Help for extension version 1.6.3
Install and enable GentleDesk, then open a new Chrome tab. Choose your language on the welcome screen and select Get started, or choose a starter template. You can change the language, greeting, theme and simple mode in Settings. The core shortcuts, tasks and local calendar need no account or companion.
If Chrome asks whether to keep the new tab change, choose Keep it. Chrome's own footer is controlled by Chrome: right-click a blank part of the footer and choose Hide footer on New Tab page, or turn off Show footer on New Tab page in Customize Chrome. Disabling the extension restores Chrome's original new tab page.
Add website shortcuts, organize them into groups, drag to reorder and search their names. Edit mode lets you rename or remove shortcuts. Remove groups through the checkbox list; their website shortcuts remain in All shortcuts. All shortcuts and Computer desktop are fixed spaces. Starter templates add shortcuts, not parental controls or filtering.
All shortcuts has three tabs: All shortcuts, Calendar and Tasks. Use + to add an information tab connected to your own API. Information results offer card and table views and field-specific search. Deleting a card removes its information tab.
To search the web, choose Bing, Google or Baidu beside the search box and press Enter. Local suggestions support arrow keys and Enter. An explicit web search sends your query to the selected provider. Optional frequently used sorting records only launches from GentleDesk, not your browsing history.
Create a task by clicking New task or the + button in a board column. Only the name is required. Status and priority are common fields; dates, notes and progress are optional. Save from the dialog footer, press Enter in the name field, or use ⌘ / Ctrl + Enter. Save and Cancel remain visible while the dialog body scrolls.
Switch between Swimlanes and Gantt chart. Use Backlog, Planned, In progress and Finished columns, drag a card to change status, or use its status menu. Priorities run from P0 (urgent) to P3 (low). The slider updates progress; 100% finishes a task. Moving a finished task to another status resets it to 0%.
Task cards use two or three compact rows. Long names and notes are truncated; hover to read the full text, or click the task title to edit. Search task names above My tasks using one or more keywords. Search ignores letter case and normalizes full-width letters. Enter focuses the first result; Escape or Clear search restores all tasks. Both views share the filter. On narrow screens, empty columns are hidden while searching.
Gantt bars use your actual dates. Tasks without dates remain marked Unscheduled; click to set dates. Deletion asks for confirmation. Tasks and view preferences persist locally and are included in desktop backups and optional Chrome sync.
The Calendar tab and top calendar button show a monthly calendar and selected-day agenda. Add local all-day or timed events, optional reminders, locations and notes. All-day end dates in the editor are inclusive; ICS export uses the standard exclusive end date. Today's reminder strip can be paused; hovering or focusing also stops rotation. Due reminders appear while an eligible visible desktop page is open. The extension does not send alerts after the browser closes.
Use Connect calendars for Apple, Google, Windows or General options. Import .ics files, export local events or subscribe to a service's dedicated HTTPS ICS address. A normal calendar web page URL is not an ICS feed. Imported events and ICS subscriptions are read-only. Private subscription URLs act like credentials: do not share them, and reset them at the calendar provider if exposed.
Subscription URLs are kept only for the browser session, or in current-page memory on the web. Reconnect after that session ends; cached events can remain available offline. Authorized subscriptions refresh about every 15 minutes while Chrome runs. Failed refreshes preserve cached events. Limits include five external sources, 1 MB per input, 2,000 expanded events per external source and 500 local events. Desktop JSON backups do not contain calendars; export local events as ICS separately.
Requires macOS, the Chrome extension and the separately installed companion. Sign into the relevant account in Apple's Calendar / Reminders apps first. Authorize system access, then select calendars and reminder lists in GentleDesk. System permissions cover the databases, but GentleDesk manages only selected sources. Confirmed edits and deletions write to those sources; recurring-event changes apply to that occurrence. Edit location-based reminders in Apple's app.
Choose an iCloud source to use Apple's own device sync; a source marked local-only does not sync to your phone. Sync speed and notifications depend on Apple and device settings. No public calendar URL or Apple password is needed. Disconnecting clears the connection, not the original events. Revoke system permission separately in macOS Privacy & Security.
The default build supports Google private ICS subscriptions. Direct Google OAuth is disabled until the publisher registers and verifies an OAuth client. Do not expect a Google sign-in flow in this package.
Windows local calendars require the Windows companion and an explicitly selected classic Outlook calendar or local ICS file. The connection is read-only. New Outlook does not support this COM connection; use HTTPS ICS or an exported ICS file instead. The companion reads no Outlook mail, contacts or passwords.
Add an information tab, choose a card type, enter your own HTTPS endpoint and review the disclosure before granting exact-domain access. Bearer tokens are session-only and must not be placed in URLs. Results are rendered as text. Requests omit cookies, reject redirects, time out after 18 seconds and accept up to 1 MB. Tables show up to 100 rows and six selected fields.
GET https://your-service.example/status
Content-Type: application/json
[
{"project": "Website update", "status": "In progress"},
{"project": "Release notes", "status": "Planned"}
]Use a field path such as data.items when the array is nested. List table fields with commas, or leave blank to detect fields. Ticker cards read a message field such as text.
POST https://your-service.example/agent
Content-Type: application/json
{"prompt":"Summarize my release checklist."}Use an endpoint compatible with GentleDesk's card protocol; it is not a general-purpose provider chat client. Return a JSON object with a text string. You supply and authorize the service; no paid AI plan or provider key is bundled. Provider charges can apply, especially if you enable refresh. Local files, calendar records and unrelated cards are not automatically attached to prompts.
Chrome session storage clears tokens at the end of the browser session. On the web, tokens exist only in page memory and are lost on refresh or close; your server must also allow CORS. After changing an endpoint, enter its token again. Restoring backups does not automatically reconnect services.
Computer desktop requires the separate companion and optional native messaging permission. Download the personalized installer from Connect desktop. It contains the extension ID generated locally. Installing the extension alone does not install the companion or give it access to your files. macOS security prompts and Windows installation steps remain under your control.
Select folders or individual files / apps to add. Add folder, Add file and Add app use the system picker. Double-click a folder to navigate inside it; select and confirm to add the folder itself. Use ⌘ / Ctrl or Shift for multiple files. Canceling adds nothing. The original files are preserved when you remove shortcuts or panels.
Panels support renaming, dragging, manual resizing, collapsing, wallpaper and icon-size preferences. Layer controls move a panel forward, backward, to front or to back. Focus a title and use Alt + ↑ / ↓; add Shift for front or back. Search beside a panel title filters icons. In a panel with folder searching enabled, use a folder's Search action to search its descendants; clear the scope to return to icon filtering.
Global file search needs separate opt-in and a folder selection. It reads names and locations within authorized folders and known app directories, not document body text. A very broad folder can yield incomplete or slower results. Result references expire; search again when necessary. No local file launching or native searching is available in the mobile web version.
Enable tab management in Settings and grant tabs permission to list, search, protect, discard and wake pages. Automatic sleep is off by default and requires both the global option and a per-site rule. Active, pinned, audible, recently audible, communication and collaborative pages are protected. Save your work before discarding: pages reload when revisited and unsaved changes may be lost. GentleDesk cannot detect every unsaved form and does not show estimated memory savings.
Read and accept the sync scope before enabling it in Settings. Chrome itself must be signed in with sync enabled; other devices need the same Google account and extension ID. GentleDesk uses Chrome storage.sync, not a separate account or Google Drive.
Sync includes web shortcuts, groups, information-card configuration and prompt text, tasks, and appearance / search preferences. Local paths, files / apps, desktop wallpaper / layout, directory permissions, calendars, tokens, results, usage and tab records are excluded. A restored card requires fresh authorization. Existing data and conflicts require a version choice; a local pre-restore copy is retained. Chrome's storage quota is about 100 KB; over-quota errors preserve local data. Pausing sync or resetting this device does not delete its already synced account copy.
Inspect the bundled public-data snapshot without enabling online updates. The monitor displays interest rates, government bond yields, primary dealer positions, Treasury auctions and annual IMF fiscal data. Charts expose observation dates, retrieval dates, sources and missing values. These are periodic observations, not a live trading feed. Countries and series can have gaps; data providers can revise values.
Online updates are optional and request access to named public data sources. Failed series retain the previous observation and its date. The page attempts updates about every six hours while visible. Pause updates to stop requests. Compare source methodologies before interpreting data; debt is a stock and annual revenue is a flow.
Export a desktop JSON backup in Settings, keep it secure, and import it to restore supported settings and tasks. The file excludes credentials, session results, local file / app entries, usage and calendars. Reset clears local configuration and temporary records and revokes relevant connections; it does not modify original files or calendars. Uninstall the companion separately when no longer needed.
See the full privacy policy for data handling and deletion. Support: taihushuicao_lu@qq.com. Include the extension version, Chrome version, operating system and steps to reproduce. Do not send tokens, private calendar URLs or confidential data.
In Gantt view, click “Export Excel” to download an .xlsx Gantt chart with task names, status, priority, dates, completion percentages, notes and colored schedule cells. Active search filters apply to the export. Unscheduled tasks keep blank dates; a task with only one date marks one day. Longer schedules automatically use weekly, monthly or yearly columns. Green marks completed periods. Headers and task identifiers stay frozen, and task columns support filtering. The file is a schedule snapshot; editing it does not update the extension.
Each writable agenda event and Apple reminder now has a Delete button, also available in the details footer. Confirmation deletes the selected Apple occurrence or reminder from its source; its account handles device sync. Authorized Google OAuth connections support event deletion with version checks. Read-only ICS, Windows and Apple calendars must be deleted in their source app. Failed deletions keep the item visible. In existing item details, choose one of six colors or the default and select Save color label. Labels are stored only on this device, survive refresh and external sync, and appear in month dots, the daily agenda, the reminder strip and Apple reminders. Create an external event or reminder first, then reopen its details to label it.