Quivy · Direction 04

Lamplight

Night-time Nina. The interface is a warm near-black room; whatever Quivy touches sits in a pool of amber lamplight and everything else falls back to ember-dark. Source Serif carries the agent's voice like a note left on the desk, Inter handles the paperwork at 11px tracked caps. Dimming is the focus model: attention here is lit, never highlighted.

The risk

Near-black plus a single accent is the current AI default. The defence is domesticity: this amber is a desk lamp (#E9A13B), never acid green; the serif is literary, not decorative; photography runs warm and dim like a room at 9pm. It should read as a study, not a gaming rig.

Muse

Wong Kar-wai film stills: one pool of lamplight on a desk at night, the room falling away around it.

Motion personality

Lamp-lit. 450 to 600ms fade-to-lit curves. The room stays dark and a pool of light opens where a message lands; waiting is a bulb's near-silent flicker, never a spinner.

Navigation

A slim top bar: wordmark left, Nina's portrait right. People and Memory arrive as full scene-changes with a cross-dissolve, the lamp moving to another desk. Nothing at the bottom edge but the composer.

Onboarding

S01 – S03

Earning the ask. One idea per screen, the agent already speaking in its own mark, progress always legible.

quivy
It acts before
you ask.

Quivy keeps an eye on your messages, email, calendar, photos, contacts and files, and takes care of the follow-through.

Everything stays on a small box in your home, or on this phone. Never on someone else's computer.

Takes about four minutes
quivy
Connect your world

One tap each. I read as things arrive, and nothing leaves this phone.

Sources4 of 8 connected
Gmail
Connected
Google Calendar
Connected
WhatsApp
Connected
Contacts
Connected
Photos
Asking for access…
Connecting
Telegram
Lightroom
Notion
quivy
Here's what I found

A first pass over the last year. Keep what's right, dismiss what isn't, and correct me where I'm off.

WhatsApp + email
You and Marco Feretti haven't spoken in 8 months. He moved to Milan last March.
WhatsApp, 23 days ago
You promised Priya the Lisbon photos. They're still sitting in Lightroom.
Kept
Inferred from 40+ calendar evenings
Thursday evenings are usually yours.
WhatsApp, 2 Feb 2024
You don't eat shellfish.
212 contacts sorted into people you actually know.

The thread

S04 – S06, S12

The thread is the product. Cards, briefs, photos and voice notes are message types; the agent's column carries the light, Nina's stays dimmer.

quivy
Nina
Tuesday 07:12

Morning. Three things before nine. Dan on Thursday needs the Q3 drawings, Priya's still waiting on the Lisbon photos, and Marco lands in Cape Town next month. All three are below.

Q3 drawings
Q3 drawings
Dan Weiss · 5 days out
Lisbon tram Lisbon tiles
Lisbon photos
Priya · 23 days out
Marco
Marco, 12–20 Aug
Three times suit you both
Message Quivy…
quivy
Nina
Today 13:02

The photos are with Priya. She's replied already: the tram one is going on her wall.

0:42
Bo-Kaap street

Filed with the Bo-Kaap set from May. Kalk Bay this morning was all mist, by the way. Salt & Stone is the white building past the harbour.

Kalk Bay in the mist
Marco · three times suit you both
Approval
Salt & Stone, Thursday 19:00. Four of you, R1 800 deposit.
Paid R1 800 · Salt & Stone
Ref SS-1842 · Thu 14 Aug 19:00
13:24
Message Quivy…
quivy
Nina
Wednesday 06:58

Morning. Five things, then I'm quiet.

Morning kitchen
Dan Weiss, Thursday 10:00
Brief ready
Q3 drawings to Dan
5 days out
Lisbon photos to Priya
23 days out
Marco in town 12–20 Aug
Three times found
Coffee with Bongi
2 months out
None of it needs you before coffee.
quivy
Nina

Marco's in Cape Town 12–20 August. Three times suit you both.

Thursday 14th at 19:00 is my pick. It's your usual free evening.

Listening 00:07
…and ask Marco if Ana can do the Saturday instead

The reconnection

S07 – S11, S20

The soul moment and its follow-through. The pool of light widens to hold the old photograph; everything after is quiet competence.

quivy
Nina
Tuesday 20:41

You and Marco used to talk most weeks. It's been eight months.

Nina and Marco on the beach, 2013
From your photos · 2013

He's in Cape Town 12–20 August, and three times suit you both. Want me to hold a table?

quivy
Nina

Three times suit you both. Thursday is your usual free evening, so I started there. Four of you.

Salt and Stone
Salt & Stone
Kalk Bay · Seafood
R450 a head R1 800 for four
Mostly seafood, so I checked the menu. The fish and the lamb are safe for you.
Marrow
Marrow
Bree Street · Small plates
No deposit
Pier 42
Pier 42
V&A Waterfront · Grill
R300 a head
R1 200 for four
quivy
Nina
Tuesday 20:47

Marco's not on Quivy, so there's no agent on his side. I've messaged him on WhatsApp and I'm waiting on a human.

Waiting on Marco 18 min
Sent on WhatsApp
20:31
Read
20:39
Reply
Pending
I'll nudge him tomorrow at 09:00 if he's quiet. Nothing needed from you.

The table at Salt & Stone is pencilled until 18:00 tomorrow. No deposit moves without you.

Message Quivy…
quivy
Nina
Tuesday 20:52

He said Thursday works.

Approval needed
Salt & Stone, Thursday
14 August, 19:00
Party
Four of you
Deposit
R1 800
You set bookings to suggest-and-approve, so this one's your call.
quivy
Nina
Tuesday 21:03

Done. Here's the paper trail.

A table set for the evening
Table held at Salt & Stone
Deposit paid
R1 800
Confirmation
SS-1842
Calendar
Held for you and Marco
Thu 14 Aug, 19:00
Ana
Ana's coming, noted for the table.
The kitchen knows: no shellfish.
Full refund until Tue 18:00
quivy
Nina
Tuesday 21:05

Marrow only takes group bookings by phone, so I can't hold it from here. I can call them when they open at 09:00, or hold Pier 42 right now.

Marrow
Marrow
Phone bookings only · Opens 09:00

Loose ends

S13 – S14

Zero shame, full context. The loose end and the fix arrive in the same breath.

quivy
Nina
Today 15:31

The Lisbon photos have been sitting for 23 days. I've picked three. Say the word and they're with Priya.

Lisbon tiles Lisbon tram Lisbon miradouro
Priya
To Priya Naidoo
WhatsApp · 3 photos
quivy
Nina
Thursday 08:02

Dan at 10:00, two hours away. The short version:

Dan Weiss
Dan Weiss
Today 10:00 · Client
You last met on 4 March.
You owe him the intro to Hendrik.
Hendrik
Rosa started school in January. Ask him.
Rosa
Q3 drawings
Q3 drawings
Still open · ready to send

I'll go quiet until 09:30.

People and proof

S15 – S17

The two things allowed off-thread arrive as scene-changes: the lamp moves to another desk, with a cross-dissolve. Memory is the hero; it proves the privacy claim instead of asserting it.

Nina
People

The state of your people, this evening.

Drifting
Marco
Marco Feretti
8 months quiet · in town 12–20 Aug
You owe
Priya
Priya Naidoo
The Lisbon photos · 23 days
Dan
Dan Weiss
The Hendrik intro · and the Q3 drawings
Bongi
Bongi
Coffee · 2 months
This week
Dan
Dan Weiss
Thursday 10:00
Marco
Marco Feretti
Salt & Stone, Thursday 19:00
Steady
Thandi
Thandi Mokoena
Weekly, never lapses.
Nina
Memory

Everything I know about you, and where I learned it. It lives on hardware in your home, nowhere else. Delete any of it and it's gone.

You don't eat shellfish.
WhatsApp · 2 Feb 2024
Marco moved to Milan.
Email · 14 Mar 2025
Thursday evenings suit you.
Inferred · 40+ calendar evenings
Ana is a paediatrician.
Forgotten · leaves no copy
Four facts. Nothing hidden, nothing off-site.
Nina
Autonomy

You set the rope, per part of your life. I work inside it.

Ask me first
I check before anything leaves your hands.
Suggest and I'll approve
I tee it up, you tap once.
Just do it
I act and tell you after.
Messages & replies
Calendar & scheduling
Bookings & spending
Cited on approvals
Files & photos

Surfaces

S18 – S19

The lockscreen is the agent's front door: the batched brief is one dim object, the urgent interruption is a lit one. The upgrade is priced like hardware, with no pressure mechanics.

Wednesday 13 August
07:12
Quivy · Morning brief 06:58
Five things for the day. None of them urgent.
Dan · Q3 drawings · Priya · Marco · Bongi
Quivy · Time-sensitive Now
Marco's in for Thursday.
Salt & Stone holds the table until 18:00. Approve the R1 800 deposit or it lapses.
Nina
Quivy, at home

Same me, three places to live. The price is the price; no clocks ticking.

The Quivy box on a shelf
The home box · sits on your shelf
Quivy Lite
$12 a year
Stays on this phone.
Quivy Home
$279 once · $24 a month
The Quivy box, detail
The box holds everything and stays awake, so I'm there even when your phone isn't.
Your own hardware
$24 a month
Runs on a machine you already own.

Tokens

Everything below is a CSS custom property on :root (light) or [data-theme="dark"]. Lift verbatim.

Colour · light and dark

--surface-base#F4EDDE#161110
--surface-raised#FBF6E9#211A16
--surface-sunken#EAE1CC#100C0A
--ink-primary#2A211A#EFE3D2
--ink-secondary#6B5945#B3A189
--ink-ember#8A6A45#8A6A45
--accent-lamp#C77F2B#E9A13B
--accent-strong#8F5A16#E9A13B
--agent-glow16% lamp17% lamp
--success#4E7038#9DBE8C
--warning#B2541E#E08A5C

Type roles

--text-display
Lamplight on the desk
600 30px/1.2 Source Serif 4 · -0.012em
--text-title
Salt & Stone, Thursday
600 21px/1.3 Source Serif 4 · -0.008em
--text-body
He's in Cape Town 12–20 August, and three times suit you both.
400 17px/1.55 Source Serif 4
--text-ui
Hold the table
500 15px/1.4 Inter
--text-meta
Kalk Bay · Seafood
600 11px/1.45 Inter · uppercase · +0.10em

Radius

--r-1 · 10px--r-2 · 16px--r-3 · 22px--r-pill · 999px

Spacing

--sp-14px
--sp-28px
--sp-312px
--sp-416px
--sp-520px
--sp-624px
--sp-732px
--sp-848px

Motion · lamp-lit

--dur-press140ms
--dur-ui220ms
--dur-enter480ms
--dur-ceremony1500ms
--ease-lampcubic-bezier(.22,.9,.24,1)
--ease-settlecubic-bezier(.16,1,.3,1)

Hover a dot row to feel the curve. Press states scale to .97 in 140ms; entrances fade-to-lit in 480ms; the reconnection pool breathes out over 1.9s. Only transform and opacity ever animate.