An errands list your agent keeps up to date

An errands list is the least glamorous list you have, and the one you need most when you are out of the house. The problem is never the errands. It is that you think of them at the wrong moment: in the shower, halfway through a conversation, while driving. An agent that can write to your list fixes that. Say it once, and it is there when you are standing outside the pharmacy.

Say it once, find it later

Errands come up in conversation all the time. You are talking to your assistant about something else and remember the parcel. Instead of switching apps, you just say it. The agent adds a todo, and the thought is out of your head. You do not have to finish the conversation first, and you do not have to remember to write it down later.

You say:

"Add to my errands: pick up the parcel at the post office, return the library books, and buy printer ink."

Your list gets:

• Post office: pick up parcel
• Library: return books
• Shop: printer ink

That is the same idea as any AI to do list: the agent does the typing, and the list stays short and plain.

Group by place in the title

Errands are about where, not when. The easiest way to plan a trip out is to see everything you can do in one place. A simple to do list app does not need folders or tags for that. Put the place first in the title:

• Pharmacy: allergy tablets
• Pharmacy: plasters
• Hardware store: picture hooks
• Post office: send birthday parcel

Now a search for "pharmacy" shows both pharmacy errands at once, because search looks at the title. Tell the agent the rule once: "put the place first in errand titles". From then on it writes them that way.

Details go in the note

The title should fit on one line. The rest goes in the note under the row: the pickup code for the parcel, the exact ink cartridge number, the opening hours you looked up. You can ask the agent to add those too.

"The ink is model 305, black and colour. Add that to the ink errand."

The agent writes it into the note under "Shop: printer ink". In the shop you open the row and read it off. No second message to dig up.

Check off while you are out

When you are out, you are on your phone. Open the list, or look at the home-screen widget, and tap each errand as you finish it. Done errands leave the open list straight away, so what is left is exactly what is left.

If your hands are full, you can also tell the agent when you are back: "the post office and library are done". It checks off those two and nothing else. It does not assume the ink was bought just because you went to the shop.

Keep it tidy, on request

Errands pile up duplicates. You say "buy batteries" on Monday and again on Thursday because you forgot you already did. Once in a while, ask:

"Look at my open errands and merge any duplicates."

The agent reads the list, tells you what looks like a duplicate, and merges them when you confirm. It deletes the extra only because you asked. If an errand no longer matters, say "delete the picture hooks errand" and it goes. Otherwise, finished errands are checked off, not deleted, so the done filter still shows what you did.

A few habits that help

• One errand per todo. "Post office and pharmacy" is two trips' worth of confusion. Split it.
• Star the one with a deadline. The parcel that goes back on Friday is the only star.
• Ask before you leave. "What errands do I have near the station?" works if the place is in the title.
• No reminders expected. The list will not ping you when you pass the shop. Look before you go out.
• Household jobs belong elsewhere. Recurring chores at home fit better in a household chore list.

Why this beats a note on your phone

A single note with all your errands works until it does not. It grows, you forget to delete the done ones, and your agent cannot tick a line in the middle of it without rewriting the whole thing. Separate todos can be checked off one by one, by you or by the agent, and the open list is always accurate.

Where to go from here

Very Simple Todo is a simple to do list app that makes a good errands list: one row to add, a checkbox, a star, a note under any row, search over titles, and a home-screen widget, with no reminders. Your agent connects in Claude or any MCP client and adds errands as you mention them. It costs $0.99 a month, and the first month is free.