GTD Brain: Getting Things Done

Use this when the user says a card is done, finished, or no longer needed and the board has no Done (or Completed) column — check list_columns first: if there is one, move_card the card there instead. Archiving hides the card from the board; restore_card brings it back, and there is no delete. Tell the user the card was archived. Do not use to clear the board in bulk — archive only the cards the user named. Do not use when they just want the card somewhere else or changed (move_card, update_card), and never archive a card because you made a replacement for it. Shows a small confirmation.

Use this when the user mentions something they need to do, remember, buy, or follow up on and does not say which list it belongs to: it goes straight to the Inbox in one step, no column lookup (capture first, clarify later). Examples: 'remind me to renew my passport', 'add call the dentist', 'note: look into solar panels'. Do not use when the user names a destination list (Next Actions, Projects, Waiting For, Someday/Maybe, a custom column) or a card kind — use create_card. Do not use to change, move, or finish an existing card, and do not use for something the user says they already did ('Added the invoice', 'called Sam') — that completes an existing card: find it with search_cards and finish it. Shows a small confirmation.

Use this when the user says where a card belongs or what it is: a next action ('add a next action: email Sam the quote'), a project's next step (pass projectId), a project ('new project: plan the offsite'), something they are waiting on someone for, a Someday/Maybe idea, something to keep for reference that needs no action (the Reference column), or a card for a named custom column. Needs the destination columnId from list_columns; kind 'action' only in Next Actions, 'project' only in Projects, 'card' anywhere else. Do not use for a bare 'add / remind me / note' with no list named — use capture (Inbox, no lookup). Do not use for a card that is already on the board ('put the blog post under my launch project', 'make the passport card a next action') — find it with search_cards and move_card or update_card it; a new card plus archive_card on the old one loses its history. Shows a small confirmation.

Use this when the user wants a new GTD context — a place, tool, or situation to tag actions with, e.g. '@boat', 'errands', 'deep work'. The id is derived from the label and must not already exist; color is optional (hex like #4f9466, auto-picked otherwise). Do not use when a matching context already exists (check list_contexts), and do not use to tag a card — use update_card with the existing id.

Use this when the user explicitly wants a context removed from their set. Every card tagged with it (archived included) has its context cleared, so confirm before calling. Do not use to take a context off one card — use update_card with an empty context.

Use this when you already have a card id (from a list, a search, or an earlier result) and the user wants that card's full details — notes, context, who it is waiting on and since when — or asks what happened to it: its history lists, oldest first, when it was created, moved between lists, edited, reviewed, archived or restored. Shown as a card view. Do not use to find a card by text — use search_cards.

Use this when you need cards as plain data to reason over — every card in one column, all cards of one kind, all actions in one context, or a project's actions — without showing a widget. Filters combine; archived cards only with includeArchived. Do not use to show the user a list — use list_next_actions, list_projects, list_waiting_for, or show_board — and do not use to find a card by words in its title — use search_cards.

Use this when you need a column id — for create_card, move_card, show_board, or list_cards — or when the user asks which lists their board has. Returns every column (Inbox, Next Actions, Projects, Waiting For, Someday/Maybe, Reference, and any custom ones) with id, label, kind, order, and the ordered card ids in it. Do not use to tell the user what is on the board: it carries ids, not card titles — use show_board or the list tools.

Use this when you need the user's context ids — before passing a context to list_next_actions, list_cards, create_card, or update_card — or when the user asks which contexts they have. Returns id, label, color, and order. Do not guess a context id: the set is user-defined and an unknown id is rejected.

Use this when the user asks what to do now, what they can work on, or for their next actions or to-do list — optionally narrowed to a GTD context when they say where they are or what they have ('I'm at my desk', 'what can I do on the phone?'). Shows the Next Actions column as a stack of cards with context and project, in board order. Do not use for projects (list_projects), things delegated to others (list_waiting_for), the Inbox or other columns (show_board), or to find one specific card (search_cards).