[vishalhabib99]

What's wrong

The MCP list_tasks tool (default status: "open") and zn task list return [-] cancelled tasks next to actionable ones. The app's shared isTaskOpen already treats a cancelled task as not open (#450, #476), and the calendar/Kanban views leave them out, so an agent asking "what's open / due this week?" reports abandoned tasks as to-dos.

Repro, a note inbox/todo.md:

- [ ] Buy milk due:2026-10-20
- [-] Cancelled plan due:2026-10-15
- [x] Done thing

• list_tasks {} returns Buy milk and Cancelled plan ("cancelled": true).
• list_tasks {"dueBefore":"2026-10-31"} returns the same two.
• zn task list (and --unchecked) lists both too.

Cause

• apps/desktop/src/mcp/server.ts:724: the open filter checks checked || waiting || forwarded, not cancelled.
• apps/desktop/src/cli/commands/tasks.ts:24-25: same gap in the CLI filters.

Fix

Add cancelled to both filters (MCP open, CLI default and --unchecked). status: "all" and zn task list --all still return cancelled tasks. Updated the status description to "open = not done, cancelled or waiting".

Tests

• src/mcp/server.test.ts: new list_tasks block (default and dueBefore exclude cancelled; status: "all" keeps it).
• New src/cli/commands/tasks.test.ts on a temp local vault (default and --unchecked exclude cancelled; --all keeps it).
• Before the fix: 3 of the 5 new tests fail. After: all 5 pass.
• npm run typecheck: 8/8 tasks pass. electron-vite build passes.
• npm run test:run: shared-domain, app-core and quicklook all pass. In @zennotes/desktop, 19 files and 1 test (packaging.test.ts) fail the same way on main in my environment, because I installed with --ignore-scripts (no Electron binary, no patch-package). The failing set is identical with and without this change; the only difference is the 5 new passing tests.

[adibhanna]

Thanks @vishalhabib99, and welcome. A clean fix with exactly the right tests: your repro note, the default and dueBefore paths, and status: "all" and --all still keeping cancelled tasks.

Merged into the v2.69.0 release branch as dfaca0b7, shipping in 2.69.0, with no follow-up needed. GitHub will mark this PR merged once that branch reaches main at release.

CI didn't run on the PR (GitHub holds workflows for a first-time contributor until they're approved), so I ran it all locally: typecheck, the full desktop suite with your five new tests, and the built app's bundled MCP server against your repro note. list_tasks returns only Buy milk for open and for dueBefore: "2026-10-31", and status: "all" still lists Cancelled plan.

The Go zn (ZenNotes/tui), which is what desktop-managed and Homebrew installs run for zn task list and zn mcp, had the same gap in both filters. I mirrored your fix there in 91bb33b, with the same status description word for word; it ships in the next zn release.

[vishalhabib99]

Thanks @adibhanna, and for running the suite locally since CI was held. Mirroring it in the Go zn too means the CLI and MCP paths agree everywhere, which is the part I couldn't have done from here.