Who this is for
Founders and leaders who make consequential non-technical decisions and want the reasoning preserved, so it can be defended or revisited later.
The moment this saves you
I make a hard business decision, the team forgets why three months later, someone relitigates the whole thing, and I can't fully reconstruct my own reasoning to defend it.
See it work
Messy spoken thought in. A clean, structured artifact out.
Recording a decision. We're going with the more expensive payroll provider instead of the cheaper one. The reasoning, the cheap one had terrible support reviews and payroll is the one thing you absolutely cannot get wrong, the cost of a screwed up payroll run is way higher than the price difference. What we're giving up is about 200 a month in savings. I considered the cheap one and a third middle option but the middle one didn't integrate with our accounting software. The thing that decided it was a reference call where someone described the cheap provider missing a tax filing. We can revisit in a year if the expensive one disappoints.
Decision: Payroll provider, June 5, 2026
- Decision: Go with the more expensive payroll provider over the cheaper option.
- Why: The cheap provider had terrible support reviews; payroll is the one thing you can't get wrong, and the cost of a botched run dwarfs the price difference.
- Tradeoff accepted: ~$200/month more.
- Alternatives considered: Cheap provider (rejected: support/risk); a middle option (rejected: no integration with our accounting software).
- What decided it: A reference call describing the cheap provider missing a tax filing.
- Revisit: In a year if the chosen provider disappoints.
The workflow
Record a voice note
Hit the hotkey and talk, no formatting, no typing.
Tag it with this context
Contextli shapes your words into the structured output above.
Find it later
Everything's searchable and organised by context.
Pull it into Claude or ChatGPT
Bring your contexts straight into your AI tools with the Contextli MCP.
Your raw recording and transcription stay on your device, so you can always go back to the original.
The prompt behind this context
I'm going to talk through a decision I'm making. Turn it into a dated decision record: a bold "Decision: [topic], [today's date]" heading, then labeled lines: Decision (what I'm doing), Why (the core reasoning), Tradeoff accepted (what I'm giving up), Alternatives considered (each option and why I rejected it, only ones I mention), What decided it (the deciding factor), and Revisit (any condition to reconsider). Keep my reasoning and any numbers exactly. Don't invent alternatives or tradeoffs I didn't raise. Output only the record.
Make it your own. This is a starting point. Once it's in Contextli, tweak the instructions so the output comes out exactly how you like it.
Use this context
One tap adds it to your clipboard. Open Contextli and paste to add it.
Next, open Contextli, Contexts, Import, paste.
Make it your own. This is a starting point. Once it's in Contextli, tweak the instructions so the output comes out exactly how you like it.
Your raw recording and transcription stay on your device, so you can always go back to the original.
Related contexts
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Investment Thesis Note
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