Tasks & commitments

A task is anything that still needs a next step: something you promised, a question you haven't answered, or something another person owes you.

Tasks come from two places. Perisclaw picks them up from your conversations on its own, and you can add your own anytime, like "add this to my to-do list" or "keep the visa renewal on my task list."

What becomes a task

When a conversation goes quiet, Perisclaw reviews it and picks out the open work. It reads meaning, not keywords, and tracks three kinds of tasks:

• You owe the next step: you promised to send, share, decide, call, or do something.
• Someone needs your reply: they made a clear request and the conversation still needs an answer from you.
• You are waiting on someone else: you asked for something, or they promised it, and it has not arrived yet.

Casual conversation, generic thanks, FYIs, and broadcasts don't become tasks. When later messages show the work is done, Perisclaw closes the task on its own. It also closes a task that has been quiet for a week with nothing left for you to do; payments, deliverables, anything snoozed, tasks you added yourself, and tasks you told it to keep stay open. You can always correct or close one yourself. Closed tasks stay under Done in Today for a week; to bring one back, ask: “reopen the invoice task.”

With Google Calendar connected, a new or changed invite updates the task it belongs to: it can give the task a date, or close a task that was only to set up the meeting. An invite on its own never becomes a task.

You can also hand it tasks directly: tell it what to track, forward a message and ask it to follow up, or give it a list of things to do.

How tasks reach you

You do not have to remember to check a separate inbox.

• In self-chat: your morning digest brings back the important open items and links to the full list. Afternoon updates, evening reviews, and weekly reviews are optional too.
• When you ask: just ask, anytime, in plain language.
• In the web app: open Today to work through what needs you, with the reply already drafted in the chat it belongs to.

Copy

What have I promised, who is waiting for my reply, and what am I still waiting on from other people?

Ask, update, and close tasks

Speak to Perisclaw as you would to an assistant. You do not need task IDs or a special command.

• Add one: “Remind me to send Priya the revised proposal tomorrow.”
• Check the list: “What is overdue, and what can wait until next week?”
• Close one: “Mark the revised proposal task done.”
• Bring it back later: “Snooze the invoice follow-up until Tuesday.”
• Correct it: “I am waiting on Daniel for the figures, not the other way around.”
• Keep it open: “Keep the visa renewal task, even if it goes quiet.”
• Find the source: “Which message is the invoice task from?”

When you ask what's pending, you get every open task. With more than 12, Perisclaw leads with the 10 most important and tells you how many more are open; say “all” to see every one.

Perisclaw uses the person, topic, and recent conversation to find the right item. Replying to a digest by number works too: “2 is done” closes the second item in your latest digest. If more than one task could match, be more specific.

Teach it what is worth tracking

If Perisclaw keeps tracking the wrong things, give it a rule once instead of correcting items one by one:

• “Stop tracking pings from the family group.”
• “Always flag anything about a payment.”
• “Anything from Anita is critical.”
• “When I say next week, that means Friday.”

Perisclaw reads the rule back so you can check what it saved, then applies it to future tracking.

Work through it in Today

Today is the first page of the web app at app.perisclaw.com. It has three parts: your tasks on the left, the chat or email a task comes from in the middle, and Perisclaw on the right.

1. 1

   Pick a task from the list

   Every open task is listed, the one with the newest update first, so a row only moves when something new happens to it. Each row shows the task, its next step, the chat or sender it belongs to, and when it is due. Switch the view at the top: Open for everything live, Needs you for what is your move, and Done for the last week. Snoozed tasks wait under Snoozed at the bottom until they come back.

   The task opens with its chat in the middle.
2. 2

   Read the chat and send the reply

   The middle shows the full WhatsApp chat, or the Gmail thread for an email task. When Perisclaw has prepared a reply, it is already typed into the reply box. Edit it if you like and choose Send; your edited text is exactly what goes out. With no draft, type your own message: it goes out from your number, as you.

   Your message appears in the chat with its ticks.
3. 3

   Ask Perisclaw to change something

   The right side shows the task's brief and steps, then your conversation with Perisclaw about this task. Ask in your own words, like “make it shorter” or “ask Ravi for the PO number first”. A changed draft comes back in the reply box for you to send.

4. 4

   Close it or bring it back later

   Mark done closes the task, and Snooze brings it back later today, tomorrow morning, or next week. Both sit beside the task's title, and on each row when you point at it. The next task in the list opens.

The reply box works like WhatsApp: attach files, add emoji, record a voice note, and type @ in a group to mention someone. Right-click a message (or use its menu arrow) to react, reply, reply privately, forward, copy, download, edit your own message within 15 minutes, or delete it for everyone. For email tasks, see Gmail in Today.

Start a session with Perisclaw

Choose New at the top of the list to work on something with Perisclaw on its own, away from your self-chat, like comparing three vendor quotes or planning a trip. Say what you want and the session opens as a conversation. Chats and files Perisclaw points to open beside it. A session stays in your list until you choose Mark done, and Reopen brings it back.

Your everyday conversation with Perisclaw, the same one as your WhatsApp self-chat, is pinned at the top of the list. Open it from the Perisclaw mark at the top of the side bar, or press Cmd/Ctrl + K anywhere.

What happens after you act

A task you close moves to Done. A snoozed task returns at the time you chose. What you ask Perisclaw about a task stays with that task in the web app, on every device you sign in on; it doesn't appear in your WhatsApp self-chat.