Quick Add syntax reference
This page is generated directly from the app's own example catalog, and every phrase on it is re-parsed by Chrona's test suite on each build. If a phrase stops working, this page fails to build rather than quietly going stale.
Rows marked as tasks create a to-do; the rest create calendar events. The difference is
almost always whether the sentence contains a clock time — see
Getting started.
Dates
Call mom tomorrow- A task due tomorrow — no clock time means a task, not an event
Dentist 6/12 3pm- June 12 at 3 PM
Trip June 1-3- A three-day span
Follow up in 3 days- Counts forward from today
- A date with no clock time makes a TASK due that day, not an event. Add a time — "Call mom tomorrow at 2pm" — to put it on the calendar.
- A bare weekday means the NEXT one. Naming today rolls a full week ahead.
- A month and day that already passed rolls forward to next year.
- Shorthands work too: tmrw, tmw, eod (end of day), eow (end of week).
Times & ranges
Lunch at noon- Today at 12 PM
Gym at 6- 6 PM — bare hours 1–7 assume PM
3-4pm meeting- 3 PM to 4 PM
Team offsite from 9am to 5pm tomorrow at HQ- A full workday tomorrow, at HQ
- A bare hour from 1 to 7 is assumed to be PM — "Gym at 6" means 6 PM.
- A range needs the meridiem on the end: "3-4pm", not "3-4".
- No end time means one hour.
Durations
Deep work tomorrow at 8am for 2 hours- 8 AM to 10 AM tomorrow
todo Call dentist tomorrow at 2pm for 30 min- A task with 30 minutes planned
- "for 30 min" sets the length instead of an end time.
- On a task, the duration becomes its planned time so it can be blocked out.
Repeating
Standup every weekday at 9:30am- Monday–Friday at 9:30 AM
Pay rent every month- A repeating task, once a month
Board meeting every 2nd Tuesday at 10am- The second Tuesday of each month
Standup first Monday of the month at 9am- The first Monday of each month
Standup every weekday at 9:30am until August 14- Repeats through August 14, then stops
Standup every weekday at 9:30am for 6 times- Repeats six times, then stops
- "every weekday" is Monday through Friday.
- Ordinals work: "first Monday of the month", "every 2nd Tuesday".
- End it with "until <date>" (that day is included) or "for 6 times". With neither, it repeats forever.
Alerts
Flight 6/12 at 6am alert 2 hours before- Alerts at 4 AM on June 12
Standup tomorrow at 9am alert 15 min before- Alerts at 8:45 AM tomorrow
- Alerts are handed to the calendar itself, so they fire like any other event alert.
- Say the amount and the word before: "alert 2 hours before".
Calendars
/work Review PRs tomorrow at 9- Saved to your Work calendar
/personal Dentist friday at 3pm- Saved to your Personal calendar
- A leading /name picks the calendar to save to.
- The name must match one of your calendars, otherwise it stays in the title.
Tasks
todo: call plumber- An undated task in your inbox
todo Buy milk friday- A task due Friday
todo: email invoice #work #urgent >Billing- Tagged work and urgent, filed under Billing
- Starting with todo, task, or reminder makes a task instead of an event.
- You often don't need the prefix: anything without a clock time is a task already. A #tag or >project keeps it a task even when you do give it a time.
- #tag files it under a tag; >Project files it under a project.
- A task with no date lands in your inbox.
Locations
Coffee at starbucks tomorrow- A task tomorrow, at Starbucks — add a time to make it an event
Lunch with Emily tomorrow at 12pm at Texas Roadhouse- Noon tomorrow, at Texas Roadhouse
- "at <place>" after the time sets the location.
- A person's name after "with" is kept in the title — it is never treated as a place.
Priority
todo Ship it !high- A high-priority task
todo: renew passport friday !high #travel- High priority, due Friday, tagged travel
- ! is low, !! is medium, !!! is high.
- The word forms work too: !low, !med, !high.