Changelog
All notable changes to MyExternalCortex are listed here.
Each entry includes a Synopsis (delivered in-chat when you first interact after an update)
and Details (full description).
2026-04-23T10:00Z
Synopsis
Daily plans now include breaks and meals. Tell Aria your preferred break rhythm and she'll build it into any plan she generates for you.
Details
Break cadence in daily plans When Aria builds a daily plan, she now asks about your preferred break interval and duration if you haven't set them — for example, "a 10-minute break every 90 minutes." Once you confirm, she saves your preference and applies it automatically every time. You can update it any time: "Change my breaks to every hour for 15 minutes."
Meal windows Aria also factors in meal windows based on the time span of your plan. Morning plans include lunch; full-day plans include lunch and dinner. No configuration needed — she infers it from the schedule.
2026-04-22T18:00Z
Synopsis
Smarter daily planning: Aria now accounts for task-switching time and appointment travel time. She also gives more thoughtful responses when you're planning or working through something emotionally.
Details
Task-switching buffer Context-switching has a real cost. Tell Aria how many minutes you need between tasks — "I need about 10 minutes to switch gears" — and she'll pad task blocks in any daily plan she builds. Saved to your profile so it applies automatically going forward.
Appointment travel time Add travel time to any appointment and your reminder will fire early enough to actually get there. For example, "dentist at 2pm, 20 minutes to drive" — your reminder goes out at 1:10pm and mentions the travel time explicitly.
More thoughtful responses when it matters Aria now automatically uses a more capable model when you're working through something emotionally heavy, feeling overwhelmed, or doing serious planning. Routine task management stays fast and lightweight. You won't notice a mode switch — responses just feel more considered when the situation calls for it.
2026-04-21T17:00Z
Synopsis
Task reminders now have tap-to-act buttons on Discord. You can also skip individual occurrences of a recurring task without affecting future ones.
Details
Reminder buttons (Discord) Task reminders now include three action buttons: Done, Snooze 1h, and Skip. Tap one to act without typing anything. The bot responds immediately and updates your task list.
Skip recurring task occurrences Recurring tasks can now be skipped individually — for example, skipping today's workout without cancelling it permanently. You can add an optional reason ("too sore today") which is stored privately. Future occurrences are unaffected.
2026-04-16T22:30Z
Synopsis
Weekly win summary and weekly review are now live. Every Friday you get a brief wins recap; every Monday Aria kicks off an interactive review to triage your list and set priorities for the week.
Details
Weekly win summary Every Friday afternoon (default — you can change the day and time), Aria sends a short end-of-week summary: active days this week, your current streak, personal best, and one forward-looking question. To reschedule, just tell Aria: "Move my weekly summary to Thursday at 5pm."
Weekly review Every Monday morning (default — changeable), Aria opens an interactive session: 1. Names specific things you completed last week 2. Works through your active task list in small groups — keep, snooze, or let go 3. Asks for your top 3 priorities for the week 4. One final sweep: anything new to add?
You drive the pace. Skip any part you don't need. To reschedule: "Change my weekly review to Tuesday at 8am."
2026-04-16T22:15
Synopsis
Fixed duplicate recurring task reminders — recurring habits now only appear in your morning check-in, not as separate reminder messages.
Details
Recurring tasks no longer fire as standalone reminders Previously, recurring task instances (Workout, Meditation, Morning dog walk, etc.) could fire as individual reminder messages in addition to appearing in your morning check-in — resulting in duplicate notifications at the same time. Recurring tasks are now surfaced exclusively through the check-in. One-off tasks with a due date still send reminders as before.
2026-04-16T21:30
Synopsis
Emoji shortcuts (✅ and ❌), duplicate task prevention, and a version number in /profile.
Details
Emoji shortcuts Two emoji now work as task shortcuts: - ✅ — marks the last-mentioned task done - ❌ — cancels or abandons the last-mentioned task
All other emoji are treated as conversational reactions and will never trigger an action.
Duplicate task prevention If you (or Aria) accidentally try to create a recurring task with the same name as one that already exists, Aria will return the existing task rather than creating a duplicate. A database-level constraint also prevents the scheduler from ever generating two instances of the same recurring task on the same day.
Version number
Your /profile command (Discord and Telegram) now shows the running version so you can
include it when reporting a problem.
2026-04-15T12:00:00
Synopsis
Subtasks now work end-to-end: grouped under their parent in your task list, completing the last subtask auto-completes the parent, and reminders skip subtasks whose parent is already done.
Details
Subtask grouping in task list
When you ask Aria to break a task into steps, the subtasks now appear indented under their parent in your task list (both in chat and in /task list). Each subtask shows its own urgency and due date.
Auto-complete parent task Marking the last remaining subtask as done automatically closes the parent task. No need to remember to do it yourself.
Smarter reminders Due-date reminders now skip subtasks if their parent task is already completed, preventing ghost notifications for work you've already finished.
2026-04-15T00:00:00
Synopsis
Weekly win summaries, Telegram support, recurring task tracking improvements, and a new web server.
Details
Weekly win summary Aria now sends you a brief end-of-week summary of your wins and streaks. Default: Fridays at 4 PM your local time. Fully configurable — just tell Aria what day and time works for you. You can also ask for a summary any time: "How am I doing this week?"
Telegram support
You can now use MyExternalCortex over Telegram in addition to Discord. Both platforms share your
data and settings. Use /link on either platform to connect your accounts.
Preferred notification platform
Use /set_platform (or just tell Aria) to choose whether reminders and check-ins go to Discord,
Telegram, or both.
Recurring task improvements Recurring tasks that go uncompleted are now marked as "missed" rather than silently dropped. Missed tasks carry an urgency bump and are surfaced in your morning check-in so nothing falls through the cracks.
Web server
A lightweight web server now runs alongside the bot, serving the public site and a /health
endpoint for uptime monitoring.