Commitments
External promises tracked by who, what, and when, not tasks, not to-dos.
What is a Commitment?
A commitment is an external promise to another person. It tracks what you promised, to whom, and by when. Commitments are Layer 6 objects in the work hierarchy.
This is the most commonly misunderstood feature in Foundry. Commitments are not tasks. They are not internal to-dos. They are not action items for yourself. A commitment requires someone else, a person you've made a promise to.
Examples of commitments:
- "Send the revised proposal to Sarah by Friday"
- "Ship the beta invite to early access list by March 15"
- "Call David back about the partnership terms"
- "Deliver the API documentation to the contractor"
Not commitments:
- "Update the landing page" (internal task, no "to whom")
- "Read that article" (personal to-do)
- "Think about pricing" (not a promise to anyone)
Commitment Fields
| Field | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ------- | ------ | ---------- | --------- | ------------- |
| Title | Text | Yes | , | What you promised |
| To Whom | Text | No | null | Who you promised it to. Can be a name, email, company. |
| Due Date | Date | No | null | When it's due |
| Notes | Text | No | null | Additional context or details |
| Status | Enum | Yes | OPEN | OPEN, DONE, DROPPED |
| Recurrence | Text | No | null | Recurrence pattern (e.g. "weekly", "first Monday of month") |
| Project | Reference | No | null | Which project this commitment belongs to |
Overdue Tracking
Commitments with a due date that has passed while still OPEN are flagged as overdue. Overdue commitments are the highest-urgency signal in Foundry, they represent broken promises.
Where overdue commitments appear:
- Today page. Red-highlighted in the commitments section, always visible
- Overview page. Health bar shows "X overdue commitments" in red
- Recommendations. System health warning
- Project detail. Overdue count shown in project header
The system does not automatically close, drop, or reschedule overdue commitments. You must explicitly mark them as DONE (fulfilled) or DROPPED (abandoned). This is intentional, it forces you to acknowledge broken promises rather than letting them silently disappear.
Person Filter
The Commitments page has a person filter that shows only commitments for a specific "to whom" value. This is useful when you're about to meet someone, filter by their name to see everything you've promised them and whether anything is overdue.
Example Scenario
You create these commitments:
- "Send pricing proposal" → To: Sarah Chen → Due: Friday → Project: BabyBlocks
- "Share beta access" → To: Early Access List → Due: March 15 → Project: Foundry
- "Follow up on partnership" → To: David M → Due: Next Tuesday → Project: BabyBlocks
On your Today page, you see all three in chronological order. Sarah's is due first. You complete it and mark DONE.
David's due date passes without action. It appears in red on your Today page and Overview. You realize you need to call him, you either fulfill the promise (DONE) or honestly acknowledge you can't (DROPPED) and communicate that to David.
FAQ
You can, but it's not the intended use. Commitments are designed for external promises. Using them as tasks defeats the purpose of the "to whom" field and dilutes the urgency signal of overdue items.
What's the difference between DONE and DROPPED?
DONE means you fulfilled the promise. DROPPED means you abandoned it, either because it became irrelevant or because you couldn't deliver. Both are honest, pretending a commitment doesn't exist by leaving it OPEN forever is worse.
Can I set recurring commitments?
There's a recurrence field for noting the pattern (e.g. "weekly standup update to investor"). However, it doesn't auto-create new commitments, it's a label to help you remember the pattern.
How do commitments relate to projects?
Each commitment can optionally belong to a project. This lets you see all promises related to a specific initiative on the project detail page.