# Novus 1.3 — installation and daily use

## Install and open Novus

Run **Novus-1.3.0-Setup.exe** and open **Novus** from the Start menu or optional Desktop shortcut. Setup bundles Python and Qt and installs for your Windows account. The launcher is **Novus.exe**. The usual install folder is `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Novus`.

**This build is unsigned.** Windows may warn or block it. Verified publisher signing and testing on Windows are still needed for production rollout. See `WINDOWS_RELEASE.md` for the remaining checks and signing steps.

The default workspace is `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Pradeep\Novus`. Settings displays the actual location. Windows Installed apps lets you uninstall Novus while keeping its workspace and backups.

## Privacy settings

Novus stores project notes, 1-to-1s, actions and attachments locally. Its ordinary note features have no account, cloud sync, background uploads, analytics or remote AI service. The explicit email action hands the chosen message/files to your installed mail application. **Settings → Privacy** has separate switches for opening web/email links and opening attachments in another app. Both are off initially. An enabled switch still asks for confirmation each time. Internal note links and inline images work with both switches off.

Use local folders outside cloud sync for your workspace, backups and exports. Novus blocks network paths, Windows mapped network drives and recognised OneDrive folders. Other sync tools and Windows services operate separately. Novus stores notes and backups unencrypted. See `PRIVACY.md` for details.

## Daily sheets and goals

Choose **Daily sheets** in the sidebar, use **Alt+7**, or choose a date in the daily sheet's calendar control. Today opens today's sheet. There is one active daily sheet per date. A new sheet inherits the weekly goal from the same Monday-to-Sunday week. Editing a daily sheet's weekly goal updates the other daily sheets in that week. A new week starts with an empty goal. The daily goal belongs to that note.

A daily sheet has a fixed date and type. To make an independent ordinary note from it, use Duplicate note. Its text, images, goals, icon, status and priority are copied. Other notes also have optional daily/weekly goal fields, an icon, status and priority in Details.

The task matrix shows the day's working queue. Quick-add an action with its section, limit and owner, then press Enter or Add. Use **New action** or double-click a task for full details. Tick a task to complete it. Right-click a task to edit or email it. **Hide tasks** gives the writing canvas more room. Focus mode also hides the note list and Details panel.

## Working dates, due dates and carry-forward

An action's **Due date** is its commitment deadline. The **Working date** in the action dialog's **Schedule & parameters** tab chooses the day it appears in the daily matrix. These fields are independent.

Enable **Carry unfinished work into the next day** for daily work. Novus moves eligible unfinished actions to today on opening the app and checks again while the app is running. It preserves the deadline, origin date, owner, links and current progress. The carry badge counts elapsed days. Repeated checks on the same day do not duplicate or repeatedly move a task. Completed items, future work and actions without carry-forward enabled keep their working dates. When Novus is closed, the next launch catches up.

The note inspector's **Pending everywhere** list collects open actions across the workspace. Click one to open its linked note, or double-click to edit the action. The Actions list and board remain the shared local records behind all these views.

## Parameter and limit sections

Select text in a note and right-click **Parameter & limit section with action…**, use Insert block, or type `/param`. The action dialog has **Action** and **Schedule & parameters** tabs. Give the action an outcome, owner, priority, section name, input parameters and limit/target. Working date and carry-forward are optional.

**Insert section and action** creates a saved action and inserts a formatted block into the current note. The action link opens its live action record. The inserted parameter table records the values at insertion time. Edit the action through its link or a task table to update the action record. Inline note checklists are separate from these action records.

## Slash blocks, wiki links and formatting

Type `/` at the start of a paragraph or after a space to open suggestions. Continue typing to filter, use Up/Down and Enter/Tab to insert, or Escape to close. Available blocks are parameter/action, H1/H2/H3, checkbox, bullet list, numbered list, information, warning, verified, code, specification table and divider. All are also under **Insert block**.

Type `[[` to find an existing note. Select a suggestion to insert its stable link. Type a new title and choose **Create and link** to create the target without leaving the current note. Right-click selected text and choose **Open / create wiki note** to navigate or create a target. Multiple exact title matches prompt you to choose. Backlinks, outgoing links and the knowledge graph recognise these connections, including imported `[[Title]]` references.

Inline `#tags` are added to the saved note tags. Click a tag in the sidebar or search `#tag`. The extended writing toolbar sets the font family, size and text color. The context menu provides yellow, navy, mint, sky and coral highlights plus clear highlight. Click a visible checkbox to toggle it. Native checklists can also be toggled with the checklist toolbar control.

## Sketches and screenshot annotation

Open **Draw / annotate** in the writing toolbar. Choose **Sketch** for a blank canvas, **Annotate clipboard** after copying an image/screenshot, or **Annotate image** for a local image file. Choose navy, blue, red, green or black ink and a pen width. Eraser removes ink while preserving the base image. Undo, Redo and Clear ink operate on the drawing layer. The undo buffer retains eight drawing checkpoints.

**Insert in note** stores a PNG in the workspace and inserts it at the cursor. It is included in templates, duplicates, PDF export and full backups through the existing attachment system. The annotation canvas fits images within 2000 × 1400 pixels. Keep a separate original image when its full source resolution is needed.

## Weekly review dashboard

Choose **Weekly review** or **Alt+8**. Select a date to inspect its Monday-to-Sunday week. The dashboard shows pending, carried, completed and note counts, plus the weekly/daily goals and generated review. Completion counts use the actual completion date, including an action originally scheduled in an earlier week. Double-click a pending item to edit it. **Save as note** creates an editable review in Weekly Reviews. **Send a mail…** opens a preview of that review.

The generated review includes project health and ordinary notes. It excludes 1-to-1 note titles and bodies. Action descriptions can contain personal details, so review them before emailing. The summary is generated locally from stored records.

## Notes database and knowledge graph

**Notes database / Alt+9** shows title/icon, notebook, daily goal, weekly goal, tags, priority, status and last-edit date. Its search includes goals. Double-click a row to open it. Right-click a row to email that specific note.

**Knowledge graph / Alt+0** shows active linked notes. Drag nodes to rearrange them, drag the background to pan, use the wheel to zoom and double-click a node to open its note. Positions are saved in this workspace. Fit reframes the graph and Reset layout starts a fresh layout. The graph displays up to 400 matching nodes at once. Use its filter for larger collections. Ambiguous duplicate titles require explicit choice when opening a wiki note.

## Send a mail from a note or task

Right-click a note in the note list or database, right-click an action in the list, board or daily matrix, or open the note's More options menu. Choose **Send a mail…**. Review the subject and message and enter To/Cc addresses. Recipient fields start empty. Choose only the files you intend to share. Opening the preview keeps the source note unchanged.

- **Default email app · message text** uses your Windows default mail application. It works with a configured mailto handler, including new Outlook. For long messages Novus offers to copy the complete text and open a message with the chosen recipients/subject. Paste the copied body in your mail app. Text is kept complete.
- **Windows mail dialog · Classic Outlook / MAPI** carries full Unicode text and selected files through a compatible configured desktop mail handler. Use this for a PDF of the note or file attachments. Classic Outlook and new Outlook have different API support.
- **Save email draft…** writes a complete `.eml` file with the message and selected attachments. Mail applications differ in whether they open this as an editable draft or as a message to forward.
- **Copy message** copies the full preview text for pasting into your mail application.

Press **Open email app**, then review and send in that application using your own account. Cancelling the preview or mail window leaves your note/task intact. Novus does not store your mail password or automatically dispatch mail. A task email contains the selected action's fields and linked-note title, rather than the linked note's body. For a note, PDF and file attachments are unchecked initially.

## Import your Argon vault

The uploaded `Novus.zip` contains Python source, rather than your note database. To bring your written notes across, choose **File → Import Argon vault / backup…** and select the original `novus_vault/novus.db` with its adjacent `media` folder, or a backup ZIP made by that app.

Import brings notebooks/icons, notes, goals, tags, pins, images, links, actions, parameters, limits, owners, priority, completion and carry-forward fields into the current Novus workspace. It opens the source read-only. A failed import rolls back its new database records and removes newly copied images. Missing required images stop the import so you can locate the complete vault.

Previously imported source records are skipped. Reimport adds new records while preserving edits made in Novus. An imported daily sheet whose date already exists becomes an ordinary **Argon copy** note, preserving both records. Old Medium priority maps to Normal. The old app's scheduled date becomes a working date. Its source format has no separate deadline field, so import leaves the due date empty. Original source timestamps are interpreted in the importing computer's local timezone.

## Team setup and the full in-app guide

Install the same Setup EXE on each Windows 11 x64 computer. A fresh installation uses that Windows account's name as its editable display name. Each person gets a local workspace and backup settings. Owner/project/person fields organise local records. Use the email action to deliberately share selected work with colleagues.

Choose Light, Executive Navy or Dark in Settings. **Start with** selects today's daily sheet or Overview. Existing Novus workspaces and records are upgraded in place with a schema-2 database safety copy. Make a full backup before upgrading.

Press **F1** or choose **Help → Getting started** for the native guide reader. Its selector includes this guide, the feature-by-feature coverage map, team setup, privacy and Windows release information.

## A sensible first ten minutes

Open Settings to set your display name and backup folder. In Projects, add the outcomes you are responsible for, with an owner and target. In People & 1-to-1s, add team members, their role, development context and next conversation date. Start a project update or a 1-to-1 from the record's detail panel; the new note is associated with that record automatically.

The four initial notebooks are Inbox, Work & projects, Team & 1-to-1s and Personal. You can rename, remove or add notebooks. Removing a notebook preserves its notes as unfiled notes under All notes.

## Writing and finding notes

Use New note to choose a template, notebook, project, person and meeting date. A note can belong to both a project and a person. Quick capture creates a blank Inbox note immediately. Change the title at the top and write in the main canvas.

The writing toolbar provides headings, bold, italics, underline, highlighting, bullet/numbered lists, checklists, tables, links, files and images. To mark a checklist item complete, put the cursor on that line and click the checklist control again. Select text and choose a paragraph style to apply a heading. Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y perform the editor's normal undo/redo while the note remains open.

On a smaller window, the details panel collapses automatically to preserve writing space. Click **Details** above the note to reveal or hide it. The sidebar navigation scrolls when its contents need more height; Archive, Trash and Settings remain below it. Focus mode provides additional space for writing.

Paste an image or use Insert image to embed it. Drop a file into the editor to copy it into the workspace and insert an attachment link. Files are copied rather than referenced at their original locations. Each attachment may be up to 100 MB; inline images must be smaller than 40 megapixels. Opening a file in another app requires enabling that option in Settings → Privacy and confirming the individual file. Removing an attachment also makes its references in older note snapshots unavailable; a full backup can recover it.

Use the right panel to change notebook, project, person, type, tags and meeting date. Enter tags separated by commas; tag names are normalised to lowercase. The note menu provides pin, archive, duplicate, copy note link, history, export and Trash actions. Paste a copied `novus:/...` link using the link toolbar control to cross-reference another note. **Ctrl+click** opens links inside the editor.

The top search box searches all active notes when you press Enter. It matches title, note text and tags; words use prefix matching and all entered words must match. `motor side` finds notes containing “motor” and a word beginning with “side”. Search `#review` for an exact tag. Search within Archive or Trash using that view's search box. If the system SQLite does not offer FTS5, the app uses a literal text-search fallback.

Views display up to 2,000 matching notes. Narrow a large collection using search, a notebook, a project or a person. Notes can be sorted by last edited, title or newest created. Pins appear first.

## Command centre

Press **Ctrl+K** to find a note, project, person or action. Use Up/Down and Enter, or double-click a result, to open it; Escape closes the dialog. Matching records appear as you type. Enter resolves the latest query before opening a result.

Type **`>`** to browse commands such as Quick capture, New project, Add a team member, Create weekly review, Open agenda, Your templates and Settings. **Ctrl+Shift+K** focuses the dedicated note search box, where `#tag` finds an exact tag.

## Connected writing

Use the note-shaped link button in the writing toolbar to search for another note and insert its title as a link. The destination's **Linked from** section lists referring notes, including older ChapterDesk links. Add headings to a longer note and use **On this page** to jump to a section. Right-click inside a table to insert or remove the clicked row or column.

Ctrl+F opens Find; Ctrl+H adds replacement controls. Replace all operates within the current note and forms one undo step. Trash notes remain read-only. Link colours adapt to Light and Dark without modifying stored content.

## Your reusable templates

Prepare a note in the format you want to reuse. In its More options menu, choose **Save as template** and give it a name. The template includes the current content, so remove personal or meeting-specific details before saving a general-purpose template. Images and referenced files are retained independently, up to **20 MB total** per template.

Create a new note and select **My · ...**. The note gets its own copies of the template's files, so deleting the source note or template does not remove assets from created notes. Note type and formatting are preserved; notebook, person, project and date can be chosen each time. Tools → Your templates provides preview, rename, delete and Create note controls. Saving an existing name asks before replacing it. Built-in templates remain available.

## Action board

In Actions, switch from **List** to **Board** for Open, In progress and Done columns. Drag a card into a column to update the saved action status. Double-click to edit, or right-click and use **Move to**. The first switch to Board selects All actions so completed cards are visible; you can then use the normal search and date/status filters. Counts describe the filtered cards, and the selected view is remembered.

## Agenda

Agenda combines dated meeting notes, team members' next 1-to-1 dates and open actions with due dates. Select a date to inspect that day; marked days contain at least one of those records. The lower list shows the next seven days. Double-click an item to open its note, person or action.

New meeting note preselects the selected day, and Add action uses that day as its due date. Today returns to the current date. Completed actions and archived/trashed meeting notes are excluded. These are local planning dates; the agenda does not send invitations, synchronise an external calendar or create operating-system reminders.

## 1-to-1s and continuity

Select a person and click Start a 1-to-1. The template covers check-in, their agenda, progress and support, feedback, growth, decisions and follow-up. The creation dialog lets you change the date or associations. With a person selected, the app links the most recently edited prior 1-to-1 and adds a snapshot of that person's open commitments. The live actions stay in the Actions view; editing the snapshot text does not update an action.

The person record gathers all linked notes and open actions. Schedule the next date by editing the person record. This date is a planning field displayed in the app, not an operating-system reminder or calendar appointment. No messages or invitations are sent.

## Actions you can follow through

Add an action in the sidebar's Actions view or in a note's right panel. Give it a clear outcome, owner, due date and priority. Associate it with a project, person and note where relevant. Selecting text in a note and right-clicking provides Create action from selection.

Tick an action to complete it; untick it in All actions to reopen it. Double-click to edit its owner, due date, status and links. Filters show open, all, completed, overdue, due today and the next seven days. An action without a due date is never labelled overdue. Deleting an action is permanent after confirmation. Permanently deleting a linked note retains the action and removes its note association.

## Project updates and weekly reviews

Project records track Active, On hold or Completed status, plus On track, At risk or Blocked health. Notes do not automatically change project health: update that explicitly as your judgement changes.

Create a weekly review from Overview or Tools. It generates an editable note containing current project health, open commitments, actions completed this week and links to notes updated this week. It excludes 1-to-1 note titles and bodies from the updated-notes list. **Actions can still contain personal details, so review the generated note before sharing.** This is a deterministic summary of your records; no AI service receives the data.

## Autosave, history and deletion

Edits save after approximately 650 ms of inactivity. Changing notes, navigating to another space or closing the application saves immediately. The “Saved on this computer” message confirms success. If saving fails, the editor retains its buffer and navigation/closing is blocked until the save succeeds. You can copy or export the text to recover it. The application never silently overwrites a note whose stored revision has changed.

History saves a snapshot at most once a minute during editing, as well as when leaving a changed note or explicitly saving. Up to 100 snapshots are kept per note. History includes title, content and tags. Goal, relationship and task field changes are included in full workspace backups. Restoring a version preserves the current content first.

Trash is recoverable until you choose Delete permanently. Archive hides a note from ordinary views without deleting it. Open archived notes can be edited and unarchived. Unpinning, unarchiving and restoring are available in the note menu. Trash content is read-only. Deleting records is not a secure erasure of bytes from a disk or from prior backups.

## Export and import

Export the selected note using PDF, Markdown, HTML or text. PDFs use A4 pages; the app writes a temporary output and replaces the destination when generation succeeds. Markdown exports copy attachments into a sibling `<note-name>_attachments` directory, which must travel with the Markdown file. HTML embeds supported inline images up to 20 MB; other attached files remain part of the workspace and backup. Exporting text preserves readable content and loses formatting.

Import accepts UTF-8 / UTF-8 with BOM `.txt`, `.md`, `.markdown`, `.html` and `.htm` files up to 10 MB each. It creates a new note per file in the selected notebook or Inbox. External images and arbitrary local-file resources are not fetched. It does not import proprietary OneNote/Evernote databases directly. Export from those applications into one of the supported formats first, where available.

## Back up and restore

Use File → Back up workspace for a ZIP containing the database, attachments and a SHA-256 manifest. A live SQLite snapshot is used, rather than copying a running database file. Backups run in a worker thread so you can continue using the UI. If an attachment is missing or its checksum is wrong, backup fails rather than reporting success. An existing manual backup is replaced only after successful creation of the replacement.

Settings controls automatic backups and their destination. Automatic backups run on open and every 30 minutes after changes, with 14 retained; manual backups are kept until you remove them. Use a second local drive outside cloud sync. Backups in the same device cannot protect against device loss.

File → Restore backup to new workspace asks for a backup and a parent folder. It verifies paths, manifest, file checksums, database integrity, schema and required attachments. A dated **new workspace** is created. Your current workspace remains intact; you can open the restored one immediately. Its automatic backup path is reset to its own `backups` folder. Use Open another workspace to switch back later.

Use Tools → Check workspace integrity to check the database. A successful result is a database check, not a checksum verification of every attachment or a substitute for a backup.

## Keyboard reference

| Shortcut | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Ctrl+N | New note with template dialog |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | Quick capture in Inbox |
| Ctrl+K | Command centre: search records or type > for commands |
| Ctrl+Shift+K, then Enter | Search active notes; #tag for exact tag |
| Ctrl+S | Save and snapshot current note |
| Ctrl+F | Find within the current note |
| Ctrl+H | Find and replace within the current note |
| Ctrl+Shift+F | Toggle writing focus mode |
| Ctrl+B / Ctrl+I / Ctrl+U | Bold / italic / underline |
| Ctrl+L | Insert a link |
| Ctrl+O | Import notes |
| Ctrl+E | Export current note |
| Alt+1 … Alt+6 | Overview / Notes / Projects / People / Actions / Agenda |
| Alt+7 / Alt+8 / Alt+9 / Alt+0 | Daily sheets / Weekly review / Notes database / Graph |
| F1 | Getting started |
| Ctrl+, | Settings |
| Ctrl+Q | Save and exit |

## Upgrading from ChapterDesk

Close ChapterDesk first. Novus adopts its prior default workspace when a Novus workspace does not already exist. Custom workspace folders can be opened directly. Schema 1 is upgraded transactionally to schema 2 with a database safety copy named `pre-novus-schema1.sqlite3`; the internal database filename and process lock stay compatible. Old note links and backup ZIPs are recognised. Use a full backup for rollback rather than reopening an upgraded database with the older app.

## Updates and recovery

Close Novus and make a backup before running a newer installer. The workspace is stored separately from the installed files. For a custom workspace, use File → Open another workspace or `Novus.exe --data-dir "D:\MyNovus"`.

One app instance may open a workspace at a time. A process lock prevents accidentally opening the same database in two windows. If an error occurs, read `novus.log` in the workspace for startup details. Do not delete database/WAL files to try to recover a workspace. Restore a verified backup into a new folder instead.