Scheduling guide

Create your first project

Open the account setup instructions on their own page.

This walkthrough uses example inputs. It does not describe an existing project. Enter these values in the Tasktrestle forms to create and retrieve your own saved schedule.

1. Sign in with your email

Open Tasktrestle sign-in and enter your email address. Follow the link in the email. The link signs you in and creates your account if you are new.

2. Review plans

Open plans to review your plan before creating a project.

3. Fill in Create project

Open Create project. Use the form fields as follows:

Project name (name)

Enter Example construction project.

Project start (startDate)

Enter 2026-01-05. Dates use YYYY-MM-DD.

Tasks (tasks)

Use the two task entries in the example below. For each task, id is Task ID, name is Task name, durationDays is Working days, and dependsOn is Predecessors.

First task: Foundations

Set Task ID to foundations, Task name to Foundations, and Working days to 2. This task has no predecessors.

Second task: Framing

Set Task ID to framing, Task name to Framing, and Working days to 3. Its Predecessors list contains the task ID foundations.

Calendar (calendar) and other optional fields

Leave these unset for this example. The default calendar is Monday through Friday, with no holidays. Each task's earliest planned start defaults to the project start.

Example inputs: complete Create project input

This block shows the example values and their field names. Enter the values in the form fields above.

{
  "name": "Example construction project",
  "startDate": "2026-01-05",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "foundations",
      "name": "Foundations",
      "durationDays": 2
    },
    {
      "id": "framing",
      "name": "Framing",
      "durationDays": 3,
      "dependsOn": ["foundations"]
    }
  ]
}

dependsOn uses task IDs, not task names. Here, framing depends on foundations. Successors start on the next working day after their predecessors finish, unless their own earliest start is later. Working-day durations include the start day.

Run Create project using the completed form. Creating this example counts as one project.

4. Check the scheduled dates

Expected result for the example inputs above:

• Foundations (foundations): 2026-01-05 through 2026-01-06.
• Framing (framing): 2026-01-07 through 2026-01-09.

Foundations takes Monday and Tuesday. Framing follows on Wednesday and finishes Friday.

5. Save the project ID and retrieve the schedule

Save the returned Project ID, the id on the project result. This identifies the saved project. It is different from task IDs such as foundations.

If you need to find it again, open Projects. Find your saved project by name and copy its id.

Open View project. Enter that saved ID in Project ID (projectId) and run the form. The result retrieves the saved tasks and dates, along with the project's calendar, dependencies and progress.

For this example, check the two entries in tasks. Their startDate and finishDate should match the expected dates above.

Creation counts as one project. Retrieval and editing do not count as another project. Listing projects, moving tasks and recording progress also do not count as new projects.

Set working days

The default calendar runs Monday to Friday with no holidays. Choose other working days and add holiday dates when needed. All dates use YYYY-MM-DD. A working-day duration includes the start day. A two-day task starting Monday January 5, 2026 finishes Tuesday January 6.

Connect the work

Predecessors are task IDs within the same project. A finish-to-start successor begins on the next working day after every predecessor finishes, unless its own earliest start is later. A three-day successor to the January 5–6 task runs January 7–9.

A task cannot depend on itself. Dependencies cannot form a cycle or refer to a missing task. Invalid changes are rejected before saving.

Change the plan

Move a task to change its earliest start. Tasktrestle keeps its working-day duration and recalculates successors. Move the two-day task to January 8, 2026 and it runs January 8–9. Its three-day successor runs January 12–14, skipping the weekend.

When a predecessor moves earlier, successors can move earlier too, up to their own saved earliest starts. A task cannot start before its predecessors finish.

Record progress

Record a whole-number percentage from 0 to 100 for a task in a selected project. Progress does not change scheduled dates. Project completion is the simple average of task percentages. It is not weighted by task duration.

Save changes safely

Edits include the project's revision. If someone saves a newer revision, reload the project before trying again. When replacing a complete task list, include every task you want to keep. Omitted progress is kept for tasks with matching IDs.

Project usage

Creating a project counts toward your plan's project usage. Viewing a project, editing its schedule, moving tasks and recording progress do not count as new projects.