Your tasks now set up your workspace automatically, and your communication tools now come with built-in time boundaries. Two features that work together to protect your focus time.
Released: Friday, March 6, 2026
Task Actions: Your Workspace, Instantly
Task Actions detect URLs and keywords in your tasks and launch everything you need when you start working. Add a GitHub link to a task, and it opens when you begin. Write “check comms” and all your configured communication tools launch. Include “do shutdown” and you’re taken straight to your shutdown ritual.
What gets detected:
- Any URL (
https://,obsidian://,slack://, etc.) - Communication keywords (
check comms,do Gmail,do Slack) - Ritual keywords (
shutdown,wrap,begin well)
Actions are detected the moment you save a task. A lightning bolt on the Start button tells you a task has actions before you start it. Hover over the bolt to see exactly what will run.
You stay in control. By default, actions run automatically if there are 5 or fewer. More than 5 and you’ll be asked to confirm first — no surprise tab explosions. You can also set your preference to always ask, or never auto-run.
For full details on all action types and configuration, see Task Actions.
Comms Scan/Process: Time-Bounded Communication
The new Scan and Process buttons on the Communications page let you check your email and chat with a timer running — so you decide how long to spend before you open your inbox.
Scan is for quick checks: 5 or 10 minutes. Open your tools, see if anything urgent needs attention, then get back to work.
Process is for dedicated communication time: 10 or 25 minutes. Read, respond, triage, then move on.
Both modes:
- Open all the tools in the selected group
- Start a timer for the duration you chose
- Return you to where you were when the timer ends or you mark it done
Why this matters: Without a boundary, “let me just check email” easily becomes 30 minutes lost. Scan and Process give that impulse a container. You set the time, do the work, and MakeTimeFlow brings you back. Your focus time stays protected.
The Open button is still there for when you just want to launch your tools without a timer.
For setup and best practices, see Communication Tools.
How They Work Together
Task Actions and Comms Scan/Process are built on the same foundation: lifecycle actions that fire at the right moment.
- On Start opens your URLs and tools when you begin
- On Stop and On Done navigate you back when you finish
When you click “Scan Email (5 min)”, MakeTimeFlow creates a task called “Scan Email” with your email URLs as On Start actions and a return-to-previous-page as the On Stop action. It’s Task Actions all the way down — just packaged into a one-click workflow for your most common communication patterns.
Getting Started
Task Actions:
- Add a URL to any task title or notes
- Look for the lightning bolt on the Start button
- Start the task — your URL opens automatically
Comms Scan/Process:
- Make sure you have communication tools configured (Communications page > Customize Tools)
- Click Scan or Process on any tool group, pick a duration
- Your tools open, the timer runs, and you’re brought back when it ends