personal IFTTT

IFTTT-style automation for personal use — computer scanning for text patterns, reminders, etc. example use case: "if finish data box, send something to charlotte." current workaround is setting lots of reminders manually.

this overlaps significantly with the universal habits concept (which described itself as "kinda like IFTTT but automatically create things"). the difference is that personal IFTTT focuses on task-triggered actions while universal habits focuses on contextual behavior change. both need the same infrastructure: event detection, context gathering, action triggering.

spreadsheet evaluation: originality 7/10, excitement 8/10, MVP 2-4 weeks. competitive landscape: Hazel (Mac, $42) watches folders but is Mac-only and file-scoped, IFTTT/Zapier are cloud-service-to-service only, Keyboard Maestro does local triggers but is macro-focused — no cross-platform consumer tool scans broadly for local text patterns and triggers actions. scope creep risk noted as huge; MVP should focus on one trigger type (e.g. clipboard monitoring). tech depth ranked at moderate level.

timeline

• [2026-02-16] initial capture — computer scanning for patterns
• [2026-02-19] follow-up — current solution is "hella reminders"
• [2026-04-10] google sheets evaluation — 7/10 originality, 8/10 excitement, MVP 2-4 weeks