Give every AI daily review a start boundary and an end state

Write the review contract before opening the conversation

Use one sentence with five fields: purpose, input boundary, duration, output, and ending. Purpose should be narrow, such as recording what changed in today’s plan and choosing one item to carry forward. Input names specific materials: three notes, one calendar view, and one completed checklist, not “everything you know about me.” Duration includes both a clock limit and a turn limit, for example ten minutes or six exchanges, whichever comes first. Output is one editable card, not a hidden profile update. Ending is a terminal choice: keep, revise, export, or discard. PAIR’s user-needs work begins with the task and an observable definition of success. Here, success means the card is produced within the agreed scope and the session closes; it does not mean the tool has judged the day.

Lock the input boundary to material from the current day

The review should display an input tray before generation. Each item shows its source, date, and whether it was selected by the user or added by a connection. Older chats, remembered preferences, unrelated files, location history, and inferred events stay off unless separately selected for this session. “Today” needs a visible time zone and cutoff, because a late-night note and a next-day calendar item can otherwise be mixed. Add and remove controls should update the tray before the next response. A harmless negative test inserts one clearly dated older note. The tool should exclude it or ask permission, not use it because it seems relevant. This boundary differs from deletion or storage controls: the question is what may enter this one review, not what exists elsewhere in the account.

Use a timebox with a warning and no conversational extension

A useful timebox has three states: active, closing, and ended. Show remaining time or turns without making the clock the subject of the conversation. Near the limit, the tool stops asking new questions and offers to assemble the current material. At the limit it creates the draft card and disables automatic follow-up. “Would you like to keep talking?” is not an end condition if it appears every time. If the user chooses a one-time extension, show its exact length and do not convert it into a new default. HAX recommends efficient invocation and dismissal; a bounded review needs both. Test by leaving a question unanswered at the limit. The result should mark it open or omit it rather than restart the session to obtain completion.

Make the output an editable review card, not a verdict

The card should separate source lines from AI-made grouping and user-confirmed wording. A compact format can include: selected materials, one change noticed in the plan, one item to keep, one item to revise, and one optional next action. Every field can be edited, removed, or left blank. The tool must not add claims about motives, traits, or hidden meaning; it can say “the 4 p.m. task moved” when that is in the calendar, but not invent why. Corrections should change the card without rewriting the original notes. PAIR advises explaining the scope and timing of feedback. A correction made here should say whether it affects only this card, the remaining session, or a separately chosen preference. Default to this card only.

Finish with a terminal state and an explicit carry-forward choice

A review is ended only when the interface records one terminal state: saved as a user-edited card, exported, discarded, or closed without saving. Then it shows what, if anything, will carry forward. No item should become tomorrow’s task, a remembered preference, a reminder, or a new streak unless the user selects that exact action. An unresolved item stays inside the dated card or is copied through a separate confirmation. The chat input closes for this review, while starting a new unrelated conversation remains possible. A receipt lists input count, duration, output destination, carry-forward items, and end time. This makes ending observable instead of depending on the assistant saying goodbye. Silence, a friendly closing sentence, or a minimized window is not a terminal state.

Run four boundary tests before making the review routine

Test input, clock, editing, and ending with ordinary sample notes. First, add an older note and check that it is excluded. Second, reach the time limit with an unanswered question and check that no extra turn is demanded. Third, correct a sentence and confirm the source note remains unchanged. Fourth, discard the card and reopen the tool the next day; yesterday’s draft should not return as an active task or prompt. Record expected state, observed state, app version, and any gap. NIST Core treats context, limitations, monitoring, and feedback as ongoing work, so repeat the tests after meaningful changes to memory, connections, notifications, or review format. If one test fails, narrow the review to manual input and local editing until the boundary is observable again.

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