The Inbox is your quick collection point—a catch-all for everything you want to capture right away without having to decide where it belongs. Quick Entry opens this Inbox from any context with a single keystroke.
The Inbox
In the sidebar, the Inbox is at the very top, above all areas. It behaves like an area of its own but has no project hierarchy—Inbox tasks sit directly at the top level.
Why an Inbox? The GTD principle (Getting Things Done) recommends first collecting new tasks without judging them and sorting them only in a separate processing step. That way, you don’t interrupt your current train of thought.
Click Inbox in the sidebar to see all tasks that haven’t been sorted yet. A badge with the number of active Inbox tasks appears next to the label as soon as there’s at least one.
Editing Inbox Tasks
You change the title right in the list (double-click or ↩︎), all other fields in the Inspector or in the context menu (right-click on the Mac, touch and hold on iPad and iPhone)—that’s also where you find Delete.
Clearing the Inbox—Processing
Sorting means putting an Inbox task in its place—with drag and drop into the sidebar or with Move To… in the context menu (⇧ + ⌘ + M), which opens a searchable list of destinations. On iPhone, Move To… is the way to go.
- Drag the task onto an area → it becomes a standalone task in that area.
- Drag it onto a project or a folder → it lands in the chosen project or as a standalone task of the folder.
Tip—Clear your Inbox regularly. Many GTD users do this daily at a fixed time. An empty Inbox means you’ve reviewed everything and nothing gets lost.
Quick Entry
Quick Entry opens an input window that lets you capture a new task without leaving your current view—on the Mac, even without bringing the app to the front.
Opening and Closing the Window
You open the Quick Entry window with the global hotkey ⌃ + ⌥ + Space or with File › Quick Entry. Pressing the same hotkey again closes the window. Alternatively, close it with ⎋ or the Cancel button. To change the hotkey, go to Settings › Keyboard Shortcuts.
On macOS, Quick Entry opens as a floating window via the system-wide hotkey—even when TandemLoop is running in the background. The window appears at the top center of the screen where the pointer is.
On iPad, Quick Entry opens as a sheet right in the app: with the Quick Entry button (tray icon) at the top right of the toolbar or—with a hardware keyboard connected—with ⌃ + ⌥ + Space. Close the sheet with Cancel, ⎋, or by swiping down.
On iPhone, Quick Entry opens as a sheet—from a hardware keyboard, the Home Screen quick action, Control Center, or Shortcuts (see System Integration). There, Add or ↩︎ captures a task and clears the form for the next one; Close ends capturing.
Fields in the Form
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Required (“What do you want to capture?”). |
| Destination | Where the task is created: the Inbox by default, otherwise an area, a project, or a milestone (with search). |
| For the AI agent | Assigns the task directly to the AI agent. Below it, you choose the delegation: Do, Draft, or Ask. |
| Due Date | Optional due date, with a time if you like. |
| Reminder | Optional time for a notification (quick choice or custom time). |
| Do Date | Optional do date—the day you want to work on the task. |
| Tags | Any number of tags from the global tag list. |
| Notes | A free notes field for details, links, or context. |
Saving
Enter title › optionally fill in more fields › click Save or press ↩︎
From the notes field, save with ⌘ + ↩︎.
As soon as you save, the task is created at the chosen destination—in the Inbox if you didn’t choose one. The window then closes (on iPhone, it stays open for the next task). If the title field is empty, Save stays disabled.
Tip—Keep the title short and to the point. Add details later when you process the task in the Inbox.