Focus

Focus is your inbox - the short list of conversations, notes, and views that need you, kept until you mark each one Done or Later.

Updated September 30, 20266 min read

Focus is your inbox. It sits at the top of the sidebar, under the search pill, and lists what needs you in the space right now. It is personal: nobody else sees your list.

What lands in Focus

Rows arrive on their own when something happens that concerns you:

A new message in a conversation you take part in, or in a topic you have joined.
A mention of you.
A reminder that comes due.
A routine run you have not read yet.
A call starting in a conversation you are part of.

Focus starts empty and fills from what happens after you first open the space, so it never opens on a wall of history. Joining a topic works the same way: only messages sent after you joined pull a thread in. Anything older is a Cmd+K search away.

When the list is empty, the section reads Nothing needs you.

What stays out

Some things never pull themselves in, so the list stays short:

Threads you reach only through a topic you have muted, or that are shared with the whole space but filed in no topic (misc) - unless you take part in them, own them, or are mentioned.
Threads that only agents or the API have written to, in a topic set to notify on people only - until a person writes in them or you are mentioned.

You can still add any of these by hand. See Topics for muting and the people-only setting.

Done and Later

Opening a row does not clear it. A row leaves only when you say so. Hover a row to see its two actions:

A hovered Focus row showing its Later (clock) and Done (check) buttons. — Hover a row to mark it Done or send it to Later.

Done (check) - the row leaves the list. A toast offers Undo. Any later message in that conversation brings it back.
Later (clock) - park the row until a time you pick: In 20 minutes, In 1 hour, In 3 hours, Tomorrow, Next week, or Custom….

Parked rows collapse into a Later (N) list at the bottom of the section. Open it to see each row and how long until it returns. Hover a parked row to Reschedule it or Cancel it - cancelling brings the row straight back.

When the time arrives, the row returns by itself:

A conversation comes back with a ringing bell, and you get a push notification.
A note or view quietly reappears where it was.

Reminders

A reminder is a nudge tied to one message. Open a message's actions and choose Remind me, then pick a time. The same presets apply, plus Pick date & time.

Until it is due, the reminder waits in your Later list, where you can reschedule or cancel it. Remove reminder on the message cancels it too.
When it is due, the conversation enters Focus with a ringing bell and you get a push notification.
The bell rings until you open the conversation. The row then stays like any other, until you mark it Done or Later.
On a row whose reminder has fired, the clock reads Snooze and moves that same reminder to a new time.

You can also ask an agent in chat to remind you about something - see Routines.

Pin and reorder

To keep something in Focus yourself, choose Add to Focus on any thread, note, or view - from its right-click menu, or from the action bar of the open pane. Pinned rows sit at the top and show a pin where the time would be. Remove from Focus takes it back out.

Focus is one list you can drag:

Drag within the pinned or unpinned rows to reorder them. The order is saved to your account and follows you across devices.
Drag a row up among the pinned rows to pin it. When nothing is pinned yet, drag it to the very top.
Drag a pinned row down to unpin it. It stays listed as an ordinary row until you mark it Done or Later.

While you drag, a small Pinned or Active label shows where the row will land. A row that gets a new message jumps back to the top of the unpinned rows.

If you lose access to something you pinned, its row shows as Hidden with a remove button, and nothing about it is revealed.

Reading a row

You see	It means
Bold title	Unread.
Ringing bell	A reminder of yours has come due here.
Three moving dots in place of the time	Naumu or another agent is working in that thread right now.
Green check or red !	A run you started has finished (or is waiting on you), or has failed. It clears when you open the thread.

Collapse the section and its header sums up the hidden rows, such as the unread count.

Four Focus rows: a pinned thread, one with three moving dots, one with a ringing reminder bell, and one with a green check. — Each Focus row shows why it is there: pinned, Naumu at work, a due reminder, or a finished run.

Clearing a lot at once

The section header has a + that starts a new chat and a ⋯ menu with two batch actions:

Done all - settles every row in the list. One Undo restores them all.
Later all… - parks every row until one time you pick.

Two shortcuts help with unread in general:

Cmd+U opens your most recent unread conversation. Press it again to walk through the rest.
Clear all unread, a command in the Cmd+K palette, marks the whole space read. To clear one topic only, use Clear unread at the top of that topic's pane.

Clearing unread never silences a reminder. A due reminder keeps its bell until you open the conversation or remove the reminder.

On a phone

Every Focus row shows a round check in place of its time. Tap it for Done. Press and hold it to open the Later picker. The row's long-press menu lists both actions as well. To reorder, press and hold a row for a moment, then move your finger.

Finding your way around - where Focus sits in the app.
Topics - muting, and pins a whole topic shares.
Find anything - Cmd+K for everything that is not in Focus.
Routines - routines, and asking an agent for a reminder.