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Email, Meetings & Reporting

Email and Meeting Setup

Project Notes writes your project emails and meeting invitations for you, then hands them to the mail or calendar application you already use. It never sends anything itself. Every message and every invitation arrives as a draft that you read, adjust and send.

This page covers the one-time setup. Once it is done, see Reports and Email for sending reports and meeting notes, and Scheduling Meetings for invitations.

What you need first

Four things must be in place before any email or invitation is worth sending.

Requirement Where to set it Why it matters
Project Manager Settings > Preferences Identifies you. You are kept off recipient lists and become the organizer on meeting invitations.
Managing Company Settings > Preferences Separates your own contacts from company contacts, which drives internal reports and the company audience filters.
Contacts with email addresses Contacts page Recipients come only from contact records. A contact with a blank Email cannot be selected.
A project team project's Team tab Audiences are built from the team. Mark the contacts who should get status reports with Receive Status.

You cannot type an address into a review dialog. If someone needs a copy, add them as a contact and put them on the project team.

Choose how mail and meetings leave Project Notes

Open Settings > Email, Contacts, and Calendar. One choice covers both email and meeting invitations.

Integration Email becomes Meeting becomes Works on
Default Application A draft message file (.eml) opened by whatever application handles that file type A calendar file (.ics) opened by your default calendar application Windows, macOS, Linux
Outlook A draft message opened in the new Outlook A calendar file opened in the new Outlook, which leaves out the attendees. Copy them from the Schedule meeting window and paste them in Windows
Outlook (Classic) A draft message opened in Outlook (classic) An unsent meeting window in Outlook (classic) with the attendees filled in Windows
MacOS Email and Calendar A Mail compose window with the formatted message and file attachments. No Bcc An event created directly in Calendar, without attendees. Copy them from the Schedule meeting window and paste them in macOS
iCloud A draft stored in iCloud Mail An event stored in iCloud Calendar without attendees. Copy them from the Schedule meeting window and paste them in Windows, macOS, Linux
Thunderbird A Thunderbird compose window, attachments included A calendar file handed to Thunderbird, which offers to import it Windows, macOS, Linux
Microsoft 365 drafts A draft in your Microsoft 365 mailbox, opened in Outlook on the web A draft event in your Microsoft 365 calendar, opened in Outlook on the web Windows, macOS, Linux

The list only shows the choices your operating system supports, so no one sees every platform-specific choice at once:

  • Windows: Default Application, Outlook, Outlook (Classic), iCloud, Thunderbird and Microsoft 365 drafts.
  • macOS: Default Application, MacOS Email and Calendar, iCloud, Thunderbird and Microsoft 365 drafts.
  • Linux: Default Application, iCloud, Thunderbird and Microsoft 365 drafts.

On macOS, MacOS Email and Calendar is selected the first time you run Project Notes. Windows and Linux start on Default Application; on Windows, switch to the Outlook you use. Pick one, then follow the section for your platform below.

If your settings came from another computer and name a choice this one lacks, such as Outlook (Classic) on a Mac, Project Notes falls back to the platform default until you choose again.

Windows with Outlook Classic

  1. Open Settings > Email, Contacts, and Calendar and set Integration to Outlook (Classic).
  2. Start Outlook and leave it running. Handoff is faster when Outlook is already open.

Project Notes starts Outlook (classic) itself, so the .eml and .ics file associations don't matter.

When you send a report, Project Notes writes the message with its attachments and opens it in Outlook as a new, unsent message. The subject, recipients, body and attachments are already filled in. Edit anything you like, then click Send.

When you schedule a meeting, Outlook opens an unsent meeting window. The attendees, time, location and agenda are already in it. Required attendees go on the To line and optional ones on the optional line. Check it over, then click Send to issue the invitations.

Windows with the new Outlook

  1. Set Integration to Outlook.
  2. Sign in to the new Outlook with the account you send project mail from.

Project Notes opens the new Outlook directly, even when Outlook (classic) or another app holds the .eml and .ics associations.

Reports open as a draft message ready to send. Meetings are different. The new Outlook imports the calendar file as a plain event and drops the attendee list. Before you click Open Invite, click Copy Attendees in the Schedule meeting window. Then paste the attendees into the event in Outlook and send it.

If you want the meeting to arrive with its attendees already filled in, use Outlook (Classic) or Microsoft 365 drafts instead.

Windows with another default app

Default Application opens the files with whatever app holds the .eml and .ics associations. Many calendar apps, the new Outlook among them, import an .ics file without its attendees. Copy Attendees is available with this choice too.

macOS with Mail and Calendar

  1. Set Integration to MacOS Email and Calendar.
  2. Open Mail and Calendar at least once and add the account you send project mail from.
  3. Schedule a test meeting. macOS asks whether Project Notes may access your calendars, then whether it may control Calendar. Allow both.

This mode also turns on contact synchronization against the Contacts app on this Mac directly — there is no separate account or password to enter. The first sync asks for access under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts. See Contact Synchronization for matching, export, and review details.

Reports open in a Mail compose window with the recipients, formatted body, and file attachments already in place. Cc recipients appear alongside the To recipients. Bcc recipients cannot be carried; choose Default Application or another integration for messages that need Bcc.

Invitations become an event on your first writable calendar with the agenda in its notes. Calendar would send invitations the moment the event had attendees, so Project Notes adds none. Click Copy Attendees in the Schedule meeting window, paste the list into the event's invitees field, check the time, then click Send.

If you would rather work with files, choose Default Application instead. Mail must handle .eml files and Calendar must handle .ics files. To set that, select any such file in Finder, press Command-I, choose the application under Open with, then click Change All.

Linux

  1. Set Integration to Default Application.
  2. Make sure your desktop has a mail application registered for message/rfc822 and a calendar application registered for text/calendar. Most desktops set this when you install Evolution, Geary, Thunderbird or GNOME Calendar.

If your desktop has no handler for either type, choose Thunderbird instead and give Project Notes the path to it.

Thunderbird on any platform

  1. Set Integration to Thunderbird.
  2. Fill in Thunderbird executable. A plain command such as thunderbird works when it is on your path. A full path works too. For the Flatpak build, enter flatpak run org.mozilla.Thunderbird.

Emails open in a Thunderbird compose window with the attachments already added. Meetings are passed to Thunderbird as a calendar file; Thunderbird asks which calendar to import into, and you send the invitations from the event.

iCloud on any platform

  1. Set Integration to iCloud.
  2. Enter the Apple Account used for iCloud Calendar and Contacts. If its iCloud Mail address is different, enter that in the optional mail-address field.
  3. Generate an app-specific password at account.apple.com, enter it under Contact Synchronization, and click Save password. Project Notes keeps it in the operating system credential store, not in the database.

Project Notes stores email as an unsent message in iCloud Mail's Drafts mailbox. It creates calendar events in iCloud Calendar without attendees so the provider cannot send invitations during creation. Click Copy Attendees before creating a meeting, then open iCloud Calendar and paste them into the event before sending the invitations.

iCloud returns an internal identity for a created item but no link that opens that particular draft or event. Project Notes therefore confirms creation and asks you to open iCloud Mail or Calendar yourself; it does not open a generic page and imply that the new item is selected.

Microsoft 365 drafts

This route creates the draft in your mailbox rather than on your machine, so the draft is waiting for you on every device. It needs a Microsoft Entra app registration.

Register the application once

Your Microsoft 365 administrator creates an app registration that allows these delegated Microsoft Graph permissions:

  • User.Read
  • Mail.ReadWrite
  • Calendars.ReadWrite
  • offline_access

Mail.ReadWrite creates and updates drafts. Project Notes never requests Mail.Send, so it cannot send mail from your account even if something goes wrong.

When Office 365 is your contact provider under Contact Synchronization, the same sign-in also asks for Contacts.ReadWrite. Add it to the registration, or sign-in will stop at the consent screen.

If you also use File Finder to discover Teams channels and their files, the same registration should allow Team.ReadBasic.All, Channel.ReadBasic.All and Files.Read.All. Those three always need administrator consent.

Two settings on the registration's Authentication page matter:

  • Allow public client flows must be Yes. Project Notes signs in with a device code and has no client secret, so sign-in fails without it.
  • Supported account types must fit the tenant ID you enter below. The default, organizations, needs a registration that accepts any organizational directory.

Some organizations require administrator consent before anyone can sign in. Office 365 Integration has the full permission list.

Sign in

  1. Open Settings > Office 365 Integration.
  2. Enter the Microsoft Entra tenant ID. The default, organizations, accepts a work or school account from any organization. Enter a specific tenant ID to restrict it to yours.
  3. Enter the Application (client) ID from the registration.
  4. Click Sign in to Microsoft 365. Project Notes shows a short code and a button that opens Microsoft's sign-in page.
  5. Click Copy code, click Open Microsoft sign-in page, paste the code and finish signing in with your browser.
  6. Return to Project Notes. The status line turns green when the account is verified.

Your refresh token goes into the operating system credential vault. Access tokens stay in memory only.

  1. Go back to Settings > Email, Contacts, and Calendar and set Integration to Microsoft 365 drafts.

If you signed in before meeting scheduling existed, sign out and sign in again. The older sign-in did not ask for calendar permission, and a draft event cannot be created without it.

Write your email templates

Settings > Email Templates configures the subject and body for six email types: Send Meeting Notes, Tracker Items Report, Status Report, Meeting Notes Report, Project Email, and Share Location.

  1. Pick the Workflow.
  2. Edit the Subject.
  3. Edit the Rich body. For reports and location sharing, keep exactly one {{ content.body }} block: the generated report, link, or attachment description lands there. Project Email can consist entirely of your configured prose and does not require that block.
  4. Reset restores the built-in wording for that workflow.

Right-click the subject or the body to insert a field instead of typing it. The fields that resolve are:

Field Value
project.number The project number
project.name The project name
company.name The company on the project
preferences.managerName The project manager from Settings > Preferences
preferences.managingCompanyName The managing company from Settings > Preferences
current.date The date the email is prepared, as MM/DD/YYYY
report.type The name of the report being sent
report.internal Yes or No, depending on the internal option in the review
report.date The reporting date you choose in the review, on the three project reports
meeting.title The meeting note's title, on Send Meeting Notes
meeting.date The meeting date, on Send Meeting Notes and the Meeting Notes Report
contact.name, contact.email The contact right-clicked for Project Email; empty when emailing the whole team
location.description, location.url, location.fileName The location being shared

A field that does not apply to the selected workflow is not offered.

Templates are stored for the open database and the active Project Notes profile. They do not travel with a cloud sync of project data.

Define your meeting types

Settings > Meeting Templates holds the meeting types you can schedule. When Project Notes starts with an empty meeting type list, it adds 13 standard types covering kickoff, status, lessons learned, closeout, risk and issue review, change control, technical review, FAT / SAT readiness, steering committee status and requirements workshops. Kickoff, status, and lessons learned each have an internal and a customer-facing version. Reset to Defaults replaces all saved meeting types, including custom types and edits, with the current standard set.

Each standard type includes a purpose, an agenda and a 60-minute duration. Its subject inserts the project number and name. Internal types end in (Internal); customer-facing titles omit Customer. Edit these types to suit your organization, or add your own:

  1. Click New.
  2. Give it a Name, such as Status Meeting.
  3. Pick a Duration between 15 minutes and 4 hours.
  4. Write the Subject, for example {{ project.number }} {{ project.name }} Status Meeting.
  5. Write the Agenda. It becomes the body of the invitation.

Duplicate copies a type when two of them differ only slightly, naming the copy <original name> (copy). Delete removes one. Switching to another type, clicking New, clicking Duplicate, or leaving the tab all save your current draft; a type left completely blank is discarded instead. A draft with a name but an invalid subject or agenda — for example, a field Project Notes doesn't recognize — is kept, but a dialog blocks you from switching away until you fix it or discard the draft.

Startup leaves any nonempty meeting type list as you configured it. If you delete every type, the standard types return the next time you start Project Notes.

Subjects and agendas accept project.number, project.name, company.name, preferences.managerName, preferences.managingCompanyName and current.date, which is the date the meeting is scheduled. Right-click to insert one. Report fields such as report.date are not offered, because a meeting is scheduled from a project rather than from a report.

Meeting types live in the open database, next to the email templates.

Test the setup

Run one of each before you rely on it.

  1. Open a project that has a team with real email addresses.
  2. Right-click it, choose Reports > Status…, select Email the report, pick one recipient who is you, and click Send Email. Your client should open a draft addressed to you.
  3. Right-click the project again and choose Schedule Meeting…. Pick a meeting type, pick yourself as the only attendee, and click Open Invite. Your calendar application should open an event.
  4. Send both. Check that they arrive and that the formatting and attachments survived.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Fix
Nothing opens after Send Email No application is registered for .eml. Set the association, or switch to Thunderbird or Microsoft 365 drafts.
Nothing opens after Open Invite No application is registered for .ics. Same fix.
The meeting opens in the new Outlook with no attendees The new Outlook drops them when it imports a calendar file. Click Copy Attendees before Open Invite and paste them into the event, or switch to Outlook (Classic).
Outlook reports it is not installed The Outlook you chose is missing. Outlook needs the new Outlook for Windows from the Microsoft Store; Outlook (Classic) needs Microsoft Office's Outlook.
The wrong mail application opens Another application holds the .eml association. Reassign it in your operating system's default applications settings.
A contact cannot be selected as a recipient Their contact record has no Email. Add one.
The audience is empty Nobody is on the project team, or nobody is marked Receive Status for a status report.
Microsoft 365 reports it is not signed in Open Settings > Office 365 Integration and sign in again. A refresh token expires if it goes unused for a long time.
A meeting draft is created but has no attendees The sign-in predates calendar permission. Sign out, then sign in again to grant Calendars.ReadWrite.
Calendar reports it is not allowed, or no event appears Open System Settings > Privacy & Security. Under Calendars, give Project Notes full access. Under Automation, turn on Calendar for Project Notes.
No contacts sync under MacOS Email and Calendar Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts and give Project Notes access, then try Test Connection again.
Mail opens without the attachment Keep Project Notes open until the draft has saved its attachments. If your mail client cannot import the native sharing items, try Default Application.
Thunderbird does not start The Thunderbird executable value is wrong. Try the bare command thunderbird, a full path, or flatpak run org.mozilla.Thunderbird.
Thunderbird reports a missing draft or attachment path Project Notes closed before Thunderbird finished reading the staged files. Start the draft again and leave Project Notes open until Thunderbird has them.
An attachment is missing after you reopen a draft Staged files are removed when Project Notes closes. Send or save the draft before you quit.

Where the temporary files go

Generated messages, calendar files, rendered reports and staged attachments are written to the application cache folder. Project Notes deletes them when it closes, and again at the next start if it did not close cleanly. Sign-in caches are kept.

An open compose window can point at a staged attachment. Send it, or save the attachment somewhere of your own, before you close Project Notes.

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