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Blue User Guide

Blue is a personal task manager chatbot with a no-nonsense attitude. Type commands in plain text and Blue keeps track of your todos, deadlines, and events.

Table of Contents

• Blue User Guide
  • Table of Contents
  • Quick Start
  • Command Summary
  • Features
    • Task Types
    • Add a Todo — todo
    • Add a Deadline — deadline
    • Add an Event — event
    • List All Tasks — list
    • Mark Tasks as Done — mark
    • Unmark Tasks — unmark
    • Delete Tasks — delete
    • Search Tasks — find
    • Help — help
    • Exit — bye
  • Data \& Storage
  • Constraints \& Notes

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Quick Start

1. Ensure Java 17 or later is installed.
2. Download the latest blue.jar from the Releases page.
3. Run it: java -jar blue.jar
4. Type a command and press Send (or Enter).
5. Type help at any time for a command summary.

Command Summary

Command	Format
Add todo	todo <desc>
Add deadline	deadline <desc> /by <date>
Add event	event <desc> /from <date> /to <date>
List all tasks	list
Mark done	mark <numbers>
Unmark done	unmark <numbers>
Delete	delete <numbers>
Search	find <keyword>
Help	help
Exit	bye

Date format: yyyy-MM-dd HHmm — e.g. 2026-12-31 2359

Features

Task Types

Blue tracks three types of tasks:

Symbol	Type	What it tracks
[T]	Todo	A task with no date
[D]	Deadline	A task due by a specific date/time
[E]	Event	A task spanning a start and end date/time

A [ ] means the task is not done; [X] means it’s done.

Add a Todo — todo

Adds a simple task with no date attached.

Format: todo <desc>

Example:

todo read the briefing

Response:

Locked in.
  [T][ ] read the briefing
1 tasks on the board.

Add a Deadline — deadline

Adds a task that must be completed by a specific date and time.

Format: deadline <desc> /by <date>

Example:

deadline submit report /by 2026-03-01 2359

Response:

On the clock.
  [D][ ] submit report (by: 01 Mar 2026, 11:59PM)
2 tasks on the board.

Add an Event — event

Adds a task with a start and end time.

Format: event <desc> /from <date> /to <date>

Example:

event team meeting /from 2026-03-02 1400 /to 2026-03-02 1500

Response:

Saved it.
  [E][ ] team meeting (from: 02 Mar 2026, 2:00PM to: 02 Mar 2026, 3:00PM)
3 tasks on the board.

List All Tasks — list

Shows everything currently on the board, numbered in order.

Format: list

Example response:

Here's what's on the board:
1. [T][ ] read the briefing
2. [D][ ] submit report (by: 01 Mar 2026, 11:59PM)
3. [E][ ] team meeting (from: 02 Mar 2026, 2:00PM to: 02 Mar 2026, 3:00PM)

Mark Tasks as Done — mark

Marks one or more tasks as completed. Use the numbers shown in list. Multiple task numbers can be given, space-separated.

Format: mark <numbers>

Examples:

mark 1
mark 1 3

Response (single):

Done deal.
  [T][X] read the briefing

Response (multiple):

Done deals.
  [T][X] read the briefing
  [E][X] team meeting (from: 02 Mar 2026, 2:00PM to: 02 Mar 2026, 3:00PM)

Unmark Tasks — unmark

Reverses a mark, setting tasks back to not done. Accepts multiple space-separated numbers.

Format: unmark <numbers>

Example:

unmark 1

Response:

Pulled it back.
  [T][ ] read the briefing

Delete Tasks — delete

Permanently removes one or more tasks from the board. Accepts multiple space-separated numbers.

Format: delete <numbers>

Example:

delete 2 3

Response:

All gone.
  [D][ ] submit report (by: 01 Mar 2026, 11:59PM)
  [E][ ] team meeting (from: 02 Mar 2026, 2:00PM to: 02 Mar 2026, 3:00PM)
1 tasks on the board.

Search Tasks — find

Searches task descriptions for a keyword (case-insensitive).

Format: find <keyword>

Example:

find report

Response:

Found these:
  1. [D][ ] submit report (by: 01 Mar 2026, 11:59PM)

Help — help

Prints a quick command reference inside the chat.

Format: help

Exit — bye

Closes the application. Your tasks are already saved — nothing extra needed.

Format: bye

Data & Storage

• Tasks are saved automatically after every change to data/blue.txt.
• Data persists between sessions — just reopen the app and your board is restored.
• If the save file is missing or corrupted, Blue starts fresh with an empty board.

Constraints & Notes

• Descriptions cannot contain commas (commas are used internally for storage).
• If you add a task identical to one already on the board, Blue will warn you instead of adding a duplicate.
• Task numbers refer to the current list order — always check list before using mark, unmark, or delete.