Today
One page that answers "what's going on?" Ask a bot for your brief, answer everything that needs you, and see who's working, what runs later, what came back, and your latest threads.
Today puts your whole day on one page, across every bot:
- a brief from the bot you choose, in one click,
- everything that needs you, which you can often answer right there,
- which bots are working now,
- what's scheduled later today,
- what's already done today,
- your recent sessions.
Everything on the page links to where it lives, so it's a good place to start your morning.
Open Today
At the bottom of the sidebar, open Tools → Today.
To leave, click the Back arrow at the top left. You go back to your chat.
At the top you'll see a greeting and today's date, like Good morning · Saturday, October 10. The greeting follows the clock:
| Time | Greeting |
|---|---|
| Midnight to 5am | Working late |
| 5am to noon | Good morning |
| Noon to 6pm | Good afternoon |
| 6pm to midnight | Good evening |
On a wide window the cards sit in two columns. On a narrow window they stack.
Your brief
The Your brief card asks a bot for "What happened, what's on today, and what needs you, in a few lines."
Choose who gives the brief
If you have more than one bot, pick one from the Who gives the brief menu. It starts on the bot you had open. Pick the bot that can see the most about your day, for example an assistant with Gmail and Google Calendar connected.
Click Get my brief
Machine Desktop opens that bot's chat and sends this message for you, in the thread you have open with it:
Give me my brief for today: what happened since yesterday, what's on today, and what needs me. Keep it short.
Read and follow up
The bot replies like any other message. Ask follow-ups in the same thread, like "Draft a reply to the second email" or "Move my 3pm to tomorrow."
A better brief
A bot can only brief you on what it can see. Connect the apps your day lives in (see Connected apps), and give the bot goals in Responsibilities, like Prep my day. Put lasting wishes, like "Always start with anything from my manager", in its Soul.
Want the brief without clicking? Set up a routine that sends it every weekday morning. See Get a briefing every weekday.
Needs you
Needs you collects what's waiting on you across your bots. It has two groups:
| Group | What's in it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals | A bot asked permission before doing something, like running a command or sending an email, in the thread you currently have open with that bot. Each row shows what it wants to do, and the bot's name with a short detail. | Click ✓ (Allow once) or ⊘ (Deny) right there. Or click the row to open the thread and read the whole request first. |
| Routines that didn't run | A scheduled routine whose last run Failed, with when it ran. | Click it to open that bot's Run logs in Automations and see what went wrong. |
When nothing is waiting, you'll see "Nothing needs you. Your bots are on it."
Good to know:
- Only the thread you have open. For each bot, Needs you shows the approvals in the thread you have open with it. A request in one of its other threads waits in that thread, so open the thread to answer it.
- Allow once means once. The next time the bot wants to do the same thing, it asks again. To change what a bot may do without asking, see Approvals.
- Old requests drop off. An approval more than a day old stops showing here. It's still in its thread.
- A failed routine stays until it runs again. Opening the failed run doesn't clear it. It leaves the list once that routine runs again and doesn't fail, or a week after the failed run.
The same list sits at the top of Active Threads in the sidebar, and its count shows on the Active Threads badge. See Active Threads.
Working now
Bots that are in the middle of a job right now, each marked Working.
Click a bot to open its chat. When no bot is busy, you'll see "Everyone's at rest."
Later today
Routines that will run later today, in time order, with each one's time, name, and bot. Only active routines are listed; paused ones aren't.
When nothing else is scheduled, you'll see "Nothing else scheduled today." To add or change routines, open Tools → Automations. See Automations.
Done today
Routines that finished today, newest first, with a green tick. Up to eight are shown. Click one to open the thread with its results.
Before any routine has finished today, you'll see "No routine results yet today."
Recent sessions
Your ten most recent threads across all your bots, newest first. Each shows the thread title, the bot, and when it last changed: a time for today, or a date for earlier days.
Click one to open it.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| There's no Who gives the brief menu. | You have one bot, so it gives the brief. |
| The brief is vague or says it can't see my email or calendar. | Connect those apps to that bot, then ask again. See Connected apps. |
| The brief landed in an old thread. | It goes to the thread you last had open with that bot. Start a new thread with the bot first if you'd like it on its own. |
| A bot is asking permission but it isn't in Needs you. | The request is in a thread you don't have open with that bot. Open that thread and answer it there. |
| A routine I expected isn't in Later today. | It may be paused, or its next run is tomorrow. Check it in Tools → Automations. |
| A failed routine keeps showing. | Opening the run doesn't clear it. Fix what went wrong (see Tools → Automations → Run logs), then click Run now on the routine. Once a run doesn't fail, it leaves the list. Otherwise it drops off a week after the failed run. |
Related
- Responsibilities: give bots goals they look after without being asked.
- Automations: schedule work.
- The sidebar: Active Threads and the Tools menu.