# Plan your work

> Five building blocks, seven views, one set of plain files.

Kempt plans with five building blocks: Goals, Projects, Work Items, Events, and Notes. Each one is a single markdown file in your home folder, and every view is a different lens on those same files. Move a card, drag a bar, or check something off, and Kempt writes the change back into the file itself.

## Try this

1. Create a project in a workspace. Give it a short prefix, and every task in it gets an id like GT-001.
2. Add a task with only a title. Nothing else is required.
3. Open the task and paste several lines of text into the subtask area. Each line becomes its own subtask.
4. Flip the view toggle through **List**, **Board**, **Timeline**, and **Project Map**. Drag the task's card to another Board column, drag its Timeline bar to shift its dates, then drag its node onto a different parent in the Project Map. Each drag edits the same markdown file, and the Project Map drag actually moves the file.
5. Give the task today's date, open **Today** in the left rail, and check it off there. The file updates at its source, and every other view reflects it.

## The five building blocks

- **Goal**: an outcome you are working toward, with tracked progress.
- **Project**: a container for related work, ongoing or deadline-based.
- **Work Item**: a task. Only a title is required.
- **Event**: something that happens on a date, with optional recurrence.
- **Note**: freeform writing.

Each item is one markdown file. Open your home folder and you can read your whole plan as plain text.

## Work items

A work item needs only a title. When you want more, add a status, a priority from P1 to P4, dates, a project, or a full markdown body below the title.

### Subtasks

Subtasks nest under a parent task. Completing or archiving the parent cascades to its subtasks. To create many at once, paste multiple lines of text into the subtask area: one line becomes one subtask.

## Dates and repeats

An item has one main date. Add an end date to turn it into a range, and add a time when the time matters. Events can repeat. When you edit a repeating event, Kempt asks how far the change should reach: this event only, this and following, or all.

## Goals

Goals track progress in two modes. Auto mode rolls progress up live from the work linked to the goal. Manual mode lets you set progress yourself with check-ins. Each workspace also has a dedicated **Goals** view.

## The seven views

Two views live in the left rail and span all workspaces:

- **Today** gathers everything due across all your workspaces. Checking an item off here updates it at its source.
- **Calendar** shows a month, week, or day. Drag an item to move it, resize it to change its duration.

Inside a workspace, a view toggle switches between four ways of seeing the same items:

- **List**: sort, group, filter, choose columns, and edit inline.
- **Board**: a kanban grouped by status or priority. Drag cards between columns.
- **Timeline**: Gantt-style bars. Drag a bar to shift its dates.
- **Project Map**: a mind map of workspace, goals, projects, and tasks. Drag a node onto a new parent and the file actually moves.

**Overview** is the workspace landing screen: stats, goals, and this week at a glance.

## Saved views and All mode

Save a combination of filters, sorting, and scope under a name, then recall it whenever you need that slice again. The sidebar's **All** mode shows every workspace in one view.

## Inbox, archive, and delete

Items created without a project land in the **Inbox**. Assign one to a project later and Kempt moves the file for real. Archiving keeps the file in place and marks it with a flag. Deleting moves the file to your operating system's trash.

> **Note:** Because delete uses the OS trash, you can recover a deleted item from there.

## Statuses

Statuses are customizable per workspace in **Settings**. Board columns follow the statuses you define, so the Board always matches how your workspace actually works.

## Keep going

- Add items fast with Quick Capture: see [work at speed](/help/speed).
- Every plan item is a plain file, and Kempt keeps version history for it: see [your data](/help/data).