Getting started

You'll be on the Today board in under two minutes.

1. Sign in

Visit the sign-in pageand enter your email. We send a one-time link that expires in 15 minutes. No passwords. If you'd rather use Google, GitHub, or Apple, those buttons are on the same page.

2. Onboarding

The wizard asks for four things:

  • Display name — how Cairn greets you each morning.
  • Avatar — pick one from the gallery; you can change this any time.
  • Theme — five built-in themes. Try them all; they're live preview.
  • Timezone & start of week — we auto-detect the timezone; confirm or override.

3. The daily rhythm

Cairn is opinionated about one thing: every day starts on the Today board. The shape of the board is:

  • Habits row — tap to check off; streaks update instantly.
  • Tasks list — drag to reorder, click the circle to complete.
  • Focus timer — 25-minute deep-work blocks with a 5-minute break.
  • Schedule preview — your timed tasks for the day, stacked.

4. Keyboard

Press ⌘K for the command palette, ? for the cheatsheet, N for quick capture. Chord navigation uses g as a leader: g t = Today, g h = Habits, g g = Goals.

5. Next steps