Mimir: making an answer easy to check.

An email can leave a surprisingly large task behind. A question about a date or an agreement sends me back through a thread, looking for the sentence that matters. The answer may be short. Getting comfortable acting on it can take longer.

Mimir is an assistant for email and calendar. The direction I want to explore starts with that gap between receiving an answer and knowing what to do with it. I want the answer to reduce the work of understanding, including the work of checking whether it is sound.

Keep the evidence close.

Consider a simple question: when did we agree to meet? A useful answer names the time and gives me a clear path to the message or calendar entry behind it. If several messages changed the plan, that history matters too. The evidence needs to explain why this answer follows from the available information.

Bring the source into view.

I want the reference close enough that I can compare it with the answer without keeping both in my head. Opening another view, finding the relevant passage, and returning to the response adds effort at exactly the point where I am trying to finish a small task. Proximity helps the answer remain understandable while I check it.

Show enough context.

That does not require reproducing an entire thread. A short passage may be enough, provided I can tell who wrote it, what it refers to, and how to reach the wider context. The design question is how much context to bring forward before the reference becomes another thing to read.

Make uncertainty legible.

Email carries tentative plans, corrections, and things people leave unsaid. A confident summary can smooth over those differences. Mimir needs to preserve the distinctions that affect a decision: a proposed time, a confirmed time, an inference from a reply, or a detail the available material does not establish.

The uncertainty needs to be specific. If two messages disagree, I want to understand the disagreement. If a date lacks a time zone, I want that missing detail named. A broad warning about possible mistakes leaves me with the whole job of deciding where to look. A precise account of what remains unclear gives me somewhere to begin.

Finish at a useful decision.

I think the right amount of detail depends on what comes next. Checking whether I am free, deciding whether to reply, and preparing to make a commitment place different demands on an answer. The response should help me see which part is settled and which part still needs my judgment.

This is where brevity becomes a matter of editing. Every sentence earns its place by helping me understand the answer, verify it, or choose the next step. I want to keep that standard as Mimir takes shape. The measure I care about is how much checking and interpretation I still have to do before I can act.

How little can an answer ask me to read while still giving me enough evidence to make the next decision?