Skip to main content

Scanning TODOs

One of Huckleberry's most powerful features is its ability to scan your codebase for TODOs and convert them into trackable tasks automatically.

How TODO Scanning Works​

When you ask Huckleberry to scan for TODOs, it:

  1. Searches through files in your workspace for specific comment patterns
  2. Automatically respects .gitignore patterns to exclude ignored files
  3. Extracts the TODO comments along with their context
  4. Creates a task for each unique TODO
  5. Includes file location information in the task
  6. Adds appropriate links between the task and the code

Basic Usage​

To scan your entire workspace for TODOs:

@Huckleberry Scan for TODOs in the codebase

To scan a specific subset of files using a glob pattern:

@Huckleberry Scan for TODOs in **/*.ts

Supported TODO Formats​

By default, Huckleberry recognizes the following comment patterns:

  • // TODO: Implement feature X
  • // FIXME: This is broken
  • // BUG: Needs to be fixed

These patterns can be customized through settings (see Settings).

Examples​

JavaScript/TypeScript​

// TODO: Add validation for email addresses
function validateForm() {
  // ...
}

// FIXME: This function has a memory leak
function processData() {
  // ...
}

Python​

# TODO: Refactor to use the new API
def get_user_data():
    # ...
    
# BUG: Fails with non-ASCII input
def process_name(name):
    # ...

HTML/XML​

<!-- TODO: Add responsive styling for mobile -->
<div class="container">
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

CSS/SCSS​

/* TODO: Update colors to match new brand guidelines */
.header {
  background-color: #333;
  /* ... */
}

Task Creation from TODOs​

When Huckleberry finds a TODO, it creates a task with:

  • Title: The text following the TODO keyword
  • Description: Includes the source file and line number
  • Priority: Medium (by default, can be customized)
  • Status: Todo

For example:

✅ Created task TASK-005: Add validation for email addresses

Priority: Medium
Status: Todo
Location: src/forms/validation.js:12
Created: 2025-04-19

Customizing TODO Detection​

You can customize which patterns Huckleberry recognizes as TODOs via settings:

{
  "huckleberry.taskmanager.todoCommentPatterns": [
    "TODO:", 
    "FIXME:", 
    "BUG:", 
    "HACK:", 
    "NOTE:"
  ]
}

Advanced Options​

.gitignore Integration​

Huckleberry automatically respects patterns defined in your project's .gitignore file when scanning for TODOs. This means:

  • Files and directories excluded by .gitignore rules are skipped during scanning
  • Build artifacts, dependency folders, and other ignored files won't generate TODO tasks
  • Scanning is more efficient and produces cleaner results focused on your actual source code

This integration works automatically when a .gitignore file is present in your workspace root directory, with no additional configuration required.

Automatic Scanning​

You can configure Huckleberry to automatically scan for TODOs when initializing task tracking:

{
  "huckleberry.taskmanager.autoScanTodos": true
}

TODO Tagging​

You can add priority information to your TODOs that Huckleberry will recognize:

// TODO(high): Implement security checks
// TODO(low): Add more detailed error messages

Huckleberry will set the task priority accordingly.

TODO Categories​

You can categorize TODOs by adding tags:

// TODO(security): Add input validation
// TODO(performance): Optimize database query

Huckleberry will include these categories in the created tasks.

Task Updates from Code Changes​

When you change or remove a TODO comment that has been converted to a task:

  1. Removing the TODO: The next time you scan, Huckleberry will suggest marking the associated task as complete
  2. Changing the TODO: The task description will be updated to reflect the new content

Best Practices​

Effective TODO Comments​

For the best results with Huckleberry's scanning:

  • Be specific and actionable in your TODO descriptions
  • Include enough context to understand what needs to be done
  • Consider adding priority or category tags for better organization
  • Keep TODOs updated as you work on the code

Regular Scanning​

To keep your task list in sync with your code:

  • Scan for TODOs regularly during development
  • Consider scanning before team meetings to discuss outstanding work
  • Scan after pulling changes from version control to see what others have marked as TODOs

Task Follow-up​

After scanning for TODOs:

  • Review the created tasks and adjust priorities if needed
  • Consider breaking down larger TODOs into subtasks
  • Assign due dates to critical TODOs

Troubleshooting​

TODOs Not Being Detected​

If Huckleberry isn't finding your TODOs:

  1. Check that your TODO format matches a recognized pattern
  2. Verify that you're scanning the right files (check your glob pattern)
  3. Make sure there's a space between the TODO keyword and the colon (e.g., TODO: not TODO:)
  4. Confirm that your files aren't being excluded by patterns in your .gitignore file

File Access Issues​

If you see errors about file access:

  1. Verify that VS Code has access permissions to the files you're trying to scan
  2. Check if the files are excluded in your .gitignore or VS Code's files.exclude setting
  3. For files explicitly excluded by .gitignore that you want to scan, use a targeted glob pattern

Performance Issues​

For large codebases:

  1. Use specific glob patterns to limit scanning to relevant files
  2. Take advantage of the automatic .gitignore integration to exclude build artifacts and dependencies
  3. Increase the timeout setting if scans are timing out