Routine
Combine calendar, tasks, notes, and a command palette into one personal workspace
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Routine, combine calendar, tasks, notes, and a command palette into one personal workspace. The hard boundary is calendar integrations, cross-platform apps, capture speed, sync, and polish, plus cross-device reliability and workflow polish.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- calendar integrations, cross-platform apps, capture speed, sync, and polish
- perfect mobile sync
- calendar and email integrations
- shared workspaces
- behavioral coaching polish
Why people still pay
People still pay for Routine because task software is sticky because trust, speed, and ubiquitous capture matter more than the database schema. The recurring cost buys recurrence edge cases, notifications, sync conflicts, calendar APIs, mobile capture, and backups, not just the visible interface.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- Runtime and tools: TypeScript, React and a Node server with SQLite for a single small workspace.
- Before starting: A local Node runtime, writable data directory, sample records and a documented backup/restore path.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule — domain: Store Task, Note, CalendarReference, PlannedBlock and DailyReview; completing a task does not delete its note, and rolling unfinished work forward preserves the original due date.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Start with manual calendar import or one read-only adapter. Automated rescheduling, multi-provider sync and natural-language certainty are deferred; retain local export and revision history.
Project rule — acceptance: Plan more tasks than fit around a meeting, then finish one early; show unscheduled work rather than overlapping blocks or silently moving a fixed meeting.
Project rule — delivery: document real setup commands and permissions; do not claim a build, accuracy level, performance result or security certification that has not been demonstrated.
Recommended skill: vercel-react-best-practices — keep the proposed React work/review views responsive and avoid unnecessary rendering or data-fetch waterfalls. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Recommended skill: web-design-guidelines — review keyboard access, focus, validation, error recovery and the readable work/review interface or HTML report. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Pin the working slice and create its example input: Combine a personal calendar, tasks and notes in a keyboard-driven today view, with explicit time blocks and carry-forward review. Confirm setup: A local Node runtime, writable data directory, sample records and a documented backup/restore path.
Phase 2
Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Task, Note, CalendarReference, PlannedBlock and DailyReview; completing a task does not delete its note, and rolling unfinished work forward preserves the original due date.
Phase 3
Connect the working view to real saved state. Use migrations and server-side validation; expose saved, pending and failed states. Keep each write atomic and reject stale edits using a revision number.
Phase 4
Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Start with manual calendar import or one read-only adapter. Automated rescheduling, multi-provider sync and natural-language certainty are deferred; retain local export and revision history.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Plan more tasks than fit around a meeting, then finish one early; show unscheduled work rather than overlapping blocks or silently moving a fixed meeting. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to Routine. This is a deliberately limited personal or small-team substitute, not parity with the paid service. WORKING SLICE Combine a personal calendar, tasks and notes in a keyboard-driven today view, with explicit time blocks and carry-forward review. SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE Use TypeScript, React and a Node server with SQLite for a single small workspace. Prerequisites: A local Node runtime, writable data directory, sample records and a documented backup/restore path. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success. DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS Store Task, Note, CalendarReference, PlannedBlock and DailyReview; completing a task does not delete its note, and rolling unfinished work forward preserves the original due date. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT Use migrations and server-side validation; expose saved, pending and failed states. Keep each write atomic and reject stale edits using a revision number. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content. APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY Start with manual calendar import or one read-only adapter. Automated rescheduling, multi-provider sync and natural-language certainty are deferred; retain local export and revision history. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Plan more tasks than fit around a meeting, then finish one early; show unscheduled work rather than overlapping blocks or silently moving a fixed meeting. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested. DELIVERY Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product. PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan
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Alternatives to building your own
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Routine pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | 3 integrations; 3 databases; 250 AI credits. |
| personal | $5/user | — | 10 integrations; 10 databases; 500 AI credits. |
| professional | $10/user | — | Unlimited integrations and databases; 7,000 AI credits. |
| business | $15/user | — | 10,000 AI credits/seat; team administration. |
| enterprise | — | — | Custom credits, controls, and support.Custom quote. |
free tier3 integrations; 3 databases; 250 AI credits.
billingmonthly only on the public rate card; no annual price published; Enterprise custom
hidden costsAI usage is credit-capped, so higher usage can force a plan upgrade or custom contract.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Routine
Can you build your own Routine with AI?
Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Routine, combine calendar, tasks, notes, and a command palette into one personal workspace. The hard boundary is calendar integrations, cross-platform apps, capture speed, sync, and polish, plus cross-device reliability and workflow polish.
What does the Routine build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Combine a personal calendar, tasks and notes in a keyboard-driven today view, with explicit time blocks and carry-forward review. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: calendar integrations, cross-platform apps, capture speed, sync, and polish; perfect mobile sync; calendar and email integrations. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Routine prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Routine project take?
The catalogue estimate is one sitting for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Routine?
calendar integrations, cross-platform apps, capture speed, sync, and polish; perfect mobile sync; calendar and email integrations; shared workspaces; behavioral coaching polish. People still pay for Routine because task software is sticky because trust, speed, and ubiquitous capture matter more than the database schema. The recurring cost buys recurrence edge cases, notifications, sync conflicts, calendar APIs, mobile capture, and backups, not just the visible interface.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Professional plan is $10/mo per seat (monthly per user), checked 2026-08-14. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Routine?
Super Productivity: Tasks, notes, calendar import, timeboxing, and a fast local workflow; no command-palette theatre. Lunatask: Tasks, seven habits, a daily calendar, and Pomodoro for free; external calendar sync is the upsell. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.