Mind Like Water

Appearance

Tags ​

Tags are flexible cross-cutting labels you can apply to any task, project, or note. Use them for anything that doesn't fit into Areas of Focus or Projects — topics, themes, statuses, or anything you want to filter on later.

Five categories ​

Every tag has a category that affects how it renders and where it surfaces:

CategoryExampleWhere it surfaces
person@sarah, @momAuto-detected as a "Waiting on" person; renders with @ prefix in the task list
place@home, @office, @groceryGTD-style location context; renders with @ prefix
context@phone, @computer, @errandsGTD-style tool/state context; renders with @ prefix
topic#renewal, #research, #hiringStandard topical label; renders with # prefix
label#urgent, #blocked, #15minStatus / meta label; same # prefix as topic

The category is set when you create the tag — MLW infers from the prefix character you type (@ → person/place/context, # → topic/label). You can change the category later in Settings → Tags.

Nested tags ​

Tags can have parent tags. #meetings/standups is a sub-tag of #meetings, which makes filtering hierarchical: filter by #meetings and you see every standup, retro, and 1:1; filter by #meetings/standups for just standups.

The terminology in MLW is nested tags — not "hierarchical tags" or "sub-tags" — to keep the language simple.

The tag tree (Notes view) ​

The Notes view has a tag tree on the side. It shows:

  • Areas at the top — every tag belongs to an Area of Focus
  • Tags within each area, indented to show parent/child nesting
  • Notes that have a tag can be expanded inline under that tag
  • Drag-and-drop:
    • Drag a tag onto another tag → makes it a child
    • Drag a tag onto an Area row → moves the tag (and its children) to that Area
    • Drag a note onto a tag → adds the tag to the note
    • Drag a note onto an Area → promotes the note (assigns it to that Area)

The tree updates live across tabs.

Creating tags ​

Three ways:

  1. Inline in any capture — type #topic or @person in a task title, note title, or note body. MLW creates the tag if it doesn't exist and attaches it.
  2. Tag picker — open a task or note, click the + Tags chip in the detail pane, type a name. (,t chord on a selected task.)
  3. Settings → Tags — explicitly create with a chosen category, color, and icon. Useful when you want full control or to bulk-rename.

Tags created inline default to the "topic" or "label" category; the picker lets you set the category up front.

Tag icons ​

Each tag can have an emoji or Lucide icon. MLW auto-suggests one when you create a tag (based on the name — #meeting gets a calendar icon, #travel gets a plane). You can override in Settings → Tags or via the inline picker on the tag tree.

Icons appear next to the tag name in the tree and in pill chips in detail panes.

Filtering by tag ​

Most task views (Today / Next Actions / Inbox / Project Detail) have a tag chip in the chip rail when at least two of your visible tasks share a tag. Click to filter; shift-click to exclude. The chip rail uses the standard three-state include/exclude/off interaction.

Tag filters AND across categories, OR within. "Show me tasks tagged #urgent OR #blocked, that ALSO have @phone context" is a single state of the chip rail.

Renaming + deleting ​

Rename: Settings → Tags → click the tag → edit name. The rename propagates to every entity using the tag — no broken references.

Delete: same panel → trash icon. Confirms the count of items using the tag before destroying. Tasks and notes keep existing; they just lose the tag.

Keyboard shortcut ​

ShortcutAction
, tOpen the Tags picker on the selected task

What MLW doesn't do (yet) ​

  • No tag descriptions — tags are names + categories + icons + color, not full notes about themselves
  • No saved tag combinations — you can't pin "#urgent + @phone" as a one-click view (use pinned filter combos in the chip rail for that — different feature)
  • No tag aliases — #meeting and #meetings are distinct tags; bulk-rename is the workaround