# Keep Ready lanes under their cap This guide brings each area and project note's Ready lane to or below its soft cap. The cap counts the whole Ready lane by residence, including NEW and ROTTEN rows. The dashboard READY badge is a separate freshness-gated backlog. ## Before you start Install the CLI and open the vault in Obsidian with **Bob Ledger Tools** enabled. The default cap is `plan.max_ready_per_note` (5). A note may set `ready_cap: N` or `ready_cap: off` in frontmatter. ## 1\. Inspect per-note counts ``` bob ready -b /path/to/vault ``` Output ``` bob ready · Tue 2026-10-20 · cap 5 per note CROWDED 1 · 2 over · 1 full · 3 notes (2 area · 1 project) CROWDED workshop 7/5 ■■■■■│■■ +2 area · 6 new FULL garden 5/5 ■■■■■│ full area · 5 new ROOM cash 2 1 empty · not capped: gkeep_inbox 1 (ready_cap: off) Make room → bob ready workshop split Ctrl+Shift+N · defer Ctrl+Shift+P 1–4 · drop Ctrl+Shift+P x · sequence Ctrl+Shift+P b ``` Confirm which notes are CROWDED (over cap), FULL (at cap), or ROOM (under cap). Inbox files that set `ready_cap: off` are exempt. `bob ready` exits 0 even when notes are crowded; pass `--check` if a script should exit 3. ## 2\. Open one crowded note's worklist ``` bob ready workshop -b /path/to/vault ``` The worklist names each counted Ready task in that note. In Obsidian, the same pressure shows as a CROWDED chip on `dash.md` and on the note's `## Tasks` heading. Open `workshop.md` and confirm the extra Ready rows match the CLI list. ## 3\. Make deliberate room, then recheck On a counted task, use one Task Card action (`Ctrl+Shift+P`): - **Split** a large task (`Ctrl+Shift+N` from the hint line). - **Defer** with `1`–`4` (rolls a scheduled date). - **Drop** with `x` (cancels). - **Sequence** with `b` (adds a prerequisite so the task becomes Blocked). Recurring rows and `^prj` are not counted. Then: ``` bob ready -b /path/to/vault ``` Confirm the note left CROWDED. A remaining FULL note is at its cap, which is allowed. To preview a different default for one run, pass `--cap 7`. To raise or exempt one note, set `ready_cap:` in that note's frontmatter and rerun `bob ready`. ## If it goes wrong An invalid `ready_cap` prints `note_ready_cap_invalid` once and falls back to the default cap. Fix the frontmatter to an integer 1–999 or `off`. Exit 2 means a missing vault, a bad `plan.max_ready_per_note`, or an unknown note name. Crowded is a report, not a refused write. ## Related - [Plan budget, Today, and lanes]() - [bob ready]() - [Vault format]() - [Run the morning review walk]() - [Add prerequisites while capturing]()