t@sk4ce
Chores first, then screens. t@sk4ce is a free family app where kids do their chores, parents approve them, and the home internet only switches on once the chores are done. It runs on a small computer in your home, so your family's data stays in your house.
Website and setup help: https://sgtslaughta.github.io/tskfrce/
📖 Full beginner's guide online — step-by-step for parents, no technical knowledge needed.
What you get
- Chores that stick. Create a chore once, give it to one kid or several (each, race or team), and repeat it daily, on some days or just once. Add steps and ask for a photo as proof.
- Approve or send back. One screen ("Needs you") shows everything waiting for a decision.
- Points, levels and rewards. Approved chores earn points. Kids level up, earn badges, unlock flair for their name card, and spend points on rewards or extra screen time.
- A screen for every age. Little (5–8), Kid (9–12) and Teen (13+) looks, each with the same chores.
- Chat. A thread for every chore, a private chat for each kid, and a family chat.
- Internet that follows the chores. Pick which devices are paused until their chores are approved, plus hours for school nights, weekends, holidays and summer.
- Notifications. Pings in the chat apps you already use (through Apprise), and chore alerts on kids' phones (through ntfy on the box).
- Remote access. Check in from anywhere with Tailscale (optional).
It is honest about its limits: a determined kid can get around it (a phone hotspot, a different device). The app tells you when it notices. If the home box is switched off, the internet simply works.
Get started (about 20 minutes)
👉 Go to the full guide →
Or here's the short version:
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See what you need: a small always-on computer and an ordinary home router.
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Install t@sk4ce: copy and paste one line.
curl -fsSL https://sgtslaughta.github.io/tskfrce/install.sh | sh
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Do the first-time setup: seven short steps for your family, kids, chores, devices and hours.
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Learn the everyday routine: approve chores, answer requests, give rewards.
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Show your kids: a one-page guide you can hand over.
Something wrong? See Troubleshooting and the FAQ.
For developers
Architecture, data model, security notes and how to add badges or flair: docs/engineering.md.
Forgot a parent password? Another parent can make a reset link in Settings, or run cd ~/task4ce && docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec backend python -m app.cli reset-password <name> on the box.
Layout: backend/ (FastAPI + SQLite), frontend/ (Next.js), blocker/ (the home box service), lab/ (an isolated Docker network for tests).
Run it
Needs Docker with Compose. The blocker service needs Linux (it uses host networking), so on macOS or Windows run only the app services.
printf 'INTERNAL_TOKEN=dev\nLAN_IFACE=eth0\n' > .env # compose refuses to run without INTERNAL_TOKEN
docker compose up -d --build backend frontend
Open http://localhost:3000; the first visit shows the setup wizard. The backend listens on 127.0.0.1:8000 (/health). To run the blocker as well, see docs/blocker.md.
Tests
cd backend && python -m pytest tests -q # backend
cd backend && ruff format --check . && ruff check . # Python style (as in CI)
cd frontend && npm ci && npm test # jest
cd frontend && npm run lint && npm run type-check # lint and types
python -m pytest blocker/tests -q # blocker unit tests (repo root)
Device lab
An isolated Docker network with a fake router, a fake internet, the real backend, the real blocker and kid devices. Needs Linux Docker. Details in lab/README.md.
cd blocker && RUN_INTEGRATION=1 python -m pytest tests/lab -v # real ARP, nftables and portal journeys
bash scripts/lab.sh up # start the lab and seed a family
bash scripts/lab.sh e2e # browser tests; screenshots land in frontend/e2e-artifacts
bash scripts/lab.sh down # tear it down
Conventions
Semantic versioning and semantic commits. CI (.github/workflows/ci-cd.yml) runs lint, backend tests, the lab and a security scan; keep them green before pushing.
License
GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE.
