Getting Started

System Requirements

  • Any Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel)
  • macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
  • Approximately 100 MB of disk space
  • For OmniFocus integration: OmniFocus 3 or later (Pro edition required)
  • For Things integration: Things 3 or later
  • For macOS Calendar integration (optional): macOS 14 or later

Installation

  1. Download and install Flowcus
  2. Launch Flowcus from your Applications folder or Launchpad

First Launch

When you first launch Flowcus, an onboarding guide walks you through connecting your task manager, setting up your board columns and understanding the key features. You can revisit the guide at any time from the Help menu.

Once you're in, Help › Getting Started… (also available from the Command Palette) opens a short checklist of things worth trying in your first few sessions — see your tasks on the board, try the Command Palette, plan a block in Blueprint, schedule a task into Blueprint, explore Aging and explore Analyse. Each item links straight to the right place, and the ticks update themselves as you go, so it always reflects what you've actually done.

Two more Help menu items are worth knowing about:

  • Discover Features… lists any guidance you've dismissed — the Blueprint nudge, an unfinished Getting Started checklist — alongside a browsable catalogue of Flowcus features, each linking to the matching page of this guide.
  • What's new…? opens the changelog for the version you're running, so you can see what changed after an update.

Language

Flowcus is available in English, Spanish, Italian and Simplified Chinese. Choose a language in Settings › General › Language — or leave it on System, which follows your macOS language. Sidekick replies in whichever language Flowcus is running in.

Spotted a translation that reads wrong? Choose Help › Send Feedback… and open the Translation tab — paste the text as Flowcus shows it along with what it should say, and we'll put it right.

Connecting to Task Sources

Flowcus works with these task sources:

OmniFocus Integration

  1. In Flowcus, go to Settings → Sources
  2. Enable "OmniFocus"
  3. Note: You will need to grant permission if macOS asks if Flowcus can control OmniFocus
  4. Your OmniFocus tasks will appear on the Kanban board
  5. Large OmniFocus databases: If your OmniFocus database contains more than 500 tasks, Flowcus will offer you the option to configure folder filters before syncing. Filtering to only the folders you actively use should make syncing faster. You can configure folder filters at any time in Settings → Sources.
Fetch speed: Direct vs. Via OmniFocus

Flowcus can read your OmniFocus tasks in one of two modes. Most people should leave this on Direct — it's the default.

Direct (default, fastest) : Flowcus reads tasks straight from OmniFocus's local database. This is significantly faster than the Via OmniFocus route.

Via OmniFocus (slower) : Flowcus asks OmniFocus to share your tasks via AppleScript which is the slower route. If you were using a previous version of Flowcus, this was the default way of fetching tasks.

Switch modes in Settings → Sources → OmniFocus → Fetch speed.

When to use Via OmniFocus

Switch to Via OmniFocus if you see any of:

  • Tasks visible in OmniFocus but missing from Flowcus
  • Recent changes in OmniFocus not showing up in Flowcus after a refresh
  • Task counts or available-task lists that disagree with OmniFocus
  • Anything that "feels stale" after editing in OmniFocus

If Via OmniFocus fixes the symptom, you've found a bug — please report it so it can be fixed in Direct mode.

Changes to OmniFocus data always happens via OmniFocus directly. Flowcus does not have write access to your OmniFocus database.

Things Integration

  1. In Flowcus, go to Settings → Sources
  2. Enable "Things"
  3. Note: You will need to grant permission if macOS asks if Flowcus can control Things
  4. Flowcus communicates with Things via JXA (JavaScript for Automation) and the Things URL scheme — you will need to provide your Things authentication token in Settings → Sources so that Flowcus can access your tasks
  5. Your Things tasks will appear on the Kanban board

Todoist Integration

  1. In Flowcus, go to Settings → Sources
  2. Enable "Todoist"
  3. Sign in to your Todoist account when prompted
  4. Your Todoist tasks will appear on the Kanban board

TaskPaper Integration

  1. In Flowcus, go to Settings → Sources
  2. Enable "TaskPaper"
  3. Select a TaskPaper file to use as your task source
  4. Your TaskPaper tasks will appear on the Kanban board

You can use multiple task sources simultaneously and visualise tasks from all of them together on a single board.

Introduction