Check and file a captured item

Every capture stops at one check step before it is saved. It shows the item as it will sit in Attention: a title, notes, and five pills for CATEGORY, URGENCY, WHEN, PEOPLE and DESK. Plexii fills these in from what you wrote. Usually the only thing left to do is press Enter.

The check step opens wherever you captured: in the Capture window, or just above the message box when you type @attention in a chat with Plexii. It works the same in both places.

Before you start

• The check step is available on every plan.
• The Attention layer must be on in Settings > AI. See Turn Attention on or off.
• To get here, capture something first. See Capture something into Attention.

File an item

1. Capture something. While Plexii reads it, the step says Classifying… for a moment.
2. Read the line at the top: Plexii read it like this. Click any field below to change it — or press Enter to file.
3. Check the title and the pills. Anything shown in your accent colour is Plexii's guess; anything in normal text is a default or a choice you made.
4. To change a pill, click it. A drawer opens under the pills with a question and the choices. Click a choice and the drawer closes.
5. Press Enter, or click File it.

A note at the bottom of the window confirms it, for example Filed to Review — “Proposal from Dana”. Click Undo in the note within a few seconds to take it back.

The five pills

CATEGORY: what is it asking you to do?

The category is the queue the item goes into. Choose one of the eight:

Press the number key to pick a category without opening the drawer, or press ← and → to step through them. Each category closes with its own word later on, such as Done or Responded. See Queues, closing verbs and grouping.

Plexii picks the category from the words you used. For example, "reply to" goes to Respond, "decide whether" to Decide, "review" or "approve" to Review, "schedule" to Meet, "talk through" or "agenda" to Discuss, "remind me" or "need to" to To Do, an idea to Remember, and a line starting with "fyi:" to Know. A line ending in a question mark goes to Respond. When the words do not settle it, Plexii's AI decides. If that is not possible, the item starts in Remember.

URGENCY: how hard is it pushing?

Choose Low, Normal, High or Urgent. Every item starts at Normal, and Plexii never guesses this one. On the Attention page, an item with any urgency other than Normal shows a small flag.

WHEN: when should this come back to you?

Choose Today, Tomorrow, This week or Someday, or pick a date in the date box under them.

• Someday means no date. It is where every item starts unless Plexii found a date in your words.
• This week means this Friday, or today if today is Friday.
• Dates are set for 5 pm on the day you choose.

When your words include a clear date, such as "tomorrow", "by Friday" or "end of week", Plexii fills it in. When an item that needs action includes a vague one, such as "asap" or "before the launch", the drawer opens by itself and asks the question with your phrase in it, for example When should this come back to you? (“asap”).

PEOPLE: who is this about or with?

The pill shows No one, one name, or a first name and a count such as Sam +1.

Plexii suggests people your words name, from the people in your organisation's directory. If a name could mean more than one person, the drawer asks Which “Sam”? and lists the matches. In the drawer you can also click a person to add them, click the × on a chosen person to remove them, or type in Find a person… when there are more than six to choose from.

A mention keeps the person with the item for your reference. As the drawer says, it does not send them anything.

If the drawer says Nobody to offer — this workspace has no org directory loaded., there is no directory to choose from. You can still name people in the title or notes.

DESK: where does this work already live?

The pill shows the desk the item will be filed on, or No desk. If you captured while a desk was open, that desk is already chosen.

In the drawer:

• Click No desk, or one of your five most recently changed desks.
• Use the box under them to add tags and mentions. Type a word and press Enter or a comma to add a tag. Type @ to mention a person, desk, room or plan. Press Backspace in the empty box to remove the last one.
• Under Suggested, click a tag such as #launch to add it. Plexii suggests tags you have already used on other items. Nothing is added until you click it.

While suggested tags are waiting, the pill says so, for example No desk · 2 tags?.

Edit the title and notes

The title is shown at the top of the draft. Under it, click Add notes… to type notes. In the notes, Enter starts a new line; press ⌘ Enter (Ctrl Enter on Windows) to file.

Tidied wording

When your capture is more than a few words, or has notes, Plexii offers a tidier version: a crisp title and clean notes, keeping every name, date and link you wrote. It appears in the draft a moment after the step opens, and Tidied · undo shows at the top right.

• Keep it. Press Enter or click File it. If the tidy is still on its way, filing waits a few seconds for it.
• Put your words back in the draft. Click Tidied · undo.
• File your exact words. Click Enter as is beside File it. Notes you typed on the check step are kept either way.

Plexii never rewrites notes you typed on the check step itself.

Also caught

Sometimes one capture holds more than one thing, such as review the deck and reply to Sam. Plexii files the first part as the item and lists the rest under Also caught another (or Also caught 2 more), each with its category. They are filed together with the item unless you click one to uncheck it. Typed captures offer up to three extras.

When you capture a highlighted list, every line after the first shows here as its own item, in the same category, with indented lines grouped under the line above them.

Go back or cancel

• Press Esc to close an open drawer. Press it again to leave the check step.
• In the Capture window, ← back to your words returns to the text boxes with what you wrote, so you can change it and press Enter again.
• In a chat, Cancel puts your message back in the box.

Nothing is filed until you press Enter or click File it or Enter as is.

Tips

• Write it the way you would say it. "Reply to Sam about the venue by Friday" gets Respond and Friday at 5 pm with no clicks, and Sam too if Sam is in your organisation's directory.
• Let the colour guide your eye. Only check the pills shown in your accent colour; the rest are defaults.
• Use the number keys. A wrong category is one key press away: 1 to 8.

Common questions

I pressed Enter and nothing happened. The check step ignores the key press that opened it, so a held or very quick Enter may not count. Press Enter again, or click File it.

It says Could not classify that. Try again. Click Back and press Enter again. If it keeps happening, file your words as they are with ⌘ Enter (Ctrl Enter) from the Capture window.

Why did my item go to Remember? Short notes with no clear verb, ideas, and captures Plexii could not place start in Remember. Change the category before you file, or move the item later.

There is no tidied version. A tidy is only offered for captures of five or more words, more than one sentence, or with notes, and only when Plexii's AI is available. Short captures are already their own tidy.

I filed the wrong thing. Click Undo in the note at the bottom of the window. The item is dismissed rather than deleted. To change an item instead, open it from the Attention page. See Close, snooze, archive and edit an item.

Does mentioning someone tell them? No. It keeps the person with the item. They are not sent anything.

Related tasks

• Capture something into Attention
• Queues, closing verbs and grouping
• Close, snooze, archive and edit an item
• Attention: everything that needs you
• Turn Attention on or off