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narl-workspace/docs/wiki/Boards-and-Agenda.md
T
nvrl 73ac961751 special: the board, the agenda and the calendar in a workspace of their own
The board swapped out the tree, and the agenda and the calendar were
overlays over it, each with a key to open and a key to close. They are now
three tiles of one special workspace, as the desktop keeps its scratchpad:
the board on the left, the agenda over the calendar on the right.

S puts it up and away from anywhere. b, t and C go straight to their tile,
and put the workspace away when that tile already has focus. Alt-h/j/k/l
move the focus between the tiles, f gives the focused one the porthole,
and the tiles without focus keep their cursors, dimmed. A digit switches
space as everywhere, and the board follows; the board's head names every
space that has one. Enter on an agenda card goes to it on the board beside.
A space without a board says so in the board's tile instead of refusing.

The rail offers the three tiles as doors, so a phone, which shows one at a
time, can walk between them. The help, the README, the wiki and the
screenshots say how it works now.
2026-10-21 15:04:58 +02:00

5.5 KiB

Boards and the agenda

The special workspace

The board, the agenda and the calendar share one workspace of their own, as the desktop's special workspace holds what is looked at in passing. S (or :special) puts it up and away again. It is three tiles: the board on the left, the agenda over the calendar on the right.

The special workspace

key what it does
S put the special workspace up, or away
b, t, C straight to the board, the agenda or the calendar; again on the one with focus puts the workspace away
Alt-h / Alt-j / Alt-k / Alt-l focus the tile that way
f the focused tile fills the screen; again or Esc to leave
1 … 9 switch space, and the board with it
q, Esc back to the tree

The keys go to the tile with focus, which wears the light border; the other tiles keep their cursors, dimmed. Everything in it is read again each time it comes up.

The board

Every space except the diary has a board. b, the board button on the rail, or :board shows it in the special workspace, and q goes back to the tree. The head of the board names every space that has one, with the digit that goes there.

A new board has three lists: backlog, doing and done. The lists mean something by where they stand, not by their names:

  • the first list is the inbox, where new cards land;
  • the last list is done. A card is finished exactly when it is in the last list: moving it there stamps it, moving it out reopens it;
  • the lists between are work in hand, which the agenda shows.

:list <name> adds a list in front of the last one, :name! renames the list under the cursor, and :list! deletes it with its cards. Done cards older than a week fold away until z shows them.

key what it does
h / l to the list on the left / right
j / k down / up the cards
J / K move the card down / up its list
H / L move the card to the list on the left / right
Space into the done list, or back out to the inbox
o, c a new card on this list
Enter the card's notes
D due date
R rename the card
z show done cards older than a week
F a letter over every card; type it to jump there
x, dd delete the card
q, Esc put the special workspace away

Capturing a card

c anywhere outside the special workspace opens :card on the command line. The card goes into the inbox of the space you are in, or of the first space with a board, and you stay where you were. From outside the browser, see Capture.

Notes

Enter on a card opens its notes: a document named after the card, made in the root of the space the first time. Closing it goes back to the board, on the same card. :card! while reading a document makes a card that points at it.

The link is loose on purpose: deleting the document leaves the card, because the work is still open when its notes are gone.

Due dates

D on a card (or :due <when>) takes a date the way it is said:

you type it means
today, td today
tm, tomorrow tomorrow
fri the next Friday, never today
+3d, +2w in three days, in two weeks
10-31 the next 31 October
2026-10-31 that day
- no due date

Cards that come back

:repeat weekly, or the ↻ button on the rail, makes a card come back once it is done. The rules are daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and any +3d, +2w, +6m or +1y. :repeat - stops it.

Finishing such a card leaves a copy at the bottom of the inbox, with the same title, notes and rule, due on the next date. The next date counts on from the old due date, in WORKSPACE_TIMEZONE:

  • a card due at noon stays due at noon across a change of the clocks;
  • a card due on the 31st comes back on the last day of a shorter month, and on the 31st again where there is one;
  • a card finished late skips the dates that have passed;
  • a card without a due date counts from the moment it was finished.

The finished card gives up its rule, so reopening it and finishing it again does not make a second copy. The board and the agenda show the rule as ↻ weekly beside the date.

The agenda

t (or :agenda) gathers what needs you from every board at once, in the special workspace beside the board.

The agenda

  • late, today and this week: unfinished cards by due date;
  • in hand: cards in a list between the inbox and done;
  • whether the diary has an entry for today;
  • on this day: diary entries from the same day in earlier years. A 29 February is remembered on the 28th in the years that have none.
key what it does
j / k down / up, on into the diary entries
Enter to the card on its own board, in the tile beside, or open the entry
Space finish the card where it stands
D due date
H / L to the list left / right on its board
: the command line with the agenda kept up, so :repeat acts on the card
T today's diary entry
t, q, Esc put the special workspace away

The agenda opens by itself once a day when something is late or due. "Today" is the day in WORKSPACE_TIMEZONE, the same as for the mails, so a browser in another timezone groups the cards the same way. The bar shows the late and today counts whenever either is above zero. With mail set up, cards due today are mailed in the morning too; see Backup and mail.