Skip to main content

​
What are categories?

Categories are structured labels that classify what type of work a task is. Every task has at most one category. Unlike tags, categories come from a predefined list — either your project’s category list or your general category list.

​
Two levels of categories

Project categories — specific to a project. When a task belongs to a project, its category dropdown shows that project’s list. For example, a software project might have: Frontend, Backend, Database, CLI, DevOps, Design, AI, Marketing, Business. General categories — apply to tasks not in any project. You define a list that works across all your personal tasks. Examples: Finance, Health, Personal, Work, Admin, Travel.

​
Managing project categories

From the CLI: 
# View categories for a project
tandem project categories list "My Project"

# Add a single category
tandem project categories add "My Project" Backend

# Replace all categories at once
tandem project categories set "My Project" Frontend Backend Database DevOps Design AI
From the app: edit any task in the project and click the category field — you can add new categories directly from the dropdown.

​
Managing general categories

tandem categories list
tandem categories add Finance
tandem categories set Finance Health Personal Work Admin Travel

​
How categories are assigned

When you create a task through conversation, Tandem picks the best matching category from your list automatically. If nothing fits, it may suggest a new one. You can change the category on any task from the task detail view or via the CLI: 
tandem task category <task-id> Backend

​
Categories vs tags

Categories answer “what kind of work is this?” — one clear classification per task. Tags answer “what else is true about this task?” — open-ended, multiple allowed. Use a bug tag rather than a Bug category so you can see where the bug lives (Frontend, Backend, etc.) and filter by tag to find all bugs across categories.