Desktop app

The desktop app runs PacedMind's server and shows the planner in a window. It keeps running when the window is closed, in the tray on Windows and in the menu bar on macOS, so agents can report back at any time.

The window

• The window remembers its size, its position and whether it was maximized. It opens at 1440 × 900 the first time and can't be made smaller than 960 × 600.
• The title bar is PacedMind's header: the Go back and Go forward buttons, the wordmark, and the window's own buttons, at the header's right end on Windows and at its left end on macOS. Drag the empty part of the header to move the window.
• The mouse's back and forward buttons also move through the views. On macOS, so does a three-finger swipe, when the trackpad's Swipe between pages setting allows three fingers.
• The title bar follows the dark or light theme.
• Links to other websites open in the default browser.
• Opening PacedMind while it's already running brings the existing window to the front instead of starting a second copy.

While the server starts, the window shows Starting PacedMind….

Floating task notes

Select Float task in a task row or in the task details header to open that task in its own small window. This button is available in the desktop app.

Each note stays above other windows. Drag its header to move it and drag its edges to resize it. Up to 200 tasks can have notes open at once; selecting Float task again brings that task's existing note forward.

With several displays, a dialog inside PacedMind shows a miniature of each screen, its name and size. Select a screen and Show notes. Select Remember this screen on this computer to remember your choice for this planner, or Cancel to leave the notes closed. Opening a note arranges the notes on that display using its available space and leaving room for the taskbar or Dock. A full display asks you to close a note or choose another display. A disconnected remembered display needs a new choice.

You can also ask a connected agent to show task notes. It checks the displays and, without a remembered choice, asks which one to use and whether to remember it. This works through the local connection or PacedMind Cloud while the desktop app is running; Cloud computer access must be set up. Each task still opens in its own window. See Task note tools.

The note shows the task's current status, deadline, subtask count and latest agent progress, including whether the agent is working, waiting for you or has finished. Updates arrive automatically, including while the main PacedMind window is hidden. The note follows the app's dark or light theme.

• Mark as done completes the task in the planner too. Repeating tasks come back at their next date as usual. The note stays open with the result; Reopen task makes the task Todo again.
• Open in PacedMind opens the full task details in the main window.
• Close note closes just that note. It does not delete or complete the task or stop its agent session.

The Hide notes button in PacedMind's top bar hides all open notes in one click. It changes to Show notes, which brings the same notes back above other windows, keeping their positions and sizes. The number beside the button counts the open notes. When no notes are open, including after restarting the app, Show notes opens all unfinished tasks on your chosen display. If they do not all fit, PacedMind shows how many opened and asks you to close some notes or choose another display.

Closing the main window also hides all notes. Reopen PacedMind and select Show notes to bring them back. Hiding notes does not complete tasks or stop agent sessions. Quitting PacedMind closes the notes, and signing out or switching accounts closes notes from the previous planner.

Layout and screens

Select the Layout icon beside Show notes or Hide notes in the top bar. Changes apply immediately. Settings and manually placed cards are saved for this account and display on this computer. Each computer has its own screen choices and layouts; they do not sync through Cloud. Connecting different monitors on another computer does not change this computer's arrangement.

• Screen moves the open notes to that display and remembers it for future notes. Each screen keeps its own layout settings.
• Card size offers XS, S, M and L. XS shows just the title; select it to open the task details. Its move handle is on the left; controls appear on hover or keyboard focus. The other sizes show the full task card. Cards shrink to fit when needed, down to their minimum readable size.
• Arrangement offers Grid, Columns and Rows. Columns place groups side by side; Rows place them above one another. With no grouping, these choices arrange individual cards vertically or horizontally.
• Group by offers buttons for None, Focus, Project, Area, Priority, Status and Due date. Focus contains urgent, high-priority, due and planned-for-today tasks; the remaining tasks go into In progress or Later. Due date separates overdue tasks, today, the next seven days, later deadlines and tasks without a deadline. A preview shows the spaces and task counts; select it to edit them.
• Order offers Manual, Relevance and Due date. Cards rearrange when status, priority, project, area, due date or planned date changes, including changes made by an agent. Closing cards fills the gaps automatically. Select Rearrange cards beneath Arrangement to repack the open cards in one click; this clears manual card positions while keeping the spaces and their fill directions.
• Emphasize important adds a stronger surface, edge marker and title weight to important or due cards in both light and dark themes. Lower-priority and completed cards are quieter; text remains readable. Emphasis updates as deadlines and planned days arrive.
• Animation offers Shuffle, Right to left, Corner to corner, Top to bottom, Center outward, Together and None. It controls the sequence when showing, hiding, arranging or changing the theme of cards. The system's reduced-motion setting turns off motion. Closing the main window hides notes immediately.

Select Arrange spaces beneath Arrangement to edit a miniature of the selected screen. Choose Spaces to move or resize group regions, or Cards to position individual notes. Spaces show numbered boxes for each card, matching the current card size and fill direction. Selecting a space shows its capacity, card dimensions, gaps and free distance to each edge. These measurements update while dragging or typing percentages. Boxes that spill outside a space have dashed outlines; the affected space explains how many cards need more room. An invalid edit stays in preview until all spaces fit, while the desktop keeps the last valid layout. Drag anywhere inside a region to move it, resize from any edge or corner, or select it and enter its position and dimensions as percentages. Resizing a shared edge adjusts the neighbouring space too. Arrow keys move the selected item; Shift with an arrow key resizes it. Select a space to choose Start from (an automatic screen edge or any of the four corners) and Fill (across first or vertically first). By default, spaces on the left align left and spaces on the right align right. Reset spaces restores automatic spaces and fill directions. Open Saved presets, enter a Preset name and select Save preset to keep the current size, grouping, spaces, fill directions, order, emphasis and animation. Select a saved layout and Apply preset to restore it, or Delete preset to remove it. Saving an existing name replaces that preset. Up to 20 presets are kept per account and display on this computer; individual card positions are not part of a preset. Overlapping group regions and regions too small for their cards are rejected. When there are too many groups to fit separately, a compact grid keeps every note on screen.

The app's System theme in Settings → Appearance follows the computer's light or dark appearance; task notes use the chosen animation sequence for theme changes too.

Closing and quitting

Closing the window hides it; PacedMind keeps running. The first time, a notification titled PacedMind is still running explains how to quit.

Quitting stops the server: agents can't reach PacedMind, and so can't report back, until it runs again.

The tray and menu bar icon

On Windows, PacedMind's icon sits in the tray: click it to open the window, and right-click it for its menu. On macOS, the pd icon sits in the menu bar and follows its light or dark look: click it for its menu. The icon's tooltip reads PacedMind, or PacedMind · 2 waiting for you when something needs you: finished sessions waiting for review, running sessions whose agent waits for you, and requests waiting for you to allow them, for sessions and for folders.

Notifications

When a session is finished, usually because its agent handed the task back, PacedMind shows a notification. Its title says how the work stands:

When the agent's report has questions for you, the title adds · 1 question for you or · 2 questions for you, such as DEV-22 is blocked · 2 questions for you. Below the title come the task's title and the summary of the agent's report. Click the notification to open the session in Sessions.

A running session notifies you too when its agent waits for you, in its terminal or with a question it sent to PacedMind:

Below the title come the task's title and the line that the task's details show, such as Claude Code asks for your permission in its terminal: …. Click the notification to open the session in Sessions. Each time the agent starts waiting, it notifies once. See When the agent waits for you.

A request that waits for you to allow it on this computer notifies you once:

Below the title come the task's title, or for a folder the folder, and who asked, such as Asked by an agent over MCP. Open PacedMind to allow or refuse it. Click the notification to open the window, where the request waits as a card with Refuse and Allow, or Use it for a folder. See When an agent asks.

PacedMind checks every five seconds while it runs, so a session sent back with Request changes notifies again when the agent hands the task back. Sessions that were already finished or waiting when PacedMind started don't get a notification; the icon's tooltip counts them, and the Sessions count includes the finished ones.

Notifications follow the system's own settings:

• Windows: if none appear, check that notifications for PacedMind are on in Windows Settings → System → Notifications, and that Do not disturb (Focus assist on Windows 10) is off.
• macOS: the first notification asks whether PacedMind may send notifications. To change the answer later, open System Settings → Notifications → PacedMind. A Focus mode can hold them back too.

The server

The app runs its server at http://127.0.0.1:4319, reachable only from the same computer. It writes a log to %APPDATA%\Organizer\logs\server.log on Windows and ~/Library/Logs/PacedMind/server.log on macOS (the icon's menu → Open server log).

If the server can't start, a dialog says PacedMind could not start. and asks whether something else uses port 4319, with Try again, Open log (which opens the log and closes PacedMind) and Quit. If it stops while the app runs, a dialog says PacedMind's server stopped., with Restart, Open log (which opens the log and restarts the server) and Quit. See Troubleshooting.

Keyboard shortcuts in the window

On macOS, the menu bar also has the usual Hide PacedMind (⌘+H) and Minimize (⌘+M). All shortcuts are on the Keyboard shortcuts page.

Updating and uninstalling

Install a newer download over the existing one; the data stays. See Install PacedMind for updating and uninstalling on each system.