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Why I created Robin
I have a "things I find interesting" folder. You probably do, too. It’s a digital graveyard of insights from articles, book snippets, and quotes that "hit different" in the moment. The folder grows, but the problem is simple: I never open it.
The Bookmark Paradox: Saving something isn't the same as engaging with it. If knowledge isn't surfaced, it might as well have never been captured.
A few years ago, I discovered Spaced Repetition. The concept is elegant: review information at increasing intervals to move it from short-term to long-term memory.
The real hurdle wasn't collecting things, it was (re)surfacing them to create connections and continuity. I had the material; I just lacked a way to encounter it naturally months or years later.
I tried the heavy hitters: Anki, RemNote, Readwise. They are powerful, but they require friction:
- Open the app.
- Navigate to "Review Mode."
- Mentally prepare for "testing."
I wanted the review to happen where I already live. Since AI Agents are purpose-built for recall and synthesis, building a "skill" for an agent felt more natural than an app. No mode-switching; just a natural cadence.
Robin isn't a startup or a productivity product; it’s a personal tool for the Digital Commonplace Book. It follows a simple logic to ensure your notes stay fresh but not intrusive:
| Feature | How it Works |
|---|---|
| The Cadence | You set the frequency (e.g., once a day, twice a week). |
| The Surface | Robin plucks one random entry from your vault and sends it to you. |
| The Mute | Once surfaced, that item is "muted" so it doesn't reappear too soon. |
| The Threshold | Robin waits until you have a critical mass (default: 30 items) before starting. |
Last week, Robin surfaced a quote about impermanence I’d saved in 2023. It landed differently this time...two years of life experience had given those words new weight.
That is the whole point. Most saved links vanish. Robin attempts to fix that by creating a "gentle interruption." It’s not a test; it’s a way to keep a conversation going with your own notes.
- Contextual Evolution: Re-reading old notes allows you to update them with new perspectives.
- Zero-Pressure Recall: If you just want to read and move on, you can.
- Fully Configurable: Tuning the intervals and surfacing logic to match how you think.
Robin was built to extend the ancient idea of the Commonplace Book into the agentic world. If it helps you rediscover a lost spark of wisdom, then it’s doing its job.