Tasks & commitments
How Perisclaw turns conversations into tasks, and how you review and close them.
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. You can always correct or close one yourself.
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.
- On the dashboard: open Tasks when you want to sort, snooze, complete, or work through the whole list.
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.”
Perisclaw uses the person, topic, and recent conversation to find the right item. If more than one task could match, be more specific rather than relying on a number from an older digest.
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.
Manage Tasks on the dashboard
Choose the view that matches the job. Swipe (card) view keeps one item in focus: mark it done, snooze it, move it later, or tell the assistant what to do next. List view shows the wider schedule, including overdue work, dated items, later work, and things you are waiting on.
You can also create a task without leaving the dashboard: choose New task, then type or record the request. Perisclaw creates it and it shows up in the list in a few seconds. If a key detail is missing, it asks you in your WhatsApp self-chat.
Swipe (card) view
- Choose Done when it's finished.
- Choose Snooze when it should return later. For items that cannot be snoozed, move them to Later instead.
- Swipe up to put the item at the back of the current deck.
- Type or use voice when you want the assistant to act on the item. Perisclaw handles the instruction in the background and reports the result in WhatsApp. Handing an item to the assistant doesn't complete it. The card stays open until the work is actually done.
List view
Scan sections such as Overdue, upcoming dates, Later, and Waiting on them. From the list you can complete, snooze, or reopen an item, and clear finished work in bulk when you no longer need it in view.
Use Done or Snooze, or type or speak the next instruction.
What happens after you act
A completed item moves to history. A snoozed item returns at the time you chose. If you hand work to the assistant from the dashboard, continue the conversation in WhatsApp when its reply arrives.