A small tool, on purpose.
Caspian Tools is a task and note system that lives next to your code in VS Code, with a web companion for everywhere else. It is run by a small team that wants the product to outlast hype cycles.
What we're building
Most task trackers ask you to leave your editor and learn another product's workflow. Caspian-Taskmaster keeps the tasks in VS Code — in the same editor where the work happens — and uses this website only when you need to plan from a phone, review on a tablet, or share with someone who isn't a developer.
That makes the web the secondary surface, not the source of truth. The VS Code extension owns the local files; the cloud is a sync hub; the web is a viewer-and-editor that faithfully reflects whatever the extension has uploaded. If we shut the web off tomorrow, your tasks would still be in your editor.
Local-first, by construction
Both clients — the web and the VS Code extension — are equal writers. Neither one is a server-authoritative oracle. Edits flow through Firestore, which acts as a shared queue; the two sides reconcile by reading each other's changes. The extension queues writes while offline and flushes them when connectivity returns.
We don't host a custom OAuth backend, a sync server, or a queue worker for anything other than email delivery and a couple of slug-claim transactions. The fewer pieces of bespoke infrastructure between your editor and your data, the fewer places things can silently break.
Principles that constrain decisions
We work under a small set of principles — drawn from an Islamic ethical framework — that constrain feature, data, and business model choices. Not branding language; actual constraints on what we will and won't build.
- Amanah— user data is held in trust. Collect only what's needed. No selling. No analytics with user-level tracking. Deletion is real deletion.
- Sidq — marketing claims match implementation. No dark patterns. AI outputs are disclosed.
- Adl — pricing transparent and proportionate. No paywalling safety features. Cancellation frictionless.
- Ihsan — quality over feature count. Performance and reliability come first.
- No facilitation of riba, gambling, or content harmful to dignity, including through third-party integrations.
The full principles document is in the repo: docs/ETHICS.md. It will change as the product changes; the commits make the history visible.
Source code
The three repositories that make up Caspian Tools:
- caspiantools — this website. Next.js, TypeScript, Firebase.
- caspian-taskmaster — the VS Code extension for tasks.
- caspian-notes — the VS Code extension for notes.