Hierarchy

Routine has been designed as a context graph — a connected network of objects (tasks, events, contacts, pages, projects, custom objects, etc.) that represent nodes linked to one another. This graph is what makes Routine more than a task manager or calendar. It's a living knowledge system where relationships between objects give AI, automations, and views the context they need to be genuinely useful.

🌐 How the graph works

Every object in Routine is a node. Nodes connect to each other through:

• Parent-child relationships — a task created inside a page is a child of that page; a checklist item inside an event note is a child of that event

• Relations — explicit links between objects of any type (e.g. a task linked to a project, a contact linked to a customer record)

• References — inline links from notes or pages to any other object in the workspace

• Implicit links — an event is implicitly connected to its participants, its calendar, and any tasks allocated to it

Together these connections form a rich graph that captures not just what you need to do, but the full context around it.

🏗️ Levels of organization

Routine's hierarchy has several levels:

• Organizations — the top-level container (personal organization + team organizations)

• Workspaces — subdivisions within an organization for different teams or contexts

• Databases & types — collections of objects of a specific type (Tasks, Pages, Projects, custom types)

• Objects — individual nodes: tasks, events, pages, contacts, projects, custom objects

• Properties — data attached to objects (title, status, assignee, date, relations, etc.)

• Notes — rich content inside objects, which can themselves contain nested objects

🌀 Projects as connective tissue

Projects are a core node in the graph, designed to connect related work across object types.

A project node can link to:

• Multiple tasks across personal and team workspaces

• Pages and documentation

• Events and meetings

• Custom database objects

This makes projects a natural hub for organizing everything related to a shared objective without forcing a rigid folder structure.

🔗 References and relations

Beyond parent-child links, Routine supports two additional ways to connect objects:

• References — created inline in the note editor using @. A reference links to any object without making it a child. References display the object's current title and open it when clicked.

• Relations — explicit properties on a type that link to another type (e.g. a Task has a Project relation, a Contact has a Company relation). Relations are defined in Settings → Types and appear as properties on every object of that type.

📦 Moving objects

Organizing information in Routine often means moving an object from one parent or context to another.

To move an object:

• Open it and use the ... menu to access the Move action

• Or use CMD/CTRL+SHIFT+M keyboard shortcut

💡 For tasks bound to a custom database, the Move action goes through the custom object flow — moving the object within its database rather than between task lists.

🤖 AI and the context graph

The context graph is what gives Routine's AI its power. Because objects are connected through relations, references, and parent-child links, the AI assistant and automations can:

• Understand which tasks belong to which project

• Know which contacts are linked to which meetings

• Find the right database to update when something changes

• Create new objects in the right context automatically

• Surface related information without you having to specify it

The richer your graph, the more autonomously and accurately the AI can act on your behalf.

💡 Tips for a well-organized graph

• Use projects to group tasks, pages, and meetings around shared objectives

• Add relations to custom types to connect your data across databases

• Use references in notes to link relevant objects without moving them

• Apply labels consistently across object types for cross-cutting organization

• Let AI help — the assistant can create objects in the right context and link them automatically based on your workspace structure