Nova, the assistant

Every hangout has Nova in it. Nova reads the chat and the votes and keeps a draft itinerary up to date — and it does that quietly. It doesn't greet, doesn't nag anyone to vote, and doesn't announce what it changed. It speaks only when you ask it something.

New chats open with the note that sums it up:

🪐 Nova is listening. It quietly keeps the plan up to date as you chat and stays out of the way. Need it? Just say "Nova" (e.g. "Nova, what's the plan?") and it'll chime in.

Talking to Nova

Two ways to get a reply:

1. Say its name. Any message containing the word "Nova" — Nova, what time are people leaning toward?
2. Tap ✦ in the composer. The bar turns blue and the placeholder reads Message Nova…. Whatever you send next goes to Nova; the mode then turns itself off.

Messages aimed at Nova are tinted blue in the thread so the crew can see them. Nova answers in a sentence or two, then goes back to listening.

Things it's good at:

• "Make a poll for which day works"
• "Add some ramen spots we could try"
• "Ask everyone yes/no: split the bill evenly?"
• "What time are people leaning toward?"
• "What's the plan so far?"

Follow-ups. If Nova asks you something ("what's the budget?"), your next message counts as a reply — no need to say its name again. After being addressed it also keeps an ear open for the next few messages, but crew-to-crew chatter in that window gets no reply; only a clear new question to Nova does. One name-drop earns one answer, not a running commentary.

When it stays silent on purpose. Nova won't post "Noted!", won't restate what a poll already shows, won't send status updates nobody asked for, and won't tell people to go vote. If it did something — created a poll, added spots, updated the plan — the thing it did is the response.

What Nova reads

On every pass Nova looks at:

• The hangout's title, as the crew's purpose: a dinner chat centres on venue and time, a trip on dates and activities.
• The recent conversation (the last 60 messages).
• Every widget's live tallies. A clear winner is treated as the decision.
• Each member's name, role, the days they've marked, and their vibe choice.
• Profile preferences members have set — cuisines and interests — and, for the organizer, budget and indoor/outdoor setting.
• A member's rough home area, only if they turned on Show my area on group maps, and only as a neighborhood or city — never a street address. See Privacy.
• Memory notes, for members with the memory upgrade (below).
• The current plan and the venue search area.

What Nova changes

Nova edits the draft itinerary directly (see The plan):

• When — a readable date like Sat · Jun 21, folding in a time once the time survey settles it.
• Where — the venue, once one is clearly settled.
• What — the activities, in order (Dinner → Bowling).
• Budget — a price tier from $ to $$$$, but only if the crew actually talked about money. It won't guess from a restaurant's prices.
• Clearing things the group explicitly dropped ("actually let's skip dinner").
• The status — Deciding → Almost → Ready — and the short signal chips in the plan status banner.
• One reason per decision, grounded in the chat: "most overlap; Maya & Priya said Saturday".
• Times for the time survey — specific clock times people mention are added as options automatically.
• The venue search area, unless a member has set it by hand.

Leaving a field blank never wipes a decision the crew already made.

How quickly it updates

What happened	Nova reacts
Someone addressed Nova	within seconds
A widget reached full participation	within seconds (plan only — no chat message)
Ordinary chatter	at most every 12 minutes or so, with a background catch-up afterwards
The organizer tapped ↻ Update plan	immediately

While it's working, the plan status pill shows ✦ updating…, and if it was addressed, ✦ Nova is thinking… appears in the thread.

Venue suggestions: the one thing Nova does unprompted

When someone floats a concrete idea that isn't on a widget yet — "ramen?", "how about bowling", "that rooftop place" — Nova searches for it near the crew's search area and drops 1 to 3 real places onto the matching Food spot or Activity spot vote, creating the widget if there isn't one (Where should we eat? / Where should we go?). Each spot arrives with its address, rating and map location.

It holds back once a vote already has 3 or more options — the crew has enough to choose from — never searches the same idea twice, and never announces the additions in the chat. Dates, times and vibes never trigger a search.

What Nova never does

• Lock the plan. Only the organizer can. Nova is told, in so many words, never to claim anything is final.
• Edit a confirmed plan. Once locked, the plan is frozen as far as Nova is concerned.
• Invent specifics — exact prices, addresses or opening hours it doesn't know.
• Repeat a street address in the chat or the plan; areas stay at neighborhood or city level.
• Post as a person. "Nova" is a reserved name; nobody can join a hangout as Nova.

Nova memory (upgrade)

Normally Nova knows only what's in this hangout. Nova memory is a per-person upgrade that lets it remember your durable preferences — vegetarian, prefers early evenings, no late nights — across every hangout you're in.

• Turn it on under Settings → You → ✦ Nova memory → ✦ Upgrade. It needs a durable account (Google or email linked), because an upgrade tied to a device-only account would vanish with the browser. The card says ACTIVE once it's on, with a Turn off button.
• What gets remembered: short, durable preferences you state about yourself — diet, budget comfort, likes and dislikes, logistics. Not this hangout's decisions (voting for Saturday isn't a memory), and never anything sensitive or anything someone else said about you. Most conversations add nothing.
• See and edit the list in the same card: What Nova remembers about you. Add notes by hand, or ✕ to forget one instantly. Up to 20 notes; the oldest drop off.
• Only for you. Your notes are never shown to other members, and upgrading changes nothing for your crew. Nova is only ever given a way to write notes for people who have the upgrade, so it cannot record anything about anyone else.