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Life Console user guide

Everything Life Console does, screen by screen. For a quick overview, see the README; to run your own server, see SELF_HOSTING.md.

Screens

Screen	Route	Works
S-01 Command Center	`#/`	driver's console: NOW full width on top (next block as a one-line hint); below it the day's schedule beside the next deadline (title left, a big ticking time-remaining or overdue-by readout right, plus the next four) and Left today, which stretches to the bottom of the column; the page fills the window; the day's timeline (vertical by default with S/M/L zoom and Now, or the horizontal strip; remembered per device; drag todos onto it); Left today with priority, start time, a small workload meter (right end of its header) and one-click delete (Undo in the toast); its Backlog button opens the backlog as a column beside the day's list (by priority, stacked below it on phones): drag a task into the list or onto the schedule, or click it, to put it on that day without changing its priority; drag a day task onto the column to send it back (Undo in the toast; today and future days only); one telemetry line (seals, sleep, caffeine, routines, due-now alerts). More (remembered) brings back the full briefing: 7-day deadlines, top PSGs, sign-off ledger, routines/sleep/caffeine/reviews/lectures tiles
S-11 Day view	`#/day/YYYY-MM-DD`	the Command Center for any date: ‹ › arrows or `[` `]` step a day, Today returns; non-today dates show a day summary instead of the live NOW card; click a day header in Plan week to open it
S-10 Plan week	`#/week`	the whole planning flow on one sheet: ① backlog panel → ② a 7-hour workload bucket per day → ③ that day's timeline directly below; one-click day buttons, Auto time-box, linked hover, balance and routines in a side rail; click the backlog header (or ① in the week bar) for Backlog by week: one list with Unplanned on top and the next 4 weeks below, each with its free hours and the deadlines & goal milestones due that week; drag or click to give a task a week, and the week view then offers it in that week's backlog (unfinished weeks roll over); tasks can link to deadlines (`DL-n`)
S-20 Todo Inbox	`#/todos`	views / link / L-S-D / priority filters, smart quick-add parser, bulk schedule / priority / link / done, edit drawer. Subtasks (any depth): break a task down in its drawer (quick-add syntax, e.g. `Write intro 20m`); the task's estimate becomes a budget with a "left to assign" readout, subtasks inherit its links/priority and are what you schedule; the task is done when they all are. Shown nested in the inbox and the strategy tree, with a parent breadcrumb in the backlog and day lists
S-21 Deadlines	`#/deadlines`	the next deadline on top with a big ticking countdown; every row leads with time left (colour = urgency); list grouped Overdue / Today / This week / Next week / Later (+ Done) and, on wide screens, the month calendar beside it (phones toggle List / Month) (click a day, or its +, to add a deadline right in that cell); quick-add, source filter, edit/delete dialog; overdue badge in the sidebar
S-35 Strategy overview	`#/strategy`	goals at a glance: next milestone (nearest SIG time bound) as a big countdown with a "N goals behind" flag; every active plan's PSGs with their SIGs as rows (progress, criteria, linked deadline countdown, time bound; late SIGs red, the next SIG tagged NEXT; click opens the plan with that goal selected); plan cards (status, delete) below
S-30 Strategic Plan	`#/strategy/SP-03`	Vision → PSG → SIG tree with each goal's linked tasks under it (Tasks toggle, "+ task" per SIG), editable PSG/SIG tables (PSG % = mean of SIG %), time bounds as a date picker or ∞ Continuous with amber checks (not a date, SIG ends after its PSG, ends before a SIG it depends on), check schedule, events timetable, linked todos. Goal flow at the bottom: the plan as a dataflow of cards generated from SIG dependencies, on a calendar axis (each card's ◆ sits on its end date; today line, events and linked deadlines as markers). Arrows split and merge, SIG chains flow into their PSG and PSGs into the Vision; continuous/undated goals sit in an ∞ column; impossible orders drawn red; click a goal to trace what it needs (double-click opens it in the table). Drag a card sideways to move its time bound; drag a continuous one onto the axis to give it a date. Focus: selecting a goal lights up its SIGs, tasks, deadlines and dependencies (never its parents) and dims the rest. Lock a time bound (hover the Time bound cell or a flow card) to stop edits and dragging. A SIG's PSG can be changed in the SIG table (it is renumbered, links follow); the plan's deadlines show under their goals and in a Deadlines panel
S-95 Issues	`#/issues`	the to-fix list for the app itself: press `I` (or the bug button in the top bar) on any screen to report a bug, UX problem or idea about that screen; the screen, route and device are attached; filter by status/screen, change status, see how each was fixed. Agents read the list with `npm run issues` (see docs/ISSUES.md)
Other modules	`#/m/...`	Placeholder that lists the planned screens

Keyboard: F focus mode · ⌘K palette · N new todo · T today · W week · G S strategy · G I inbox · G L workload · G D deadlines · J/K move · Enter open · X done · 1–5 priority · S stamp · [ ] week · I report an issue · G B issues.

Quick-add syntax: Read chapter 3 #ST2001 30m due:fri p2 @SIG-02.1 [L]

Quick-add: the live parser reads estimate, priority, due date and goal link as you type

Deadlines

Add one from the Deadlines screen, the Deadlines · 7d panel on Today / the day view, or the + in any Plan week day's Deadlines section (defaults to that day). Syntax: ST2001 Report 3 due:fri 17:00 #ST2001 p1 ! Upload PDF (due: today / tomorrow / weekday / MM-DD / YYYY-MM-DD, defaulting to the day you're on; HH:MM, default 23:59; p1–p5; # or @ sets the source; text after ! becomes the vital points). Click any deadline to edit or delete it.

Planning flow (mirrors the paper planner)

Everything happens on Plan week (#/week). Each day column is stacked like the paper template: ② Workload (a 7-hour bucket) directly above ③ Schedule (that day's timeline).

Backlog (left panel): capture new tasks in the box at the top (N focuses it; same quick syntax as the Inbox, e.g. Write report 90m p1 due:fri @SP-03). Hover a task and click a day button (each shows that day's free hours), or drag it into a day's bucket. Drop a task back here to unassign it.
Assign day: tasks stack in the bucket, sized by their estimate. Red overflow above the 7h line means too much; the Balance rail suggests moves.
Assign time: drag a block from the bucket straight down onto the timeline, or press ⚡ (per day) / Auto time-box week to fill free gaps between 08:00 and 21:00 in priority order.

The step bar shows progress (4 to place → 12 on this week → 4/12 time-boxed), and its buttons switch the layout to emphasise days, times or both. A guide line names the next thing to do. Hovering a task highlights it in the backlog, its bucket and its timeline at once. /workload and G L open the planner with the day-focused layout.

Planning a task over days and times

Click a task's plan button (backlog cards and workload blocks; Plan over days / times… in the task drawer; double-click a merged workload card). The task's estimate is a budget:

Days: each day of the week has a − / + stepper (30 min steps, or + all for the rest). The big To plan number goes down as you give days time, and each day shows its workload after the plan (6.2/7h, red only when over). Spread evenly and Fill free time fill the week in one click. Use ‹ › to plan into other weeks.
Times within a day: a day with time shows a strip of its schedule (grey = booked, blue = this task). Add a time takes a sitting (up to 1h) out of that day's amount and puts it in the next free gap; Auto times cuts the whole day amount into ≤ 1h sittings. Edit any start time or length; whatever has no time waits untimed in that day's bucket.

Anything not given to a day stays in the backlog. Estimate − / + changes the budget. Enter applies and Esc cancels; Apply can be undone from the toast. Opening it again on a planned task shows the current plan to edit (done parts are kept). Under the hood each sitting, each day's untimed rest and the backlog rest is an ordinary task part (1/3, 2/3…, same title, links, priority, due date; existing ids are reused). The workload bucket shows all of a task's parts on one day as one card ("4h · 4 times"); the timeline shows each sitting as its own block. If dropping a task overfills a day, a message offers to plan it.

Removing things from the schedule

Timeline ✕: on a task it only clears the start time (the task stays on that day's list). On a fixed block it removes the block. On a phone the ✕ is always shown while the schedule is unlocked.
Tap a block (works even when locked): fixed blocks open a dialog with Remove from schedule. Tasks open the drawer with Remove from schedule (clear the time), Unschedule from (back to the backlog) and Delete.
Every removal has Undo in the toast. The padlock (on by default on touch devices) only stops dragging, resizing and the ✕.

What should I do right now?

NOW card (top of Today): the block you should be in, with a live countdown and a progress bar, or how much free time you have. It also shows what to do: a todo linked to the current block, or in free time the highest-priority open todo that fits before the next block (Start now schedules it at the current time). The next block is shown with a countdown.
NOW pill in the top bar on every screen, and in the browser tab title.
Focus mode (F, #/focus): a full-screen view of the same information plus the top 3 actions (1–3 to tick them off). X completes the todo you're currently on. Esc leaves.

Timeline editing

Move: drag any block (fixed or todo) along a timeline. In the Weekly Planner you can drop it on another day. It snaps to 15 min and keeps its duration.
Resize: drag a block's end edge (the right edge on Today, the bottom edge in the week view) to change its end time. For a todo this changes its time estimate.
Schedule: drag a todo from any list onto a timeline to give it a start time.

Notes

Accounts: with a server, everyone signs in (email + password); each account has its own planner. Settings → Account has sign out, change password and delete account. Signing out removes the planner copy from that browser. A new account starts with the demo planner (generated relative to the current week); Settings → Data resets, exports or imports it.
Usage statistics: if the server collects them (the public service does), the app sends which screens are opened, as route patterns only (/app/day/:date, never dates, IDs or planner content), with no cookies. Turn it off in Settings → Privacy; the choice syncs to all your devices.
Workload is the sum of the todo estimates scheduled on that day. Fixed time blocks are calendar items and don't count.
Category colours (--cat-* in styles.css) come from the validated categorical palette. They're separate from the status colours (green = done, amber = warning, red = overdue).

Moving several schedule items at once

Select: Shift-, ⌘- or Ctrl-click blocks on any schedule (long-press on phones). While a selection is open, plain clicks/taps add or remove blocks. Esc clears it, and so does changing screen.
Move: drag any selected block and they all move by the same amount (to another day too), or use ↑/↓ (15 min, Shift = 1 h) and ←/→ (a day). Delete takes them off the schedule (tasks stay on their day). The bar at the bottom has the same actions, and every action has one Undo.

Pomodoro planning

Settings → Pomodoro sets the rhythm (default 25m work, 5m short break, 15m long break after 4) and turns it on or off for all devices.
While it's on, Plan this task moves estimates and day amounts in whole pomodoros, and Auto times walks the day's free gaps, filling each with as many whole pomodoros as fit (up to one set) with a long break after each sitting. Auto schedule and dragging a task onto the timeline also lay it out as pomodoros.
A pomodoro sitting's block spans its breaks (50m of work = 09:00–09:55), drawn as dashed lines inside the block. Sittings keep their layout if the rhythm is turned off later.

Phone app, sync and notifications

Install (needs HTTPS): on iPhone use Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen; on Android use Chrome → Install app. Then go to Settings → Notifications → Turn on for this device. iOS needs 16.4+ and only delivers push to Home Screen apps.
Sync: each account's planner is one document on the server (/api/state, versioned, snapshotted hourly). Devices push edits after about 1.5s and pull every 30s, on focus and when back online. Conflicts are three-way merged per record and field (src/merge.js); only clashes on the same field go to the newest edit, and the server keeps backups of overwritten versions. A device with its own data asks once whether to use the server's copy or its own.
Notifications (server scheduler, server/schedule.mjs, in the timezone of the device you last used):
- Blocks and tasks: N min before each block or timed task starts, plus Time's up when a timed task ends, with a Mark done action.
- Deadlines: 1 day and 1 hour before, and at the due time.
- Daily: a morning briefing, and an evening sign-off reminder.
- Wellbeing: a caffeine cutoff warning and a wind-down reminder.
- Pomodoro switches: in a pomodoro sitting, Break · 5 min when each pomodoro ends and Back to work when the break is over.
Each kind can be toggled, and its times set, in Settings.
No sound or vibration? The phone decides that, not the app, and Android often files a new site's notifications as Silent. Long-press a Life Console notification and choose Alerting, or go to Android Settings → Notifications → App notifications → Life Console (or Chrome) → the site's category → turn on Sound, Vibration and Pop on screen. Also check the site is Allowed in Chrome → Site settings → Notifications, the phone isn't on Mute/Do Not Disturb, and battery use is Unrestricted. On iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Life Console → Sounds and Banners on. The same steps are in Settings → Notifications → Test arrives silently, or not at all?
Server (server/): plain Node http, PostgreSQL via Drizzle ORM, and web-push. Accounts, planners, snapshots, push devices, VAPID keys and the issue log are all in the database.