Intents

Return towhat youmeant to do.

Intents is a calm browser layer for people who lose their train of thought. It won’t tell you what to do. It helps you remember why you were doing it.

See how it worksWhat it isn’t
New Tab

Begin, or begin again.

Click anywhere to let your mind wander

The modern web is not built for continuity. You open a tab for one reason, get pulled toward another, and five minutes later you’re somewhere else entirely. Not because you’re careless, but because the web is optimised for discovery, not memory.

Four small ways back.

Hold that thought

Select any text and save it, with your own note if you like. Later you return to the exact page and section, with the text highlighted.

Context ladder

A light trail shows where you started and how you got here. One click takes you back to the original context.

Isolate mode

Links are hidden, the noise is removed and the content is reflowed for reading. It’s temporary and reversible.

Contextualise

Select a term and a short explanation appears in a side panel. No new tabs, no rabbit holes.

reader.example/memory
Research notes›Article›Video›Somewhere else

Why we forget what we came for

Interruptions don’t erase intentions, they bury them. Working memory holds only a handful of items, and a new tab pushes the old one out.

Every attention-grabbing headline is another small exit, and each exit makes the way back a little harder to find.

Hold that thought
Thought saved“a new tab pushes the old one out.”Check this against chapter 3
ContextualiseWorking memory

The small amount of information your mind can hold and use at the same time.

Open the source

Almost everything is a shortcut.

A built-in commands panel lists every shortcut, so nothing has to be memorised and nothing gets in your way. Try filtering it.

Distraction is not a failure. Losing context is the real problem.

What it is, and what it isn’t.

Intents is

  • Reactive, not intrusive
  • Context-first, not task-first
  • Minimal, opinionated and local-first
  • Built for short memory, attention volatility and cognitive overload

Intents is not

  • A productivity tracker
  • A task manager
  • A site blocker
  • A search engine
  • A motivational tool

It won’t tell you what to do. It helps you remember why you were doing something.

Reactive, never demandingMinimal over feature-richTemporary over persistentCalm over cleverUser-initiated, always

Nothing leaves your device.

All data stays on your device. Optional external services, such as AI providers, are configured by you and operate under their own policies.

The source is open, so all of this can be verified.

Read the source
If Intents helps you feel a little less scattered, it’s doing its job.

It came from building things to solve my own attention problems, and realising how many people quietly struggle with the same friction. It’s actively developed, but intentionally restrained. Most of the work is deciding what not to add.

Contribute or just look around