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File 00 · Briefing

You give the orders. Direktiv keeps the file.

Directives, dossiers and 1:1s in one place. The follow-up you promised in Tuesday's meeting is on Thursday's list, and you only wrote it down once.

By invitation · Passkeys and MFA · Files held in Sydney

Introduction

Most people who run a department keep three systems: a notebook, a spreadsheet of follow-ups and a board they stopped updating in March. Direktiv is one system, built around the day you actually have.

  1. 5SECTo capture a directive, from any screen
  2. 3–5Priorities a day, chosen each morning
  3. 7DAYSIn the Burn Bag before a note must become something
  4. 50Versions kept of every dossier page
  5. $2Default monthly cap on the Analyst, in US dollars
File 01 Today

The morning briefing

Start with a short list you can trust.

Today puts your priorities at the top, then what's due, what's overdue and who you're waiting on. Overdue directives stay pinned until you finish them, move them or drop them. Nothing quietly falls off the bottom.

  • APlan my day. Clear the overdue and the Dead Drop, then pick today's priorities.
  • BWaiting on. Every follow-up shows how long you've waited and when to chase.
  • CEnd of day. Tick off what's done, roll the rest to tomorrow, write a line in the log.
Today Monday
Priorities
Board paper: final numbers to DanaTodayHQ-142
Sign off Q3 budget varianceHQ-139
Call the auditors back about the sampleHQ-150
Overdue
Draft the restructure comms plan2 days lateHQ-118
Waiting on
SSam: revised travel policy6 daysNudge
LLegal: clause 14 of the lease2 days
From your dossiers
Ask Priya for the vendor shortlistOps sync

Three to five priorities, picked by you each morning

Overdue stays pinned until you deal with it

Days waiting, and one click to nudge

Plan my day
File 02 Dead Drop

Capture

Five seconds, from any screen.

Press Ctrl K and type it the way you'd say it. People, dates, classifications and priority are read straight off the line. Anything without a home goes to the Dead Drop, the inbox you clear when you plan your day.

Ctrl K Draft board paper @dana fri #executive !high

@dana · OperativeDana Whitlock
fri · DueThis Friday
#executive · ClassificationExecutive
!high · PriorityHigh
Burn Bag 3 items
ring Marcus re offsite numbers1 day
all-hands as a video this quarter?4 days
parking passes renew in Jan, check who has one6 days · goes tomorrow

The Burn Bag gives a thought seven days.

For things that aren't anything yet. Type a line, no fields. Each note shows its age, and from day three Today reminds you to decide. Turn it into a directive, a follow-up, a 1:1 point or a page. On day seven anything still there is filed in the Dead Drop as a follow-up, so nothing sits there forever.

Capture

Nothing falls off the bottom. Everything has a file.

File 03 Dossiers

Notes

Notes and directives are one system.

Write the meeting the way it happens. The action you jotted in the margin becomes a directive without retyping, and when you tick it off on Today, the note knows.

  • ANotebooks, sections, pages. Headings, tables, checklists, callouts, toggles, code, embedded PDFs.
  • BPaste anything. Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Google Docs. Tables and lists arrive intact.
  • CFull history. Autosaved, with the last 50 versions of every page kept for 90 days.

Ops sync

Weekly · Thursday · Dana, Sam, Priya

Vendor review is running two weeks late. Priya thinks the shortlist can still land before the board. Budget sits at withheld against a cap of withheld.

Priya to send the vendor shortlist → HQ-151

Sam to book the offsite venue → HQ-147

KEY: Board date moves to 3 December. Everything else holds.

VendorScoreRisk
Halden & Co82Low
Northpoint74Medium
Arbor Systems61High

Type [] and the line is an action. Promote it, and the status stays in step both ways

Start a line with Key: and it joins every key point you've written, searchable

Pasted from Excel. The table keeps its shape

Filed
File 04 1:1s

Operatives

Every 1:1 starts where the last one stopped.

Each person you meet regularly gets a series: a cadence, a running list of briefing points and a history you can search. Their page shows everything between you, both ways.

01 · Before

Points collect

Type 1:1 @dana anywhere and it's on her agenda. Reorder them when it matters.

02 · During

The page is ready

The meeting opens with the open points, open actions both ways and whatever carried over last time.

03 · After

Finish the 1:1

Discussed points close, the rest carry forward, actions go out as directives with dates, and the next meeting is set.

Eyes only

Each person also gets one running page of private notes. Only you can read it, even when the series is shared with your EA. The server enforces that. It isn't a setting you might forget.

File 05 Mandates

Initiatives

For the work that takes a quarter, not an afternoon.

A mandate groups directives into workstreams, each with an owner and a target date. Health is On track, At risk or Off track, always written in words as well as colour. The weekly review walks you through them, worst first.

Consolidate the two city offices

One floor, a signed lease and everyone moved by 30 June.
At risk
Lease negotiationOn track
Fit-outAt risk
People and commsOff track
Next reviewFriday
  1. Weekly review · Monday · At risk

    Fit-out quote came in 18% over. Asking for a second quote before we commit.

  2. Update · a week earlier · On track

    Heads of terms agreed. Legal reviewing clause 14.

■ The status log is append-only. Nobody rewrites the record.

Ask the Analyst for a brief and it reads the workstreams, the directives and the last five updates, then drafts the risks and next steps for you to keep or bin.

Weekly review

The rest of the desk

OperationsYour boards

Your own columns, WIP limits that warn you, and list and calendar views. Filter by typing: priority:high due:<7d.

The DirectorateEverything open, ranked

One list across every operation. Drag to rank, group by mandate, and commit to a This week set you'll actually finish.

DirectivesThe work you issue

Keys like HQ-142 that never change, subtasks, links (blocks, relates to), recurring directives and attachments.

ClassificationsTopics that cut across everything

Tag directives, dossiers, mandates and operatives. Turn on a lens and every view shows only that classification.

File 06 Chain of command

Delegation and access

Built for a principal and an EA.

Give your EA a delegate seat. They can run your Today, clear your Dead Drop, move dates and nudge people, and every change is logged as theirs: Sam (for Alex) moved HQ-142 to Friday.

Assign work to anyone, with or without an account. If they join later, everything's already theirs. Projects keep work apart, and nothing crosses between them.

Unclassified Classified Eyes only

Every operation, notebook, section and 1:1 is Unclassified, Classified (you and the people you pick) or Eyes Only. The server checks it on every request, including search, sync, export and the Analyst.

File 07 The Analyst

AI assistance

The Analyst drafts. You sign.

Ask for a summary of a page, the actions buried in a meeting, a suggested order for your day or a brief on a mandate. Nothing changes until you accept it.

  • AIt only reads what you're allowed to read.
  • BYou choose the model from an approved list, with the cost shown.
  • CA monthly budget, US$2 to start. When it's spent, the Analyst stops.
This month$0.46 of $2.00
The Analyst · Ops sync 3 suggestions
Priya to send the vendor shortlistDirective
Board date moves to 3 DecemberKey point
Confirm the cap with Finance before FridayDirective
Each suggestion links back to the line it came from.
Accept selectedReview one by one
File 08 Field kit

The practical part

Works where you work.

Works offline

Read and write with no signal. Changes sync when you're back, and the app shows what's still waiting.

On your phone

Install it from the browser on iPhone, Android, Mac or Windows. Swipe to complete, pull to sync.

Passkeys and MFA

Sign in with a passkey, or a password and an authenticator code. No shared logins, ever.

Kept in Sydney

Your files are stored in Amazon Web Services' Sydney region and encrypted at rest.

Take it with you

Export everything as JSON and Markdown whenever you like. Your work is never locked in.

Keyboard first

A command palette and shortcuts for the common moves. Your hands stay on the keys.

Request access

Issue your first directive.

Direktiv is by invitation while we're small. Tell us a little about your desk, and whether an EA works it with you, and we'll be in touch.