Task Management System

PROJECT OVERVIEW

A full-stack task management application that enables teams to create, assign, track, and complete tasks with status workflows, priority levels, and complete audit history. The system supports role-based task creation, approval workflows, and real-time task reassignment across team members.

PROBLEM

Teams managing tasks across email, spreadsheets, and informal channels lack centralized tracking, accountability, and visibility into task lifecycles. This system provides a structured workflow with approval gates, role-based permissions, and immutable audit logs to ensure transparency and prevent task loss or duplication.

CORE FEATURES

• Task creation with auto-assignment and approval by creator
• Multi-status workflow: Pending → In Progress → Completed or Rejected
• Real-time task reassignment with audit trail and status reset
• Urgency levels (1-5) with color-coded visual indicators
• Filterable task list by assignee, creator, status, and urgency
• Infinite scroll pagination with lazy loading
• Complete task history with timestamped updates and user attribution

STATUS WORKFLOW

• Status 1 (Pending): Task awaiting acceptance or assignment
• Status 2 (Approved): Creator auto-approves on creation; only approvable once
• Status 3 (In Progress): Task actively being worked on
• Status 5 (Completed): Task finished; locked from further status changes
• Status 6 (Rejected): Task cancelled; tracks who rejected and when
• Each status change is logged with actor name, timestamp, and reason

TASK PROPERTIES & UPDATES

• Name, description, notes editable with debounced save (500ms)
• Due date picker with local timezone conversion
• Urgency selector (1-5) with dynamic color coding
• Assignment tracking: assigned_to, assigned_by, assigned_date
• Approval tracking: approved_by, approved_date (single approval max)
• Rejection tracking: rejected_by, rejected_date
• Completion tracking: completed_by, completed_date

ACCESS CONTROL & FILTERING

• Users see only their assigned tasks by default
• Filtering by assignee, requester, creator, status, urgency
• Task creators can reassign tasks to other team members
• Status changes scoped to role (managers approve, assignees complete)
• Reassignment resets status to Pending and clears assignment history

DATA PERSISTENCE & AUDIT

• MySQL-backed task storage with relational task_updates table
• Atomic updates with prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
• Immutable task_updates log capturing property changes, actor, timestamp
• Soft audit trails: no hard deletes; all changes reversible via UI
• Date conversion from ISO to local timezone on frontend

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE