Deadline Countdown
Paste tasks with due dates, choose a reference time, and get an urgency-sorted countdown: overdue first, then due today, due soon, and later tasks.
About this tool
The Deadline Countdown turns a plain-text task list into an urgency-sorted schedule. Put one task on each line and include a due date such as 2026-08-01, 2026-08-01 17:30, an ISO datetime, or a due: / deadline: marker. The tool calculates each task's time remaining from your reference now, labels the status, and sorts overdue work before upcoming deadlines.
It is useful for daily triage, release checklists, renewal reminders, and turning a quick note into a deadline report. The reference time is explicit so results are reproducible in docs, tests, and CLI runs.
What you can control
- Reference date/time — set the exact moment to count from, such as
2026-07-31 12:00. - Output format — choose aligned text, Markdown, JSON, or CSV.
- Include completed tasks — by default, lines starting with
x,[x],done:, or✓are skipped. - Due-soon window — choose how many days ahead should be labeled
DUE SOON.
Worked example
Tasks:
Submit taxes due: 2026-07-30
Ship launch due: 2026-07-31 16:00
Renew cert due: 2026-08-05
With now = 2026-07-31 12:00, the output puts Submit taxes first as overdue, Ship launch next as due today in four hours, and Renew cert after that as due soon.
Limits and edge cases
- Date parsing is deterministic and local. Use
YYYY-MM-DD,YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM,YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM[:SS], RFC 3339,YYYY/MM/DD,MM/DD/YYYY, orDD.MM.YYYY. - The tool does not connect to calendars, issue trackers, or reminder apps; paste exported tasks as text.
- Relative phrases like "tomorrow" or "next Friday" are not parsed. Convert them to explicit dates first.
- Output is capped at 1,000 dated tasks to keep browser and CLI runs responsive.
FAQ
How does the sorting work?
Overdue tasks sort first, with the most overdue item at the top. Upcoming tasks then sort by nearest due date. The status label is derived from the same time difference: OVERDUE, DUE TODAY, DUE SOON, or LATER.
What counts as a completed task?
By default, lines beginning with x , [x], done:, or ✓ are skipped. Turn on Include completed tasks if you want those lines counted and sorted too.
Can I use it with a todo.txt file?
Yes. Paste the relevant lines and include dates either inline or after due: / deadline:. For example, Finish report due: 2026-08-02 and Call vendor 2026-08-01 both parse.
Why is the reference time required?
A fixed now makes the result repeatable across browser, CLI, and tests. It also avoids timezone surprises from hidden system clocks; enter the wall-clock date/time you want the countdown to use.
Developer & Automation Access
Run it from the terminal
Same engine as this page, headless — via the gizza CLI:
gizza tool deadline-countdown "Submit taxes due: 2026-07-30
Ship launch due: 2026-07-31 16:00
Renew cert due: 2026-08-05
x Done item due: 2026-07-01" 'now=2026-07-31 12:00'New to the CLI? Get gizza →
Open it by URL
Pre-fill and auto-run this tool with query parameters — the names match the API/CLI:
https://gizza.ai/tools/deadline-countdown/?tasks=Submit%20taxes%20due%3A%202026-07-30%0AShip%20launch%20due%3A%202026-07-31%2016%3A00%0ARenew%20cert%20due%3A%202026-08-05%0Ax%20Done%20item%20due%3A%202026-07-01&now=2026-07-31%2012%3A00&format=table&include_completed=true&soon_days=7Machine-readable descriptor: tool.json — title + parameters JSON Schema for agents.