Roots is your personal operating system โ one place for goals, tasks, habits, money, projects, ideas, books, and contacts, organized however makes sense to you. This guide covers what's actually in the app today, including the parts people miss most: delegation, automations, and the AI connection.
Every draggable row has a grip handle (โ ฟ) on the left โ grab that, not the row itself, to move it. Drop an item on a section to file it there; drop it on another item to reorder. Drop a section on ANOTHER section's header to nest it inside as a sub-section (drop on the body just reorders); drop a sub-section back on Unsorted or the root to un-nest it. Only valid drop targets glow while you drag.
Sections can nest inside sections โ a sub-section renders as one line inside its parent, and opens full-screen via zoom. Steps can nest inside steps too: two levels show inline by default; flip on ๐ Deep nesting in Manage Tabs for unlimited depth (deeper steps are never lost when it's off โ just tucked away until you turn it on).
Double-click any title โ an item, a section, a step, even a sub-tab pill โ to rename it in place. Prefer a button? Look for the โ๏ธ icon next to it. Press Enter or tap โ to save, Esc to cancel. Every rename is undoable.
Categories are shared across your whole account โ one pool, not per-tab. Built-ins (Task, Goal, Habit, Billโฆ) come with useful properties already attached; build your own custom categories with whatever properties you need (text, number, money, date, checkbox, dropdown, link, formula). Sub-items can carry categories too, through the same picker.
Click the โ next to your tab list (or click the active tab again) to open Manage Tabs โ everything about a tab lives here:
Choose how items look, separately for two views:
Pick exactly which properties show, at whichever level makes sense: one item, a whole section, a sub-tab, or the tab. The most specific setting wins, and rows start out matching the card setting until you customize them separately. Find it via a section's โ menu ("Properties shown on cardsโฆ") or Manage Tabs.
Separately, decide WHICH types always render as cards everywhere โ open Card displayโฆ from the โฎ menu next to search and check any type. Contact is the one to know: turn it on and every Contact renders as a tappable card (phone/email links included) instead of a plain row. A single item can still override this with its own "Show as card" checkbox, and individual sections can be set to always show cards regardless of type.
Set up "when X happens, do Y" rules so Roots reacts on its own. Everything is picked from dropdowns โ no code, no typing formulas.
Examples: "When a Bill's status goes Overdue โ flag it." "When all of a Project's steps are done โ set status to Complete." "When a Task sits In Progress for 14 days โ comment as a nudge."
Every rule you can add a type/tab condition to narrow it. Every time a rule fires, it leaves a โก comment on the item so you can see exactly what happened and why. Rules live in the โ menu next to search โ Automationsโฆ (only shows once you're in Builder mode, or you've turned automations on in Custom mode).
You can hand off real ownership of parts of your Roots to someone else โ not just "look at this," but "take this over." This is one of the most powerful things in the app and it's easy to miss, so here's the full picture.
Share a whole tab, a sub-tab, a section, or a single item. Look up the person by email (you'll see if they already have an account) โ sharing works even with someone who doesn't have an account yet; they get an invite email and the share is waiting the moment they sign up.
Anything shared to you lands in your ๐ฌ Shared with Me inbox on the All dashboard. From there, choose how to take it on:
When you adopt or grow something linked, your progress rolls back up automatically โ the sender sees live status like "3/7 done" or "quiet 9 days" on the original item, no extra work from either side.
Manage every recipient on an item โ change their permission or revoke access โ from that item's share panel any time.
If you're an active coaching client, items also get an orange ๐ฉ discuss flag โ separate from the sharing above. Flagging an item this way puts it in front of your coach under "Shared from Roots" in their view, ready to talk about at your next session. It only appears while you have an active coaching engagement; the gray flag (no coach involvement) is always available as a plain personal priority marker.
Link any item to any other item โ a Project to its Tasks, a Contact to a Bill. Linked items show as clickable chips; click one to jump straight to it. Backlinks ("Linked fromโฆ") show up automatically โ you never have to link both directions by hand.
Add a roll-up to see one number computed across all linked items: a count, a progress bar (x of y done), a sum, or an average of any numeric property. It updates live next to the links and on the card.
Metrics cards at the top of a tab. Build one with + Add KPI โ everything is dropdowns and checkboxes, no formulas to write by hand:
Scope a KPI to a tab, sub-tab, category, or property, and pick a time range (all time, this month, last 30 days, year-to-date). Click a KPI card to filter the view down to exactly what it's counting; click again to clear. Or skip building one yourself โ describe what you want to your connected AI (see below) and let it set it up.
Press โK (or Ctrl+K) from anywhere. One box searches items, sections, and sub-tabs โ by title, type, status, and property values. It also searches inside your comments โ a match there surfaces the item with a ๐ฌ snippet of what matched.
Use key:value to target a property directly โ priority:high, type:bill, status:active, tag:, section:, subtab:. Press Enter on any search for the full results view โ grouped, filterable, and you can edit status right from the results list.
Pick how much of Roots you see, from the dropdown next to the sub-tab bar. Switching never touches your data โ it just shows or hides tools.
Everything lives in Manage Tabs (the โ next to your tab list):
Every meaningful change has one-step Undo in the filter bar.
Roots works as an installable app on your phone or computer โ no app store needed.
On most browsers, look for an "Install" or "Add to Home Screen" option in the browser menu. On iPhone: install FIRST (Share โ Add to Home Screen), then enable notifications โ Safari won't let you turn on notifications until Roots is on your home screen.
Go to Profile โ ๐ Enable notifications. Once on, use Send me a test notification to confirm it's working, and you'll see every device you've enabled listed there โ remove any you no longer use.
Today, the notifications bell inside Roots is in-app only: it lists overdue and due-within-7-days items while you have the app open. Scheduled reminders that reach you by push or email โ even when the app is closed โ are on the roadmap, not built yet.
Give your own AI a personal key so it can read your Roots and โ if you allow it โ build and update things for you. It works today with any AI that can call an API (a coding assistant, or a custom connector you set up); one-click ChatGPT and Claude connectors are on the way.
{"op":"help"} and the API tells your AI everything it can do from there. No separate manual to read.Key safety: a key only ever reaches your own data. You can see every action it takes and revoke the key instantly, any time, from the same Profile screen.