TaskSorting 1.3.2: 'Sort tasks under heading' no longer pops up dialogs when run from a template, x-callback or another plugin.

When a heading is passed as an argument, "No tasks found under heading" and
"No note is open" go to the plugin log instead. Thanks to @jgclark.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: dwertheimer

dwertheimer.TaskSorting/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
 
 See Plugin [README](https://github.com/NotePlan/plugins/blob/main/dwertheimer.TaskSorting/README.md) for details on available commands and use case.
 
+## [1.3.2] - 2026-10-11 (@dwertheimer)
+
+### Fixed
+- **`Sort tasks under heading (choose)` no longer pops up dialogs when run from a template, x-callback or another plugin.** A daily-note template calling it for a heading that isn't in today's note (e.g. a "CCC" section on a day off) showed a "No tasks found under heading" warning every time. When the heading is passed as an argument, "No tasks found under heading" and "No note is open" are now written to the plugin log instead. Running the command from the menu still shows them. Thanks to @jgclark for reporting it.
+
 ## [1.3.1] - 2026-08-11 (@dwertheimer)
 
 ### Fixed

dwertheimer.TaskSorting/__tests__/sortTasksUnderHeadingSetting.test.js

@@ -95,3 +95,30 @@ describe('sortTasksUnderHeading() honours the "Combine Related Task Types?" sett
     expect(checklistIdx).toBeLessThan(openIdx)
   })
 })
+
+// A template like `invokePluginCommandByName("Sort tasks under heading (choose)", ..., ["CCC", [...]])`
+// in a daily-note template runs on days when the note has no "CCC" heading. That used to pop a
+// "No tasks found" dialog every time. Runs that pass a heading are scripted and must stay silent.
+describe('sortTasksUnderHeading() does not pop up dialogs when called with arguments', () => {
+  let promptSpy
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    promptSpy = jest.spyOn(CommandBar, 'prompt')
+  })
+  afterEach(() => promptSpy.mockClear())
+
+  test('a heading that is not in the note is silent when passed as an argument', async () => {
+    const note = makeNote()
+    global.Editor = note
+    global.Editor.note = note
+    const before = note.paragraphs.map((p) => p.content)
+    await f.sortTasksUnderHeading('CCC', ['-priority', 'content'], note)
+    expect(promptSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(note.paragraphs.map((p) => p.content)).toEqual(before)
+  })
+
+  test('no open note is silent when a heading was passed as an argument', async () => {
+    global.Editor = { note: null }
+    await f.sortTasksUnderHeading('CCC', ['content'])
+    expect(promptSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})

dwertheimer.TaskSorting/plugin.json

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
   "noteplan.minAppVersion": "3.4.0",
   "plugin.id": "dwertheimer.TaskSorting",
   "plugin.name": "🥷 Task Sorting & Tools",
-  "plugin.version": "1.3.1",
-  "plugin.lastUpdateInfo": "1.3.0: Indented subtasks are no longer flattened when sorting -- a task now keeps its whole nested subtree, at every depth. 'Sort tasks under heading' now respects the 'Combine Related Task Types?' setting (it was previously ignored by that command). NOTE: indent with TABS -- NotePlan does not report space-indentation to plugins, so space-indented subtasks cannot be preserved.",
+  "plugin.version": "1.3.2",
+  "plugin.lastUpdateInfo": "1.3.2: 'Sort tasks under heading' no longer pops up 'No tasks found' or 'No note is open' dialogs when run from a template, x-callback or another plugin (it logs them instead). Thanks to @jgclark.",
   "plugin.description": "Commands for sorting tasks in a note",
   "plugin.releaseStatus": "",
   "plugin.author": "dwertheimer",

dwertheimer.TaskSorting/src/sortTasks.js

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { chooseOption, chooseHeading, showMessage } from '@helpers/userInput'
 import { getTagParamsFromString } from '@helpers/general'
 import { removeHeadingFromNote, getBlockUnderHeading } from '@helpers/NPParagraph'
 import { sortListBy, getTasksByType, getAllDescendants, TASK_TYPES, type GroupedTasks, type SortableParagraphSubset } from '@helpers/sorting'
-import { logDebug, logWarn, logError, clo, JSP } from '@helpers/dev'
+import { logDebug, logInfo, logWarn, logError, clo, JSP } from '@helpers/dev'
 import { findStartOfActivePartOfNote, findEndOfActivePartOfNote } from '@helpers/paragraph'
 import { saveEditorIfNecessary } from '@helpers/NPEditor'
 import { getBooleanValue, getStringArrayValue } from '@helpers/dataManipulation'
@@ -1145,6 +1145,14 @@ export async function sortTasksUnderHeading(
   // `null` default (not `true`) so the "Combine Related Task Types?" setting is consulted -- see #770.
   _interleaveTaskTypes: string | boolean | null = null,
 ): Promise<void> {
+  // A heading passed in as an argument means a template, x-callback or another plugin is driving this
+  // run, not someone choosing from the menu. Those runs must stay silent: e.g. a daily-note template
+  // that sorts a "CCC" section should not pop a dialog on days the note has no such heading.
+  const isInteractive = !_heading
+  const tellUser = async (message: string): Promise<void> => {
+    if (isInteractive) await showMessage(message)
+    else logInfo(pluginJson, `sortTasksUnderHeading: ${message} (not shown: called with arguments)`)
+  }
   try {
     logDebug(`sortTasksUnderHeading: starting for heading="${_heading ?? ''}" sortOrder="${String(_sortOrder)}" with note override? ${_noteOverride ? 'yes' : 'no'}`)
     logDebug(`sortTasksUnderHeading: About to saveEditorIfNecessary()`)
@@ -1153,7 +1161,7 @@ export async function sortTasksUnderHeading(
     const noteToUse = _noteOverride || Editor.note
     if (!noteToUse) {
       logError(pluginJson, `sortTasksUnderHeading: There is no noteToUse. Bailing`)
-      await showMessage('No note is open')
+      await tellUser('No note is open')
       return
     }
 
@@ -1193,11 +1201,11 @@ export async function sortTasksUnderHeading(
           if (noteToUse) await writeOutTasks(noteToUse, sortedTasks, false, false, '', heading, interleaveTaskTypes, false)
         }
       } else {
-        await showMessage(`No tasks found under heading "${heading}"`)
+        await tellUser(`No tasks found under heading "${heading}"`)
       }
     } else {
       logError(pluginJson, `sortTasksUnderHeading: There is no noteToUse. Bailing`)
-      await showMessage('No note is open')
+      await tellUser('No note is open')
     }
   } catch (error) {
     logError(pluginJson, JSON.stringify(error))