Keep a useful journal
The Journal is Lotti's mixed entry feed. It brings notes, photos, recordings, events, checklists, measurements, and AI responses together without turning them into tasks. Use it when you want to remember, inspect, or connect what happened; use Tasks when the entry itself is work you still need to do.
Read the mixed feed
Every card leads with its content and uses a coloured glyph to identify the entry type. The colour comes from the entry's category, so Penguin Operations, Mission Control, and Fish Diplomacy remain recognizable even when several entry types appear together.
Cards add the metadata that matters for their type. For example:
- an audio memo shows its duration and flag;
- an event shows its status, date, rating, and note;
- a checklist shows completion progress;
- a measurement shows its value and unit; and
- an AI response is marked as AI-generated.
The feed loads in pages, so a long journal does not have to render its entire history at once.
Search by words or meaning
Use Full Text to find the words stored in an entry. When vector search is enabled, switch to Vector to look for entries with a similar meaning even when they use different wording. Vector results are returned as one ranked set rather than as an endlessly paged feed.
If vector search is unavailable or later disabled, Lotti returns the Journal to full-text mode instead of leaving search in an unusable state.
Filter what appears
Open the filter button beside Search. You can narrow the Journal to:
- starred, flagged, or private entries;
- one or more entry types, including Text, Event, Audio, Photo, Checklist, To Do, and AI Response; and
- one or more categories.
Lotti saves these choices for the Journal. Task filters are stored separately, so changing the Journal view does not unexpectedly rearrange the Tasks page.
Add an entry
Select + to open the Add menu. From the main Journal you can create a text entry, task, event, or audio recording, import a photo, or take a screenshot. A paste action can appear when the clipboard holds an image. Event creation is shown when the Events feature is enabled.
The same menu adapts inside an existing entry. There it can also create a timer already linked to the entry, and task details can offer a linked checklist. Imported, pasted, dropped, and captured images can go through automatic image analysis when that automation is configured.
Read and edit an entry
The detail header keeps the entry date, category, labels, star, flag, privacy, and overflow actions together. Select the body to edit rich text. Save from the editor controls, or use Ctrl+S on Windows and Linux and Command+S on macOS. Unsaved text is kept as a draft; discarding restores the last saved content.
The overflow menu contains the actions that apply to the current entry type, including copy, delete, and media actions. On desktop, image and audio entries can also reveal their source file in the file manager.
Change an entry's date and duration
Select the date or duration in the entry header to open Date & Time. For a same-day entry, choose one date and set the start and end time independently. The duration summary updates as the wheels move. Turn on Pick a separate end date for an overnight or multi-day entry, and use either Now action to move that endpoint to the current date and time.
Select the date button to open the calendar page. Today returns to the current day, Done returns to the range editor, and Save applies the complete start/end range to the entry.
Changing the timestamp affects where the entry appears in chronological views. It does not rewrite the entry text or detach its linked activity.
Follow linked activity
Entries can link to photos, timers, audio, AI results, notes, and other supporting records. The activity pills let you show or hide Timer, Audio, Images, and Code entries. Open the sort control to switch between newest-first and oldest-first ordering, include hidden links, or show only flagged activity.
The two directions mean different things:
- activity below the entry is linked from this entry; and
- Linked from lists entries that point to this entry.
For example, the Project Waddle mission log contains its launch photo, diagnostic prompt, and roll-call timer, while the launch-review task appears under Linked from because that task also references the log.
Open the sort pill to stage several visibility changes together. Choose the order, whether hidden entries should be included, and whether only flagged entries should remain. The activity list changes when you select the checkmark to finish the sheet; closing the sheet any other way discards the staged choices.
Open and save a photo
Select an inline photo to open the full-screen viewer. Pinch or use the viewer controls to zoom and pan, then reset the image when needed. Saving uses the original file rather than the smaller preview: mobile writes to the photo library after permission is granted, while desktop opens the system save dialog so you choose the destination.
Journal or task?
| Use the Journal for… | Use Tasks for… |
|---|---|
| A mission log, photo, voice memo, measurement, event memory, or AI result | An action with a status, priority, estimate, checklist, or work session |
| “Europa sardines are colder than diplomatic protocol requires” | “Recalibrate the zero-gravity fish feeder” |
| Evidence and context you may want to revisit | Work you need to plan, execute, and complete |
Link them when a task needs evidence from the Journal. This keeps the action focused while preserving the richer operational record behind it.