Your first ten minutes
Nine short steps from install to trusting it, about a minute each.
Nine short steps, from install to “I trust this”. Each takes about a minute.
1. Install
$ curl -fsSL https://github.com/brancusi/thought-control-releases/releases/latest/download/install.sh | shYour notes folder is ~/thought, the thc command is on your PATH, and a small background
service keeps reminders and live updates running. Open a new terminal window so the command is
found. (More on what it sets up.)
2. Write
$ thc jYou’re in today’s journal, and the cursor is ready. Just type. Enter starts a new
line in the same paragraph, and a blank line starts a new note. There’s no save key: the footer
says autosaved, and it means it.
thc j opens in Focus: the date, the days around it, your words, and a footer with the keys you need. Everything
else is one key away.
3. Make a task
Type [ ] call the dentist, or write the line and press ⌃T. Press ⌃T
again and it’s done. Once more and it’s plain text again.
4. Give it a date
Add due:fri to the line. While you type it, it’s underlined, and the right-hand column
previews what it will set. When you move off the line, the date tucks into that quiet column:
due fri. Try sched:mon, !high, every:2w or #health too.
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────━━━━━━━━━────────────────────────────────────────── § Journal › Sat 03 Oct SAT 03 OCT 2026 · TODAY WED 30 THU 01 • FRI 02 • [SAT 03 •] SUN 04 MON 05 TUE 06 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── · Morning: slept well, 30 min run #health [ ] Call dentist to reschedule #health due fri · !high · Dentist appointment [[Health]] tue 14:00 [ ] Pay rent tue 09:00 · ↻ monthly · Mom's birthday, call her oct 15 10:00 [ ] Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] due tomorrow Booked the flat in Lisbon. It faces the river, and the light in the mornings is extraordinary. [ ] Call the landlord about the deposit due:tue !high #lisbon▮ due tue · !high ✓ ──────────────────────────────────────── also today ───────────────────────────────────────── [ ] Water plants ¶ Home · today · ↻ 3d [ ] Replace furnace filter ¶ Home · today · ↻ 3mo! [x] Renew passport #admin § fri oct 02 · done 10:41 § sat 03 oct · 53 words · autosaved ⌃T task ⌃O open ⌃P ⌃N day Esc done F1 keys thc 0.9.65
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────━━━━━━━━━────────────────────────────────────────── § Journal › Sat 03 Oct SAT 03 OCT 2026 · TODAY WED 30 THU 01 • FRI 02 • [SAT 03 •] SUN 04 MON 05 TUE 06 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── · Morning: slept well, 30 min run #health [ ] Call dentist to reschedule #health due fri · !high · Dentist appointment [[Health]] tue 14:00 [ ] Pay rent tue 09:00 · ↻ monthly · Mom's birthday, call her oct 15 10:00 [ ] Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] due tomorrow Booked the flat in Lisbon. It faces the river, and the light in the mornings is extraordinary. [ ] Call the landlord about the deposit due:tue !high #lisbon▮ due tue · !high ✓ ──────────────────────────────────────── also today ───────────────────────────────────────── [ ] Water plants ¶ Home · today · ↻ 3d [ ] Replace furnace filter ¶ Home · today · ↻ 3mo! [x] Renew passport #admin § fri oct 02 · done 10:41 § sat 03 oct · 53 words · autosaved ⌃T task ⌃O open ⌃P ⌃N day Esc done F1 keys thc 0.9.65
5. Link a page
Type [[ and start a name: [[Lisbon. Pick a page from the list, or finish the name and type
]]. If the page doesn’t exist yet, it does now. Put the cursor on the link and press
⌃O to go there. A near miss ([[Lisbn]]) offers the page you probably meant.
6. Look at Today
Press Esc. It saves, and you’re on Today: what’s overdue, due today, scheduled and coming up, from every page and day. x marks the selected row done, d changes its date, and Enter opens it where it lives.
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ───────────────━━━━━━━────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Today 2 ▌ 23dea [ ] Replace furnace filter today · ↻ 3mo! · ¶ Home xtews [ ] Water plants today · ↻ 3d · ¶ Home Next 7 days 7 edx71 [ ] Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] due tomorrow · ◆ claude fk5x2 [ ] Draft Q4 OKRs mon · due Oct 10 (in 7d) · !high · ¶ Q4 Planning ykwkc [ ] Collect last quarter's metrics due tue · ¶ Q4 Planning 1x3db [ ] Pay rent tue 09:00 ◎ · ↻ monthly qz8ze · Dentist appointment [[Health]] tue 14:00 pa3e6 [ ] Review draft with the team due fri · ¶ Q4 Planning ny82x [ ] Call dentist to reschedule #health due fri · !high Done today 1 k00ht [x] Renew passport #admin 10:41 today · 12 open · 2 inbox ● live x done a add w agenda space leader ? keys thc 0.9.65
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ───────────────━━━━━━━────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Today 2 ▌ 23dea [ ] Replace furnace filter today · ↻ 3mo! · ¶ Home xtews [ ] Water plants today · ↻ 3d · ¶ Home Next 7 days 7 edx71 [ ] Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] due tomorrow · ◆ claude fk5x2 [ ] Draft Q4 OKRs mon · due Oct 10 (in 7d) · !high · ¶ Q4 Planning ykwkc [ ] Collect last quarter's metrics due tue · ¶ Q4 Planning 1x3db [ ] Pay rent tue 09:00 ◎ · ↻ monthly qz8ze · Dentist appointment [[Health]] tue 14:00 pa3e6 [ ] Review draft with the team due fri · ¶ Q4 Planning ny82x [ ] Call dentist to reschedule #health due fri · !high Done today 1 k00ht [x] Renew passport #admin 10:41 today · 12 open · 2 inbox ● live x done a add w agenda space leader ? keys thc 0.9.65
Now press Space. A panel lists everything you can do from here, grouped: g to go somewhere, f to find, n for something new. It’s the one key to remember when you forget the others.
7. Find anything
Press 6 for Search and type. Search covers pages, tags and every note, and Enter opens the match where it lives. ⌃O from anywhere jumps to a page or day by name.
8. Let an agent help, and review what it did
$ thc setup claude --userNow Claude Code knows thc. Ask it to “add the three follow-ups from this call to my notes”.
Its changes are signed ◆ claude. In the TUI, press 7 for the Log, then
r: the review lane shows each change, with a to accept and u to
undo.
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────━━━━━━━───────────────────────── Log · to review 1 oldest first r all changes ▌ 10:41 ◆ claude HC1Q73 created edx71 Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] + in § today · due tomorrow · #reading to review · 1 by claude ● live a accept u undo A accept all r all changes ? keys
[•] personal Today Inbox 2 Tasks Pages Journal Search Log 1 Sat Oct 3 · 10:41 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────━━━━━━━───────────────────────── Log · to review 1 oldest first r all changes ▌ 10:41 ◆ claude HC1Q73 created edx71 Summarize unread newsletters into [[Reading List]] + in § today · due tomorrow · #reading to review · 1 by claude ● live a accept u undo A accept all r all changes ? keys
9. Stay current
thc updates itself. When a new version is out, the footer says so. Type :update and it’s
back in a moment, exactly where you were.
That’s it. From here: how writing works, every view, and the keys you’ll use.