Thanks for the reply, Tim. I did listen to the podcast episode with Leah Ferguson and found it very helpful.
You’re very welcome, Charlie. Great to hear you found the session with Leah helpful.
However, the question still “plagues” me; namely, what has deterred a dev from building an Obsidian plugin that allows one to integrate OmniFocus tasks automatically with Obsidian (as they’re created/completed in OmniFocus)
I’m not sure. It could be that there’s a technical limitation that makes this difficult. Or, perhaps it’s because nobody has taken the iniative to develop this plugin just yet. Either way, hopefully this is something that will become available at some point. In the meantime, at least it’s possible (and relatively easy) to link OmniFocus and Obsidian together.
A web API for OmniFocus would open up a lot of possibilities. I encourage you to contact Omni with this request if you haven’t already. The simplest way to reach out to them is to choose Contact Omni from the Help menu (Mac) or Settings (iPhone, iPad).
As an Obsidian mod (and OmniFocus user), I see it come up in conversation from time to time. I’d love an automated way as well — anything I can do to reduce human error or effort makes me a fan!
Unfortunately, I can’t speak to the technical side of why there is no community plugin, but as you say, Todoist has an API key available and OmniFocus does not.
In terms of how community plugins get developed, it’s usually someone with an idea and the technical know-how to make it happen, or someone with their own problem they want to solve (…and the technical know-how to make it happen), and then often takes feature requests and bug reports.
There is a devs-for-hire role on the server if someone is interested in commissioning an Obsidian plugin, but I’ve never seen anyone use it for OmniFocus (yet).