Desktop alpha ยท In development

Subroutine

A desktop planner for flexible actions, fixed events and reusable routines.

Capture work without scheduling all of it at once. Queue the actions you want to make time for, then adjust the plan when the day changes.

Subroutine is still in development. The source is public; packaged downloads are not available yet.

How it works Download status
Subroutine logo and wordmark

Who it's for

Subroutine is for people who find the management part of task management exhausting, particularly autistic and ADHD people. For them, deciding what to do, when and in what order costs real executive function. Most task managers remember your tasks. They then leave every scheduling decision, and every repair after a day goes wrong, to you. Subroutine takes on more of that work. You decide what you're committing to. It fits that work around your fixed commitments and re-plans when you ask.

It is not another calendar with a to-do list attached. It does not guess your intentions or energy, and it does not claim to know what is best for you. It works from the times and constraints you give it.

Why ordinary task managers fall short

Inside the desktop app

Read the guide

  • See the plan in time

    Put actions and events on one Timeline. Keep fixed commitments in place while flexible work moves around them.

  • Choose what enters the queue

    Give the work you intend to do a place in the schedule. Review it in Upcoming, or narrow the view with Focus.

  • Reuse the familiar parts

    Keep recurring sequences as routines, and save action or event templates to use again.

How it differs

Approach Who decides when work happens When the day goes off plan What the plan is based on
Task lists, such as Todoist You assign dates and priorities by hand. Missed tasks turn overdue; you reschedule each one yourself. The dates and priorities you set.
Time-blocking planners, such as Sunsama You place each task into a time slot. You rearrange the blocks yourself. Your manual plan for the day.
Automatic schedulers, such as Motion The app decides, and keeps re-deciding. The app reshuffles your plan automatically. Priorities and deadlines, weighed by its own scheduling engine.
Subroutine You choose what to queue; the scheduler finds each action a slot. You refresh, and overdue flexible actions move forward around fixed commitments. Durations, pinned actions and blocking events you set. No inferred mood or energy.

Each row describes a tool's core approach, not every feature it has. The Guide explains Subroutine's terms.

Try it, or follow along

There is no installer yet. If you have Rust and Nushell, you can build and run the alpha from source today:

git clone https://github.com/subroutine-app/subroutine-lite
cd subroutine-lite
nu run.nu

  • Build requirements

    Native tools per platform, packaging scripts and what to expect from an alpha build.

  • Get notified about the beta

    On GitHub, choose Watch, then Custom, then Releases. You will get one notification when a build is published.

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  • Downloads

    Current availability, platform plans and information for building from source.

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  • Project overview

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  • Subroutine on GitHub

    Read the source, browse issues or share a problem you can reproduce.

Development notes

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