Getting Started With Alas

Warning

Alas updates your backup file. Using alas can destroy your data due to unintended use or a bug in Alas. Always keep a backup of your plan file.

Alas has a built in backup, but it’s best to use a separate backup solution as well.

A version control system, such as Git is a convenient option.

Plan Template

First, use your favorite text editor to create a plan file (e.g. plan.md):

# My Plan

## Inbox

## 2022-05-12, Thursday

Start adding new days and tasks. You can use this plan file even without the alas command utility.

Installing Alas

If you are using MacOS or a Linux based operating system, visit the Alas releases page and download the latest release for your operating system. Add the Alas executable path to your PATH. Now you can run alas with your plan file.

You can also put the executable in the same directory as your plan file and use the relative path to run Alas:

./alas plan.md

Windows

At the moment, we don’t provide an executable for Windows. However, you can try compiling Alas on Windows and running it. To compile Alas, you need Janet and JPM. See Janet installation instructions for more information.

Since Janet wasn’t tested on Windows, we expect some problems. You can try running alas from the same directory as you plan file, to avoid path related issues.

Running Multiple Commands

Alas supports running multiple commands:

alas --insert-days 3 --remove-empty-days --schedule-tasks scheduled.md plan.md