🪨 Cairn — ADHD Task Manager

A task manager built for brains that work differently.

✨ Features

🧠 Brain Dump

Hit ⌘⇧I (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) to open a capture overlay. Type everything on your mind — one task per line, Enter to save. Tasks land in your Inbox to organize later.

✨ AI Parse — click to have a local Ollama model extract structured tasks (with priorities and sub-steps) from your free-form text. See AI Brain Dump.

🎯 Focus Mode

Shows one task at a time to eliminate list overwhelm. Navigate with Prev / Next, run the built-in Pomodoro timer (25 min work / 5 min break), and hit ✓ Done for a confetti reward.

📋 Task List

📥 Inbox — brain-dumped tasks not yet organized
Today — active, prioritized tasks
MIT prompt — nudges you to pick top priorities when none are set

🔴 Smart Priorities

Level	Meaning
🔴 MIT	Most Important Task — must happen today
🟠 High	Important, do after MITs
🔵 Normal	On the list, no pressure
⚪ Someday	Captured so your brain can let it go

🧩 Task Breakdown

Expand any task to add ordered sub-steps. A progress bar tracks completion and steps carry into Focus Mode.

🎉 Dopamine Rewards

Confetti burst + rotating celebration message on completion. 🔥 Streak counter tracks consecutive days with at least one completed task.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Mac	Windows / Linux
Open Cairn Panel	`⌘⇧T`	`Ctrl+Shift+T`
Quick Capture (Brain Dump)	`⌘⇧I`	`Ctrl+Shift+I`

Customizable via File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts — search cairn.

🖥 Commands

⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P → type Cairn:

Command	Description
`Cairn: Open Panel`	Opens the main Cairn panel
`Cairn: Quick Capture Task`	Opens the brain dump overlay
`Cairn: Start Focus Mode`	Opens the panel in Focus Mode

⚙️ Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`cairn.ai.ollamaUrl`	`http://localhost:11434`	Ollama server URL
`cairn.ai.model`	`gpt-oss`	Ollama model for AI parsing

Pomodoro timings (work/break minutes) are stored in .vscode/cairn.json and editable directly.

💡 Tips

Capture first, organize later. Use Brain Dump to empty your head, then batch-triage the Inbox.
Set MITs at the start of each day. Tag your top 1–3 tasks 🔴 MIT — that's your whole day's goal.
Use Focus Mode for doing, not the list. The list is for organizing; Focus Mode is for executing.

🔒 Privacy

All data is 100% local. Cairn never contacts external servers. The optional AI feature sends text only to a local Ollama process on your own machine.

Full Privacy Policy →

🤖 AI Brain Dump (Ollama)

Parse brain dump text into structured tasks using a local AI model — no cloud, no API key.

Setup

Platform	Command
macOS	`brew install ollama` then `ollama pull gpt-oss`
Windows	Download from ollama.com/download, then run `ollama pull gpt-oss` in a terminal
Linux	`curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh \\| sh` then `ollama pull gpt-oss`

Ollama starts automatically and listens on http://localhost:11434.

Usage

Open Brain Dump (⌘⇧I / Ctrl+Shift+I), type your thoughts, click ✨ AI Parse.

Dev container users: host.docker.internal resolves to the host machine on both Docker Desktop for Mac and Docker Desktop for Windows — already pre-configured in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json.

💾 Storage

Tasks are saved to .vscode/cairn.json in your workspace (plain JSON, version-controllable). Falls back to VS Code global storage when no workspace is open.

🐛 Feedback

This is a personal project — the source repository is private and not open for contributions.

For questions, bug reports, or feature requests visit the Support page or the Q&A tab on the VS Code Marketplace page.

📄 License

MIT

Part of [Foculoom](https://foculoom.com) — apps for neurodivergent minds. Also available on **[Mac & iPhone/iPad](https://foculoom.com/cairn/)** (native apps, currently in Apple review).

Cairn — ADHD Task Manager

Tosa Ojiru