Open Points¶

Open points are the loose ends of your profile: questions you want to clarify at the next appointment, planned actions, themes you need to keep an eye on. They sit between observations ("I noticed X") and self-regulation ("I am doing Y about it") and hold everything that would otherwise fall between the cracks.

What an open point contains¶

Text (required): What is open. Write it as concretely as possible. Examples: "Ask about TSH at the next appointment", "Watch hay-fever course over the next two weeks".
Context (required): What it relates to. Free text; serves as grouping. Examples: "Thyroid", "Allergies", "PCP appointment May", "diet change".
Priority (optional): How urgent. Free text. Common values: "high", "medium", "low", or as specific as "before May 2026".
Time horizon (optional): When it should happen. Examples: "next appointment", "in two weeks", "this week", "someday".
Details (optional): Longer background, Markdown supported. This is where you put what you would want to re-read when you reopen the entry.
Resolved (checkbox): Off when created; you tick it once the point is dealt with.

What open points are good for¶

Three typical occasions:

1. Not forgetting at a physician appointment¶

You have noticed three things in recent weeks that you want to bring up at your primary-care visit in May. If you rely on "I will remember", in practice you usually lose two of them in the room. Three open points with context "PCP appointment May", on the other hand, sit in front of you on the morning of the appointment as a list.

2. Observation experiments with a deadline¶

You started a new self-regulation ("magnesium in the evening") and want to evaluate two weeks from now whether sleep improves. The open point "Evaluate sleep quality after 14 days of magnesium" with horizon "in two weeks" turns a vague intention into a due task.

3. Research themes¶

You read somewhere that histamine and sleep are connected. Before you forget, you write an open point "Check histamine-sleep link if sleep issues persist" at priority "low". If the theme never becomes relevant, the point just stays open; if it becomes relevant, you have an anchor.

Creating an open point¶

In the "Open points" section of the profile view.

Click New open point.
Enter the text.
Pick or type a context.
Optionally add priority, time horizon, details.
Save.

The point appears sorted by context and within the context by creation date, oldest first (so long-pending points sit at the top where you see them).

Marking as resolved¶

When an open point is done, you tick the resolved box. Three properties of resolution:

The point stays visible but moves to the bottom of its context group.
You can untick it later if it turns out the matter was not actually closed.
Resolution is not historized; it is a simple status, not an audit log.

If a resolved point is no longer relevant, you can delete it. If it is resolved but the knowledge stays useful (for example "MRI from 12 March showed nothing notable, no follow-up needed"), leave it in the resolved trail.

Open points are not therapy recommendations¶

As with observations and lab values: Phylax will not suggest open points that look like medical recommendations. If you write "Take ibuprofen" for yourself, that is your own research; Phylax only displays it.

Open points are your tool, not Phylax's. You decide what is open and what is closed.

Editing and deleting¶

All fields can be changed later. The context value can be updated if your grouping logic shifts after a while; the point then moves into the new context group.

Deletion is permanent. When in doubt: tick resolved instead of deleting.

Connection to other areas¶

Open points often relate loosely to observations and lab values:

An observation raises questions that end up as open points.
An open point "Ask about TSH" gets resolved when the corresponding lab value arrives.

Phylax does not link these relationships clickably. If you want a concrete cross-reference, write it into the text or details field ("see lab report from 14 March").