AUTOMATIONS: an Automations mode plus contextual nudges in every mode (grill first) #296

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opened 2026-09-28 06:50:23 +00:00 by kayg · 0 comments
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Owner (2026-09-28, during the mail grill #257): 'I should also be able to do mailbox automations btw but this is again an automations feature that belongs to its own issue… basically we need to have an automation tab for sure but also slightly nudge in automations here and there in every tab for discoverability.'

DESIGN.md §31 already lists Automations as 'a separate round'. This issue is that round. Grill the owner before building anything.

Known inputs:

  • An Automations mode (tab): one place to see, create, test, pause and inspect the run history of every automation.
  • Contextual nudges in every mode, for discoverability: small, dismissible entry points where an automation is the natural next step. Examples: Mail 'Always do this for mail from this sender…' (mailbox rules: move, label, mark read, forward, make a task); Files 'When a file lands in this folder…'; Photos 'When photos from this camera arrive…'; Calendar 'Before every event tagged #x…'; Notes 'When a task is completed…'. Nudges reuse the context menus, the context toolbar and the ⋯ menus; they never add a new bar (chrome rules §34).
  • Mail rules are the first concrete use: triggers on new mail (sender, list, subject, account, folder) and actions (move, flag, mark read, archive, forward, Make task / Remind me, notify).
  • Related: Shortcuts/Siri later (#50), the Agents feature (not refined yet; the owner said so on #257), and the Notifications plugin.

Grill topics to prepare: the trigger/condition/action model and whether it is shared across plugins; whether rules run on the server (they must, since the server is the single writer); dry-run and history; loops and rate limits; permissions and Shares; how rules are stored (as files in Home, 'file over app'?); the UI for building a rule (a sentence builder vs blocks); nudge frequency and a dismiss memory. Put the research and grill questions in docs/research/automations.md first.

Owner (2026-09-28, during the mail grill #257): 'I should also be able to do mailbox automations btw but this is again an automations feature that belongs to its own issue… basically we need to have an automation tab for sure but also slightly nudge in automations here and there in every tab for discoverability.' DESIGN.md §31 already lists **Automations** as 'a separate round'. This issue is that round. **Grill the owner before building anything.** Known inputs: - **An Automations mode (tab)**: one place to see, create, test, pause and inspect the run history of every automation. - **Contextual nudges in every mode, for discoverability**: small, dismissible entry points where an automation is the natural next step. Examples: Mail 'Always do this for mail from this sender…' (mailbox rules: move, label, mark read, forward, make a task); Files 'When a file lands in this folder…'; Photos 'When photos from this camera arrive…'; Calendar 'Before every event tagged #x…'; Notes 'When a task is completed…'. Nudges reuse the context menus, the context toolbar and the ⋯ menus; they never add a new bar (chrome rules §34). - Mail rules are the first concrete use: triggers on new mail (sender, list, subject, account, folder) and actions (move, flag, mark read, archive, forward, Make task / Remind me, notify). - Related: Shortcuts/Siri later (#50), the Agents feature (not refined yet; the owner said so on #257), and the Notifications plugin. Grill topics to prepare: the trigger/condition/action model and whether it is shared across plugins; whether rules run on the server (they must, since the server is the single writer); dry-run and history; loops and rate limits; permissions and Shares; how rules are stored (as files in Home, 'file over app'?); the UI for building a rule (a sentence builder vs blocks); nudge frequency and a dismiss memory. Put the research and grill questions in docs/research/automations.md first.
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kayg/calternal#296
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