Why Moves matter
Moves are the layer where a Thread stops being a collection and starts being an argument. A Thread with no typed Moves is a folder of Fragments and prose; a Thread with Moves has direction — purposes set, questions opened, claims staked, tensions named. They also give Pond’s intelligent features richer signal about what the Thread is doing, not just what it contains.Move types
Every project starts with a default vocabulary. These are the types you’ll see in the Move type badge:
You’re not limited to these — any custom type you use in a Thread becomes part of that project’s vocabulary going forward.
Promoting a Note to a Move
Select a type from the Move type badge in the Note editor to promote a Note into a Move. You can change the type or clear it at any time; clearing it turns the Move back into a plain Note. Once typed, Moves are filterable on the Thread’s Timeline — filter to Moves to see only the typed development on the Thread, separate from raw Fragments and untyped Notes.Pond-authored Moves
Some Move types — Curatorial and Observation, for instance — are reserved for content Pond authors itself when it builds a Thread for you, or as it watches the Thread develop. These arrive in the Thread’s Observer drawer, where you can review and click Add to thread to commit them. Once in the Notebook they read as Moves tagged#Curatorial · Pond agent (or similar). You can re-type or remove the badge — they’re yours to edit like any other Move.
Where this is heading
Not yet, but ideally — the Pond agent will lean on Moves directly when it makes suggestions and builds Threads. Imagine a Fragment you save today getting surfaced as a possible resolution to a Tension or Question Move you recorded in a Thread three months ago; or the agent’s Thread-building prioritising material that fills out an under-developed Thesis.Moves are how the agent reads what a Thread is doing. The richer your Move vocabulary on a Thread, the more useful Pond’s suggestions can become.