What it is
A Timeline is a question you keep asking — and a thread of dated answers (nodes) that grows each time you do. Where Ask gives you a snapshot, a Timeline gives you a trajectory: what you thought in March, in May, in September, each answer cited back to the pages of that era.
Why it matters
The most valuable thing in years of journals isn't any single page — it's the pattern across pages. Timelines are how SandDune surfaces that pattern honestly: every node re-reads your notes fresh and never sees its own previous answers, so the differences between nodes reflect your life, not an AI anchoring on what it said last time.
How to use it
- Create: dashboard → Timelines card → + New Timeline → write the question. The first node generates immediately (one Ask unit). Or turn any settled Ask answer into a Timeline with Save as Timeline (free).
- Read: answers grow down a vine, oldest first, each node marked by a leaf; the view opens at the newest. A node shows a short generated title — tap to expand the full cited answer.
- Grow: tap + New Node whenever enough life has happened (one Ask unit per node).
- Maintain: edit a node's title or answer (it gains an "edited" mark), delete a node, or delete the Timeline. Notes are never affected — a Timeline reads your archive, it doesn't own it.
- Find: the Timelines page has its own search that looks through questions, answers, and dates.
If a Timeline was created from a notebook-scoped Ask, it keeps that notebook scope: every future node reads only that notebook.
Tips
- Phrase questions about a relationship or process, not a fact: "How is my writing practice evolving?" ages well; "What did I do on May 3?" doesn't need a Timeline.
- Let pages accumulate between nodes. A node measures your notes — if you haven't written about the topic since the last node, the new answer will look much the same (see why that's by design).
- Rate fresh nodes with the 👍/👎 — it's available until a node is edited.
Current limitations
- Nodes are added manually — Timelines don't yet grow on their own on a schedule.
- A node costs one Ask unit, same as a regular question (planning and titling included; no double-charging).
- Explicit "what changed since last time" comparisons between nodes aren't generated yet — the thread shows you; it doesn't editorialize.