cmd/mavend/morning_nudge_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/morning"
+)
+
+// TestMorningNudgeBodySeparatesOptional — the one message a routine is allowed
+// per day says what was not done, then what he could still do (Vikunja #473).
+func TestMorningNudgeBodySeparatesOptional(t *testing.T) {
+	cand := morning.Candidate{
+		Routine: morning.Routine{Name: "утро"},
+		Missing: []morning.Item{
+			{Key: "meds", Label: "таблетки"},
+			{Key: "stretch", Label: "растяжка", Optional: true},
+		},
+	}
+	body := morningNudgeBody(cand)
+	if !strings.Contains(body, "не сделано — таблетки") {
+		t.Fatalf("the required item must be named as not done: %q", body)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(body, "если будет время — растяжка") {
+		t.Fatalf("the optional item must read softer: %q", body)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(body, "не сделано — таблетки, растяжка") {
+		t.Fatalf("optional must not be folded into the required list: %q", body)
+	}
+
+	// Nothing optional missing: the sentence is what it always was.
+	only := morning.Candidate{
+		Routine: morning.Routine{Name: "утро"},
+		Missing: []morning.Item{{Key: "meds", Label: "таблетки"}},
+	}
+	if got, want := morningNudgeBody(only), "утро: не сделано — таблетки"; got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("morningNudgeBody = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}

cmd/mavend/tick.go

@@ -761,11 +761,7 @@ func (t *tickLoop) fireMorningRoutines(ctx context.Context, now time.Time, state
 	facts := t.gatherMorningFacts(ctx)
 
 	for _, cand := range morning.Due(t.morningRoutines, facts, t.morningLast, now) {
-		labels := make([]string, len(cand.Missing))
-		for i, it := range cand.Missing {
-			labels[i] = it.Label
-		}
-		body := fmt.Sprintf("%s: не сделано — %s", cand.Routine.Name, strings.Join(labels, ", "))
+		body := morningNudgeBody(cand)
 		pn := delivery.PhrasedNudge{
 			Candidate: loop.Candidate{
 				Rule:     loop.Rule{Name: "morning:" + cand.Routine.Name, Severity: loop.Severity(cand.Routine.Severity)},
@@ -781,6 +777,26 @@ func (t *tickLoop) fireMorningRoutines(ctx context.Context, now time.Time, state
 	}
 }
 
+// morningNudgeBody words the one message a routine gets per day. Required
+// items are what she says was not done; optional ones follow, worded as
+// something he could still do rather than something he owes (Vikunja #473).
+// Operator text, not phrased by the model, for the same reason it always was:
+// a checklist item must not be invented.
+func morningNudgeBody(cand morning.Candidate) string {
+	labels := func(items []morning.Item) string {
+		out := make([]string, len(items))
+		for i, it := range items {
+			out[i] = it.Label
+		}
+		return strings.Join(out, ", ")
+	}
+	body := fmt.Sprintf("%s: не сделано — %s", cand.Routine.Name, labels(morning.Required(cand.Missing)))
+	if opt := morning.OptionalOnly(cand.Missing); len(opt) > 0 {
+		body += fmt.Sprintf(". если будет время — %s", labels(opt))
+	}
+	return body
+}
+
 // gatherMorningFacts reads the latest fact for every item's fact_key across
 // all configured morning routines. Shared by fireMorningRoutines (nudge
 // decision) and morningStatus (read-only query) so the two paths can never

internal/config/config.go

@@ -601,6 +601,9 @@ type MorningRoutineItemConfig struct {
 	Key     string `json:"key"`
 	FactKey string `json:"fact_key"`
 	Label   string `json:"label"`
+	// Optional — this one being skipped does not earn a nudge. Default false,
+	// so a routine written before 04-08-2026 keeps behaving as it did.
+	Optional bool `json:"optional,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // QuietHoursConfig — a recurring daily quiet-window. Times are local to the
@@ -1734,7 +1737,7 @@ func morningRoutinesFromConfig(mc []MorningRoutineConfig) []morning.Routine {
 	for i, r := range mc {
 		items := make([]morning.Item, len(r.Items))
 		for j, it := range r.Items {
-			items[j] = morning.Item{Key: it.Key, FactKey: it.FactKey, Label: it.Label}
+			items[j] = morning.Item{Key: it.Key, FactKey: it.FactKey, Label: it.Label, Optional: it.Optional}
 		}
 		weekdays := make([]time.Weekday, len(r.Weekdays))
 		for j, w := range r.Weekdays {

internal/morning/morning.go

@@ -30,6 +30,18 @@ type Item struct {
 	Key     string
 	FactKey string
 	Label   string // RU text surfaced when this item is still missing.
+	// Optional — a missing one is not worth a nudge on its own.
+	//
+	// Every item was implicitly required until 04-08-2026, because there was
+	// no field, so a skipped stretch read exactly like skipped medication and
+	// #280's first behaviour could not hold (Vikunja #473). A checklist where
+	// everything is mandatory is a checklist he learns to ignore.
+	//
+	// It changes two things and nothing else: an all-optional routine never
+	// nudges, and a nudge that does fire names the optional stragglers after
+	// the required ones, in softer words. Evidence, the window and the day
+	// plan treat both kinds alike — a missing optional item is still missing.
+	Optional bool
 }
 
 // Routine — one daily checklist. WindowStart/WindowEnd are "HH:MM" local
@@ -60,12 +72,37 @@ type Status struct {
 }
 
 // Candidate — a routine that's due for its one-per-day nag: the window has
-// reached NudgeAt and at least one item is still unevidenced.
+// reached NudgeAt and at least one REQUIRED item is still unevidenced. Missing
+// carries the optional stragglers too, so the one message she is allowed per
+// day per routine can mention them; they never cause it.
 type Candidate struct {
 	Routine Routine
 	Missing []Item
 }
 
+// Required reports the missing items that are not optional. The nudge fires on
+// these; the rest ride along.
+func Required(missing []Item) []Item {
+	var out []Item
+	for _, it := range missing {
+		if !it.Optional {
+			out = append(out, it)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// OptionalOnly is the other half of Required.
+func OptionalOnly(missing []Item) []Item {
+	var out []Item
+	for _, it := range missing {
+		if it.Optional {
+			out = append(out, it)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 // Validate reports the first structural problem with a routine set: missing
 // name/items, an unparseable HH:MM, an inverted window, a duplicate item key
 // within a routine, or an out-of-range weekday. Called at config load so a
@@ -191,7 +228,11 @@ func Due(routines []Routine, facts map[string]store.Fact, last map[string]time.T
 				missing = append(missing, it)
 			}
 		}
-		if len(missing) == 0 {
+		// A day where only the optional items were skipped is a fine day, and
+		// nagging about it is what teaches him to stop listening (Vikunja
+		// #473). The optional ones still travel in Missing so the message can
+		// mention them when it is being sent anyway.
+		if len(Required(missing)) == 0 {
 			continue
 		}
 		if prev, seen := last[r.Name]; seen && sameDay(prev, now) {

internal/morning/morning_test.go

@@ -182,3 +182,40 @@ func TestDueRespectsExplicitNudgeAt(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected candidate at explicit nudge_at, got %d", len(out))
 	}
 }
+
+// TestOptionalItemsDoNotEarnANudge — behaviour 1 of #280, which could not hold
+// while every item was implicitly required (Vikunja #473).
+func TestOptionalItemsDoNotEarnANudge(t *testing.T) {
+	r := Routine{
+		Name:        "утро",
+		WindowStart: "07:00",
+		WindowEnd:   "10:00",
+		Items: []Item{
+			{Key: "meds", FactKey: "meds", Label: "таблетки"},
+			{Key: "stretch", FactKey: "stretch", Label: "растяжка", Optional: true},
+		},
+	}
+	now := time.Date(2026, 8, 4, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	took := map[string]store.Fact{"meds": {Key: "meds", Ts: now.Add(-2 * time.Hour)}}
+
+	// Only the stretch was skipped: nothing to say.
+	if due := Due([]Routine{r}, took, map[string]time.Time{}, now); len(due) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("an optional item alone must not nudge, got %+v", due)
+	}
+	// The medication was skipped: she says so, and mentions the stretch too.
+	due := Due([]Routine{r}, map[string]store.Fact{}, map[string]time.Time{}, now)
+	if len(due) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a missing required item must nudge, got %+v", due)
+	}
+	if got := Required(due[0].Missing); len(got) != 1 || got[0].Key != "meds" {
+		t.Fatalf("Required = %+v, want the meds item alone", got)
+	}
+	if got := OptionalOnly(due[0].Missing); len(got) != 1 || got[0].Key != "stretch" {
+		t.Fatalf("OptionalOnly = %+v, want the stretch item alone", got)
+	}
+	// The window still reports it as missing — optional is not invisible.
+	st := Evaluate(r, map[string]store.Fact{}, now.Add(-time.Hour))
+	if len(st.Missing) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("Evaluate must still list both, got %+v", st.Missing)
+	}
+}