Just Enough Structure (And No More)

I keep hearing a variation of this:

"I get the single-stream philosophy. I'm tired of over-organizing. But sometimes I want to see just my todos. Or just my reading list. Is there any way to filter?"

The honest answer: yes, but it's so minimal you might miss it.

Gravity has no tags, no folders, no smart views. What it has is text. And text, it turns out, is enough.

By the end of this post, you'll understand:

• How to create filtered views using nothing but typing conventions
• Why this approach gives you structure without the maintenance burden
• The exact prefixes worth adopting (and when to stop adding more)

The prefix trick

Here's what I mean by "just text."

When I capture a todo, I type:

todo: follow up with the design team

When I capture something to read later:

read: https://example.com/interesting-article

When I have a half-baked idea:

idea: what if notes had expiration dates?

These prefixes aren't a feature. There's no tag database, no metadata layer, no special syntax. I'm typing a word, a colon, then my note. That's it.

The magic happens when I search. Type todo: in the search bar, and every note starting with todo: appears. Instant filtered view. No setup, no tag management, no configuration.

Why this works better than tags

Tags feel like the right solution here. They're designed for exactly this—categorizing things so you can find them later.

But tags come with hidden costs:

Taxonomy drift. Was it #todo or #task? #reading or #toread? Over time, you accumulate variations. The tag list grows. Finding the right tag becomes its own search problem.

Decision overhead. When tagging is available, you feel obligated to use it. Every note becomes a question: what tags apply? The feature creates friction even when it's theoretically optional.

Metadata maintenance. Tags are separate from your content. They can get out of sync—you tagged something one way, then edited the note to be about something else. The tag lingers, now misleading.

Prefixes sidestep all of this:

Four words. I use exactly 4 prefixes. They're short enough that muscle memory handles consistency. I've never typed to-do: by accident.

No obligation. Prefixes aren't a feature, so there's no implicit expectation to use them. If I don't prefix something, it's still a note. It's not untagged—it's just a note.

Inline with content. The prefix is the first word of the note. It can't get out of sync because it's part of the text itself. When you see todo: follow up with design team, the structure is visible, not hidden in metadata.

My 4 prefixes

I've tried more. These are the survivors—the ones I actually use.

todo: — Something to do. Not a task management system, just quick capture of "don't forget this." When I review my stream and see a todo: that's done, I archive it. When I see one that matters, I bump it.

read: — A link to consume later. Article, paper, video, tweet thread. When I have time, I search read: and pick from the queue.

idea: — A thought still forming. Not actionable, not a reference, just a seed. These sink faster than anything else—most don't survive review. The ones that keep catching my eye might become something real.

buy: — Things to purchase. Practical and boring. Before ordering online, I search buy: and catch anything I've been meaning to get.

Four categories. That's my whole taxonomy. Each one gets used at least a few times per week. If a prefix doesn't hit that bar, it doesn't earn a spot.

The colon isn't arbitrary

Why todo: instead of just writing "todo" in the note?

Without a delimiter, you get false positives. A note saying "I'm not sure what to do about this" contains the characters t-o-d-o but isn't a todo. Your search results would be cluttered with noise.

The colon creates an artificial pattern. Nobody writes todo: in natural prose. So searching for todo: returns exactly the notes you intentionally marked—nothing more, nothing less.

(Any delimiter works—/, #, brackets. I use a colon because it's fast to type and looks clean. Pick what feels right.)

Hold up—what if I forget the prefix?

The note still exists. You'll see it when you scroll through your stream. You just won't find it when you filter for that prefix.

Here's why that's okay: the prefix is additive, not structural.

In a tag-based system, an untagged note is orphaned. It doesn't appear in any filtered view. You've created a gap in your organization.

In Gravity, a note without a prefix is just... a note. It flows through your stream like everything else. The prefix is an enhancement for when you want it, not a requirement for the system to function.

If you forget to prefix something important, you'll encounter it during review. The stream catches everything. Prefixes are for when you want a faster path to specific things.

When to stop adding prefixes

You could add more. quote: for memorable lines. project: for work stuff. meeting: for call notes. health: for symptoms or habits.

I'd resist the urge.

The value of prefixes is that they're few enough to be automatic. Four prefixes means four patterns your fingers know. Each new prefix is another split-second decision at capture time: wait, which prefix applies here?

Before adding a prefix, ask: do I need to filter this separately, often enough to justify the overhead?

Usually the answer is no. Most notes don't need to be filtered. They live in the stream, they surface during review, they sink when they're no longer relevant. The stream is the organization. Prefixes are just for the categories where you genuinely want a shortcut.

Why this compounds

The more you use prefixes, the more automatic they become. After a few weeks, you don't think "should I prefix this?" You just type todo: as naturally as you'd type "the."

And the filtering habit compounds too. Need to check actionable items? todo: + enter. Looking for something to read? read: + enter. It's faster than navigating to a folder, faster than clicking through a tag hierarchy, faster than anything except typing.

Over months, you've saved hundreds of micro-decisions. Which folder? Which tag? Which view? None of that. Just text and search.

Getting started

Start with one prefix. The one that matches your most common filter need.

Use it for a week without searching—just build the habit of typing it when it applies.

Then search for it. See your filtered view appear instantly.

If it's useful, keep using it. If you feel the need for another category, add a second prefix. Stop when the returns diminish.

The goal isn't complete taxonomy. The goal is exactly as much structure as you actually use—and not one prefix more.

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Prefixes are optional. But they're there when you want them.