From Terminal to Desktop: Sticky Todo Reminders with Cron, systemd & Conky

In the previous tutorial, I built a minimal terminal-based reminder system using cron and a simple .todo file.

Now, let’s take it further.

In this guide, I’ll turn that idea into a desktop-integrated reminder system using:

•Cron: to generate reminders

•systemd (user): to monitor tasks

•Conky: to display sticky notes on your desktop

This creates a lightweight, always-visible reminder system—without relying on heavy applications.

💡 Architecture Overview

The system works like this:

•Cron: writes reminders to ~/.todo

•systemd user service: checks if tasks exist

•Conky: displays them as sticky notes

Everything stays simple, modular, and hackable.

📁 Step 1: Base Todo System (Recap)

Create the file:

   
touch ~/.todo

Add a weekly cron job:

   
crontab -e

   
0 9 * * 1 echo "$(date '+%F %R') - Run sudo pacman -Syu" >> /home/mosaid/.todo

⚙️ Step 2: Create a systemd User Service

We now create a service that checks if the todo file has content.

Create the file:

   
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
vim ~/.config/systemd/user/todo-check.service

Content:

   
[Unit]
Description=Check TODO file and trigger display

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '[ -s /home/mosaid/.todo ]'

This simply checks if the file is non-empty.

⏱️ Step 3: Add a systemd Timer

Create a timer that runs every few minutes:

   
vim ~/.config/systemd/user/todo-check.timer

   
[Unit]
Description=Run TODO check every 5 minutes

[Timer]
OnBootSec=1min
OnUnitActiveSec=5min

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable it:

   
systemctl --user daemon-reexec
systemctl --user enable --now todo-check.timer

🖥️ Step 4: Conky Sticky Notes

This is where things become visual.

Create a Conky config:

   
mkdir -p ~/.config/conky
vim ~/.config/conky/todo.conf

   
conky.config = {
    alignment = 'top_right',
    gap_x = 20,
    gap_y = 50,
    background = true,
    double_buffer = true,
    own_window = true,
    own_window_type = 'desktop',
    own_window_transparent = true,
    use_xft = true,
    font = 'DejaVu Sans Mono:size=10',
    update_interval = 5,
};

conky.text = [[
${color cyan}---- TODO ----${color}
${execi 5 tail -n 10 /home/mosaid/.todo}
]];

Run it:

   
conky -c ~/.config/conky/todo.conf &

You now have a live sticky todo list on your desktop.

✨ Step 5: Improve Visibility

Add colors and formatting:

   
${color green}${time %Y-%m-%d}${color}

Or highlight updates:

   
${execi 5 grep --color=always pacman /home/mosaid/.todo}

🧠 Optional: Auto-Hide When Empty

You can extend the systemd service to kill Conky if no tasks exist:

   
ExecStart=/usr/bin/bash -c '[ -s ~/.todo ] || pkill conky'

And restart it when tasks appear.

🚀 Extensions

•Multiple todo files: work, personal, system

•Git sync: share reminders across machines

•Notifications: integrate with notify-send

•Conky themes: match your desktop style

⚖️ Why This Setup is Powerful

•Persistent: visible on desktop at all times

•Lightweight: near-zero resource usage

•Modular: each component is independent

•Fully controllable: no black boxes

This is the kind of system that scales with your needs.

🏁 Conclusion

You’ve now transformed a simple terminal trick into a fully integrated desktop reminder system.

It respects the Unix philosophy while giving you a modern workflow.

Small tools. Big control.