Quick add

Quick add is the dialog for new tasks and activities. It reads the details from the title as it's typed, highlights what it recognized, and shows the result in the chips below.

Open quick add

• Press C anywhere in the app, as long as the cursor isn't in a text field.
• Select the pen button next to Search in the sidebar.
• Select New task in a list's header, or the + on a group.
• Click a day in the calendar (month or week) or on the timeline, or the + that appears on it.
• Select New task in the command menu (Ctrl+K).

New task in a list's header, a group's + and a click on a day fill in the place: a project list fills in the project, an area list the area, and Today, a day in Upcoming, and a day clicked in the calendar or on the timeline the planned day. A project's or an area's row on the timeline also fills in that project or area. C, the pen button and the command menu fill in the project or the area whose page is open, and the project that Roadmap shows; on any other page they start empty, so a task created that way goes to the Inbox unless an area, a project or @project is chosen.

Create a task

1. Type the title, with any details, for example:

   Send invoice to Acme friday 10:00 !high #finance

2. Optionally, add a description under the title (Add description… Markdown works), and what must be true when the task is finished with the Done when chip (below). It shows formatted as you type, the same way as in the task's details.

3. Check the chips and the summary line. If a word was read wrongly, reword the title; changing a chip changes the value but doesn't put the word back into the title.

4. Select Create task, or press Enter (or Ctrl+Enter from the description or the Done when field).

PacedMind confirms with the new key, such as Created WRK-13. The recognized parts are removed from the title: the example creates the task Send invoice to Acme, due Friday at 10:00, with high priority and the label finance.

To add several tasks in a row, switch on Create more at the bottom. The dialog then stays open and clears itself after each task. Cancel, Esc or a click outside the dialog closes it.

What the title can contain

A typed date always becomes the due date. To plan the task for a day instead, use the Plan for a day chip and leave the date out of the title.

A time typed without a date goes on the planned day, when there is one: 15:00 or at 5pm then means that time on that day, not the next time it comes round. Quick add opened for a day (a day clicked in the calendar or on the timeline, Today, or a day in Upcoming) starts with that day planned.

The chips

General holds the task's status, dates, project, labels and Done when. Agent, below it, starts with who does it; for an agent, including an inherited default, it also holds where its sessions run, the computer, the MCP servers it needs and its model. Choosing You leaves only that choice, under Done by. The date pickers open over the dialog.

Chips filled from the title are highlighted. Changing a chip overrides what was typed; the recognized words stay out of the title. An @word that matches no project is removed from the title too, without setting a project.

The computer chip names the computer the task's sessions go to. It's marked project when that's the project's computer, and auto when PacedMind picks it: in the desktop app this computer, in the web app one whose agent has what the task needs, else your default. Choosing a computer pins the task to it.

MCP servers opens a searchable list of the MCP servers and connectors your computers reported, each with the computers that have it. Select several without closing the list, or type a name that isn't listed. Up to ten are saved, and the chip shows their names.

When something would keep the session from starting where it goes, a line under the chips says so, such as Codex isn't installed on Studio PC, Claude app isn't connected to PacedMind or Not reported on Studio PC: github.

The agent, where it runs, the computer and the MCP servers are saved with the new task. Creating the task does not start an agent session. Selecting You clears the environment choice. Create more resets these choices for the next task too.

Once the task has a due date, a priority, a label, a project or an estimate, a line above the buttons summarizes them, for example due Fri 2 Oct at 10:00, high priority, label finance, in Q4 planning, about 30 min.

Model, thinking and speed

The Model chip lists the models the agent account on the task's computer reported. It reads Model until you choose one; Default keeps the agent's own configuration. Once a model is chosen, Thinking and Speed chips offer its levels and modes. These choices come from that account, so another computer or account can offer different options. A faster mode can use more of the account's allowance.

Refresh list, at the end of the menu, checks again: on this computer it asks the agent's CLI; for another computer it reads that computer's latest report. The item shows when the list was last checked; desktop apps refresh their reports every five minutes. When the account can't list its models, the menu says to sign in to the agent on that computer.

Choosing a model also selects Terminal and saves the computer with the task. Switching agents, models or computers clears dependent choices. PacedMind checks the selected settings again on the destination computer before starting, resuming or sending changes to a terminal session. If a choice is no longer available, the session waits for a new choice. The agent's desktop app and cloud keep their own model controls, so the chips are hidden when the task runs there.

Done when

The Done when chip (What must be true when it's done) adds the task's Done when list: one checkable outcome per item, which an agent answers when it hands the task back. See Done when.

Select the chip to show the Done when field under the description, and write one item per line. The field's placeholder reads One per line, e.g., followed by two examples: The export downloads the rows for the current filters and A screenshot of the new button.

• Enter starts a new line, and so a new item. Ctrl+Enter creates the task.
• A list marker at the start of a line is dropped, so a pasted list works: -, *, •, 1. or 1), followed by a space.
• Empty lines are left out, and an item that repeats another is kept once.

The chip counts the items, such as Done when · 2. Selecting the chip again hides the field while it's empty; with text in it, the field stays. The chip is there for tasks only, not for activities. After the task is created, its details panel edits the list (Done when).

Create an activity

Switch to Activity to add a fixed calendar entry instead of a task. The title then reads a start time, a length with for, and every week (or weekly, each week) for a weekly activity:

Climbing with Tomek friday 18:00 for 2h every week

The chips offer When, the length in minutes (15 to 180), and Does not repeat or Every week. A time typed in the title wins over When. With no time at all, the activity starts now. Opened for a day, it starts on that day instead: at the half hour that was clicked in the week view, otherwise at the next full hour after the current time, such as 15:00 when it's 14:20. Add to calendar creates it: Added Climbing with Tomek to the calendar. See Calendar activities.

Messages

• Give it a title first: the title is empty. A title made only of recognized parts, such as friday !high, is kept as typed.