First Run

What Pensum does on first load

The first time you enable Pensum in a vault, it scans every markdown file and builds an internal index of:

• Tasks — any line matching - [ ] (open) or - [x] (completed), including subtasks and recurring tasks
• Projects — files with type: project in frontmatter
• Meetings — files with type: meeting in frontmatter
• Wiki entries — files with type: wiki in frontmatter

Large vaults (5,000+ files) take a few seconds the first time. Subsequent vault opens are near-instant because Pensum keeps the index up to date as you edit. You can force a fresh scan any time with Pensum: Rescan vault in the command palette.

No configuration is required out of the box. The defaults assume:

• Inbox lives at Tasks/Inbox.md
• Projects go in Projects/
• Meetings go in Meetings/{year}/
• Wiki entries go in Wiki/
• Recordings go in Recordings/

You can change any of these under Settings → Pensum → General.

If your vault doesn’t have these folders yet, Pensum creates them when you first use a feature that needs them — capturing a task creates the Inbox file, recording a meeting creates the Meetings folder, and so on.

The first ten minutes

1. Capture a task fast (Cmd+Shift+A)

Press Cmd+Shift+A anywhere in Obsidian. The Quick Add modal opens. Type:

Follow up with Jamie about pricing deck p1 tomorrow #work

Press Enter. Pensum parses the priority (p1 → highest), date (tomorrow → real YYYY-MM-DD), and tag (#work). The task lands in your Inbox file.

If you have Pro and AI is enabled, toggle the AI checkbox in the modal header before pressing Enter — Smart Capture also resolves your projects and recent tags from context.

See Quick Add.

2. Open the Today view

Press Cmd+Shift+D or click the check-square icon in the left ribbon. Today shows three groups:

• Overdue at the top, with the oldest first
• Today sorted by priority
• Completed today at the bottom so you can see what you’ve finished

Click any task to open the edit modal. Right-click for quick actions (reschedule, complete, delete). Check a checkbox inline to mark it done.

See Today & Inbox.

3. Capture from selection (Cmd+Shift+T)

Highlight any text in any note and press Cmd+Shift+T. Pensum creates a task with the highlighted text as the description and a wikilink back to the source note in the body. Great for turning meeting notes, brainstorm sessions, or reading highlights into actionable items.

See Capture from selection.

4. Toggle a task done (Cmd+Shift+X)

Put your cursor on any task line in any note and press Cmd+Shift+X to toggle its checkbox. Works equally well in a project file, a daily note, or a meeting note. Recurring tasks automatically create their next occurrence when you complete them.

5. Try a different view

Open the command palette (Cmd+P) and search for Pensum. Every view is one command away:

View	What it shows
Today	Overdue + due today + scheduled today
Inbox	Tasks in your inbox files, sorted newest first
Forecast	Tasks grouped by day for the next 1 / 2 / 4 weeks
By Project	All open tasks grouped by project
Calendar	Month or week grid with task-count dots
Search	Live full-text search across every task
Filters	Saved custom queries (status / priority / project / tags / dates)
Activity	Completion history grouped by day, plus the AI activity tab
Curate	Wiki stubs waiting to be developed
Project Page	A detail panel that auto-opens when you view a project file
Meeting Page	A detail panel that auto-opens when you view a meeting note
Agent Captures	Tasks captured by AI agents via MCP, awaiting your review

Park whichever you use most in the sidebar; the rest stay one command away.

What to set up next

• Configure your folders if the defaults don’t match your vault — Settings reference.
• Customize the built-in templates for projects, meetings, and wiki stubs — Templates guide.
• If you’re on Pro, start a trial or activate your license under Settings → Pensum → Account. See Plans and licensing.
• If you use AI agents (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor), set up the MCP server or the CLI.

What you don’t need to do

• Configure a database (Pensum reads markdown directly).
• Set up sync (Pensum works with whatever sync you already have — Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Syncthing, Dropbox, none at all).
• Migrate your existing tasks. Pensum reads the same - [ ] syntax everyone else uses.
• Choose between desktop and mobile. The same plugin runs on both from the same vault.