Turn it on
Not everything is a task. The grocery list, the packing list, the gift ideas, the books people keep recommending — Fanad keeps these in Lists, a separate outliner where anything can contain anything.
optin lists
✓ Lists on. Make nestable lists with /lists and “/list <name>”.
The grocery list
Start one:
/list Groceries
📑 Groceries This list is empty. Type an item to add it, or “out” to go back. 🌱
While a list is open, anything you type becomes an item. No command per line — just rattle it off:
milk
eggs
olive oil
Opening a list is like walking into a room. Your messages land in that room until you leave (exit, or out to step up a level). If you get interrupted mid-list and need to file a real task, exit first — or just know that Fanad will tell you where you are at the top of every reply.
Nesting: aisles inside the list
Any item can become a list of its own. Each row shows a /sub_N link — tap it (or type it) to descend:
/sub_1
📑 Groceries › Produce · 3 items 1. apples · /sub_1 2. bananas · /sub_2 3. spinach · /sub_3
So a grocery list that organizes itself by aisle is just: top-level items named Produce, Dairy, Pantry, then descend into each and type. /sub_2 cheddar quick-adds a child without even going in. At the store, open Groceries and walk the aisles in order.
The same shape covers a lot of ground:
- Trip packing › Clothes / Toiletries / Documents / Kids
- Home projects › each room › what it needs
- Gift ideas › each person › things they've mentioned all year
Moving around
Everything you need while inside a list fits in a few words:
| Say | What happens |
|---|---|
| (any text) | adds an item right here |
| /sub_N | open item N as its own list |
| out | up one level |
| top | jump to all your lists |
| next / prev | page through a long list |
| del 2 | delete item 2 |
| rename 1 cheddar | rename item 1 |
| exit | leave lists entirely |
Numbers always mean the rows you're currently looking at, renumbered 1..N — never some hidden id.
/lists shows all your top-level lists whenever you want back in, and the web app has a Lists view for when a keyboard and a big screen beat thumb-typing.
Lists vs. tasks vs. notes
A quick rule of thumb, since Fanad has three places things can live:
- Task — you'll do it, and want it off your mind: “fix the fence gate.”
- Note — you'll want to recall it later: “the spare key is under the blue pot.”
- List — it has structure and you'll keep coming back: groceries, packing, the wish list.
If you're unsure, just say the thing as a statement and let it be a task — you can always drop it. But the moment you notice yourself filing tasks like “buy milk, buy eggs, buy bread,” that's a grocery list wanting to exist.