Mandatory Chores
Mandatory chores are chores a child is expected to do — not optional, not just "nice to have". When a mandatory chore isn't completed in time, TaskMate doesn't silently take points away. Instead it raises a review item for the parent, who decides what happens next.
Mandatory is set per chore — there is no global on/off switch.
Open the chore editor (Admin Panel → Chores → Edit chore). Turn on the "Mandatory chore" toggle. A "Penalty points if missed" number field appears below it — set the points a parent can choose to deduct if the chore is missed. Leave it at 0 for no penalty option.
In YAML / storage this is two chore fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
mandatory |
bool | Whether the chore is mandatory |
mandatory_penalty_points |
int | Points a parent may deduct if missed (0 = no penalty option) |
If a mandatory chore isn't completed before its time-of-day period ends, TaskMate records a per-child miss and raises a review item for the parent. Points are never auto-deducted — the parent always chooses what to do.
Detection runs at the end of each period. A midnight pass handles Anytime chores (which have no period boundary during the day), and a catch-up scan runs after Home Assistant restarts — so a restart across a period boundary won't cause a miss to be skipped.
See Chore Scheduling for how time-of-day periods work.
An open miss can also step up its reminders over time so it doesn't sit unnoticed until you review it. The Reminder Escalation ladder nudges the child first, reminds them again after a configurable delay, and finally alerts a parent if the chore is still not done. The escalation notifications are off by default — see Reminder Escalation to enable and tune them.
The review item appears on the Approvals Card under a section titled "Mandatory — needs review", at the top of the card.
Each miss offers three parent actions, each backed by a service:
| Action | Service | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Apply Penalty | taskmate.apply_mandatory_penalty |
Deducts the configured penalty points and clears the review item. The Apply-penalty button only appears when the chore's penalty points are greater than 0. |
| Postpone | taskmate.postpone_mandatory_chore |
Gives the chore the next period today, rolling to tomorrow after the last period. Repeatable, and applies no penalty. |
| Dismiss | taskmate.dismiss_mandatory_chore |
Clears the review item with no penalty. |
Every one of these services takes a single parameter:
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
miss_id |
string | The ID of the mandatory-miss review item |
The penalty deducted by Apply Penalty is fixed — see Penalties for how penalties show up in the activity log.
A mandatory chore is shown distinctly on the child card so kids can see at a glance what's non-negotiable: a red left stripe, a light-red tint, and a "⚠ Mandatory" badge.
sensor.pending_approvals carries the open misses:
| Attribute | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
mandatory_misses |
list | Open mandatory-miss review items |
pending_mandatory_misses |
int | Count of open misses |
Each entry in mandatory_misses has these fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
id |
Miss ID — pass this as miss_id to the services above |
chore_id |
ID of the missed chore |
child_id |
ID of the child who missed it |
chore_name |
Display name of the chore |
child_name |
Display name of the child |
due_date |
ISO date the chore was missed |
period_id |
The time period that closed (anytime for all-day chores) |
penalty_points |
Points snapshotted at creation (so later chore edits don't change an open miss) |
postpone_count |
How many times the miss has been postponed |
created_at |
When the miss was raised |
- Penalties — fixed, named point deductions
- Reminder Escalation — nudge → reminder → parent-alert ladder for overdue misses
- Approvals Card — where misses are reviewed
- Chores — the chore editor and chore fields
- Chore Scheduling — time-of-day periods and recurrence
-
Services —
apply_mandatory_penalty,postpone_mandatory_chore,dismiss_mandatory_chore