tick

Tick

Terminal-launched daily planning dock for developers

Overview

Tick is a local-first, privacy-focused daily planning dock built specifically for developers. It runs as a single Go binary, uses SQLite for persistent storage, and serves a minimal dark-mode web interface embedded via go:embed.

Designed to be fast, distraction-free, and fully usable without cloud services. Tick emphasizes structured daily execution, simplicity, and developer-grade ergonomics over bloated productivity features or unnecessary complexity.

Features

• Keyboard-first interaction — Navigate and manage tasks entirely from the keyboard
• Local-first — No cloud dependencies, no account required, complete privacy
• Single binary — Self-contained Go executable, easy to deploy
• SQLite storage — Reliable, portable persistent data
• Dark-mode UI — Minimal, eye-friendly interface
• Three-column layout:
  • Context Panel — Current date and time
  • Task Dock — Central daily task management
  • Quicklinks — Frequently used resources

Tech Stack

• Go — Single binary compilation
• SQLite — Persistent storage
• go:embed — Embedded web interface

Installation

Global Install (Go)

Users can install Tick directly from GitHub:

go install github.com/dawgdevv/tick@latest
tick

Make sure $GOBIN (or $GOPATH/bin) is in your PATH.

From Binary

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page, extract, and run:

./tick

From Source

Requirements:

• Go 1.25+
• Node.js 20+ and npm

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd tick
make build
./bin/tick

The make build command is the global project build command. It compiles the frontend (web/dist) and then builds the Go binary (bin/tick).

Build Commands

make help       # List available commands
make deps       # Install frontend dependencies
make web-build  # Build frontend assets
make build      # Build frontend + backend binary
make run        # Build and run
make clean      # Clean build outputs

Usage

Launch Tick from your terminal:

./tick

By default, Tick serves on http://localhost:8080. Open this URL in your browser to access the interface.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Screenshots

Coming soon — screenshots showing the three-column interface

Philosophy

Tick is built on these core principles:

1. Speed — Sub-second startup, instant interactions
2. Simplicity — Only essential features, no bloat
3. Privacy — Your data stays on your machine
4. Developer ergonomics — Keyboard-first, terminal-friendly

License

MIT — see LICENSE