How are you integrating / using tasks between Tinderbox and third party apps? Right now, I am using Things.
Simply put, I use copy and paste which just captures the title of a tinderbox note in Things.
Sometimes I just create an item in Things then use HookMark to link the tinderbox note and the Things item.
Just curious what others are doing.
Tom
I use Hookmarks to link across apps. It works quite well and allows me to directly jump say from a Tinderbox note to an OmniFocus task or similar. You find it at
I just use the Note URL (contextual menu in Tinderbox), pasted into the comments field of an OmniFocus action.
OmniFocus is my sole source of truth for tasks. I never create tasks in Tinderbox or any other app. Life is too confusing if there’s more than one task tracker in play.
OmniFocus is my sole source of truth for tasks. I never create tasks in Tinderbox or any other app. Life is too confusing if there’s more than one task tracker in play.
This is why I ended up coming back to Tinderbox. I didn’t like having to paste tasks saved in Omnifocus into Tinderbox. In recent weeks, I have therefore restricted, for my part, the interactions between Tinderbox and certain applications such as Omnifocus. I centralize my tasks in a diary and thus keep several journals.
I THINK I’m narrowing it down to a trifecta - Drafts/Obsidian/Tinderbox - with assistance from a CSV editor. This is as far as inputs to Tbx go.
Drafts for capturing random thoughts and snippets
Obsidian to handle all tasks and bulk of current project-related data I/O, in particular ephemera that never needs to make it to Tbx
Tinderbox as my repo, planner/think-space and incremental formalizer
Numbers or other CSV editor for utilitarian data management and bulk imports to Tbx
At some point I may delve into DevonThink, if it helps lighten the load on Tbx as a repo.
On the output side my requirements tend to be more varied.
I started using Daylite by Marketcircle many years ago to organise my business life. It works very well but later I started teaching at a local University part time and found I needed a more robust note taking application and settled on Tinderbox. I found it extremely helpful and with the addition of Bookends was able to handle the academic part of my life. Later I bought DevonThink as a repository and it works well but I’m sure I’m not using to it’s full capability.
Like Andreas, I recently found Hookmark, and it’s been really helpful to sew all the parts together.
I work in a project based industry, so I hold all the parts of a project together by labelling files and filing files by project. Daylite automatically files my emails by correspondent and I can link correspondents to projects. Hookmark then enriches the links by enabling me to link Word docs, spreadsheets, and other miscellaneous files into the project metaphor.
It’s not perfect but I’ve found HoudahSpot to be great at searching for text when my filing isn’t perfect. HoudahSpot used to be fantastic, but Apple has crippled its ability to search emails as part of Apples security upgrades lately.
Now I use Tinderbox as a daily journal for short notes during the day. I can link individual notes to projects. When a project has an issue that required a lot of notes I will open a new Tinderbox file for that project and customise the Tinderbox settings for the objectives of that project.
It’s all under constant review and tinkering but I am getting more efficient at managing all the various information sources in my life.
As a side note I recently purchased a NAS (Network Attached Storage) to help preserve all this information that takes so much work to source, analyse and organise. It’s been a big improvement for me in maintaining security of information and ensuring that I don’t lose anything due to technological failure.
@Paul_Zahara I use FoxTrot Professional Search to index email in the ~/Library/Mail folders. It does a great job – better than Houdah, in my opinion. I believe the entry-level FoxTrot Personal Search product also indexes email. FoxTrot avoids the limitations Apple placed on Sonoma Mail by indexing outside of the Mail client.
@PaulWalters
Great point Paul. I have been struggling to index mail ever since Sonoma and the sandboxing of plug-ins. DEVONthink plug-in no longer works for mail. This seems like a great solution for email mining. I suppose you copy and paste The information you find and want into Tinderbox from foxtrot
Is there a way to reference back to the original email? I think Foxtrot uses an index therefore hookmark probably wouldn’t work
Still a very useful solution. Funny I was trying to think of a better email workflow this week. Hit the spot.
Tom
@Tom I don’t use HookMark, but you can copy the file system path of an item returned in a FoxTrot search and paste that path into $File or any other file-type attribute in Tinderbox. Clicking the file icon for the attribute opens the message in Mail.
It is not to everybody’s taste, but MailMate is an interesting alternative to Apple Mail. Easily searchable with Houdah or other methods, like Alfred.
Thanks Martin. I forgot about MailMate.
Tom
It sounds like you have a solid workflow with Tinderbox and Things! I also find that copy and paste can be effective for quick captures. I often use HookMark for linking, as it really helps keep everything connected.
Another method I’ve experimented with is using automation tools like Zapier or Automator to streamline the process. For example, creating a new task in Things directly from a Tinderbox note can save some time and improve your time to market. Have you thought about any other integration tools, or are you sticking with your current method for now?
Hi abijaoi,
Currently I still use Things as my primary Todo 3rd party application and use Hookmark to link my notes within Obsidian, Tinderbox and Devonthink. In addition, I am exploring Tiago Forte’s PARA organizational process for note actionability within Obsidiian, Devonthink and Tinderbox. My current focus is all about creating note actionability instead of just collecting notes and not processing like I seem to have done for many years. The system works but it is just me trying to adapt a new system. This organization is helping to remind me of taking action on my notes.
To be honest, I am a recovering Note Collector Addict.
I realize I have this problem and will have to work not just collecting my notes.
One day at a time. 
Tom
Note Collector Anonymous
