Features
Keyboard shortcuts & tips
Power-user shortcuts, Dawn conversation patterns, and small habits that make Daybreak work better for you.
Quick answer
The shortcuts below work across the dashboard. Press ? on any page
to see the live list (always current, even if this page falls
behind).
Dashboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
C | Open quick check-in |
J | Open journal |
D | Start a Dawn conversation |
S | Open settings |
/ | Focus the search bar |
? | Show keyboard shortcuts overlay |
Esc | Close any modal or overlay |
Focus extension shortcuts vary by browser; check the extension's options page.
Get better Dawn responses
- Be specific. "I'm craving alcohol after a stressful work meeting" gives Dawn far more to work with than "I feel bad."
- Reference your data. "Look at my last week of check-ins — what's the pattern?" produces sharper analysis than open questions.
- Set goals first. Once Dawn knows what success looks like for you, every conversation can reference it.
- Ask follow-up questions. Dawn remembers context. "Tell me more about that" works.
- Use it for what it's good at. Dawn is great at reflection, pattern-finding, and concrete next steps. It's not a substitute for a therapist on hard clinical questions.
Conversation starters
If you're not sure what to ask Dawn:
- "What patterns do you see in my recent check-ins?"
- "Help me make a plan for this weekend."
- "I want to set a new goal for the next 30 days."
- "What coping strategies might work for [specific trigger]?"
- "Walk me through urge-surfing — I want to try it next time."
Journal patterns that work
- Write consistently. One sentence a day beats one essay a month.
- Tag entries. Use
#trigger,#win,#questionetc. — the search is faster when entries are tagged. - Review monthly. First Sunday of each month, scroll back through the previous month's entries. Patterns become visible at the month scale that don't at the day scale.
- Be honest. The journal is encrypted with a per-user key; no one at Daybreak reads it. Write the version that's true, not the version that's presentable.
Account hygiene
- Turn on two-factor auth. Five minutes of setup, dramatically harder to compromise. See Two-factor auth.
- Export periodically. Quarterly download of your data is a reasonable cadence — see Data export.
- Update your goals. As you change, your goals should change. Open Settings → Profile every few months and revise.
Common pitfalls
Treating Dawn as a search engine
Dawn produces conversational guidance, not lookup answers. For factual questions ("how do I cancel?", "what does X mean?"), use the search on this support site — it's faster and the answer is canonical.
Ignoring Sunday review for too long
The check-ins compound, but the value is hidden if you never read them. Even a five-minute scroll through last week on the progress page is worth doing.
Next steps
- Dawn — how conversations work for the underlying mechanics.
- Progress tracking for what to look at on Sunday.
Still need help?
Pick whichever way of getting help works best for you.
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