Where your execution data lives (and how it gets there)
Not sure where your decisions, risks, or goals live in In Parallel — or how to add to them? In Parallel keeps a structured record of everything that matters to execution: goals, decisions, risks, opportunities, learnings, open questions, action items, and the documents behind them. This article maps where each type lives in the app and the three ways it gets created, so you always know where to look.
The one thing to understand first
In Parallel is meeting-first. Most of your execution data isn't typed into blank forms — it's captured from your meetings and confirmed by you, then it accumulates over time. When the Recorder captures a meeting, In Parallel extracts structured signals (decisions, risks, questions, and more), proposes them to you, and — once you confirm — files them as Findings in the right Workspace.
That's why a brand-new Workspace with no meetings looks empty: there's nothing to extract from yet. There are three ways data gets in:
Captured from meetings — the primary path, for most data types.
Added directly in the app — for goals, and for advancing or editing any existing record.
Created by a connected AI assistant over MCP — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (early access) can create and update records for you, within the access you grant.
The data map
Every data type, where it lives, and how you add to it:
Data type | Where it lives in the app | How it's created | AI tools (read / write) |
Goals (OKR, KPI, Milestone) | The Goals area of a Workspace | Directly, via Add Goal — fill in a type yourself, or let AI suggest from text/a document |
|
Decisions | Findings → Decisions | Captured from meetings, then advanced (Proposed → Reviewing → Approved) |
|
Action items | Findings → Action Items (and owners' Personal Dashboards) | Captured from meetings, or added under a goal's Action Plan |
|
Opportunities | Findings → Opportunities | Captured from meetings, then qualified and prioritized |
|
Open questions | Findings → Open Questions | Captured from meetings, then assigned and answered |
|
Learnings | Findings → Learnings | Captured from meetings, then curated and published |
|
Risks / obstacles | Findings → Obstacles (and Escalations for urgent issues) | Captured from meetings, then managed through their lifecycle |
|
Documents | Attached to a Workspace via goal proposal | Uploaded when you use suggest goals from a document — see below |
|
The execution plan | The Workspace's execution plan view | Assembled and kept current automatically from the above |
|
Findings: the home for most of your data
Decisions, action items, opportunities, escalations, open questions, learnings, and obstacles are all Findings — seven typed lists that live under Findings in each Workspace's left nav. Each is extracted from a meeting, confirmed by you (via a changelog to-do on your Personal Dashboard), and then moves through its own lifecycle of states that you advance as work progresses.
To see them: in the left nav, select your Workspace and click Findings, then pick a type. For the full breakdown of the seven types and their states, see Findings.
To add data here without a meeting, you have two options: create it with a connected AI assistant (for example, ask Copilot to "create an action item to follow up on X"), or hold a meeting with the Recorder so the signals are captured and confirmed.
Goals: added directly
Goals are the exception — you create them straight from the Add Goal modal, either by filling in an OKR, KPI, or Milestone yourself, or by letting AI suggest goals from text or a document. See Add a goal for the full walkthrough.
Documents: attached through goal proposal
In Parallel isn't a file library — a document enters a Workspace when you use it to propose goals. Uploading a .pdf, .md, or .txt in the Add Goal flow stores it on the Workspace, where a connected assistant can list it (list_workspace_documents) and re-run extraction on it. See Add and use Workspace documents.
Related
Findings — the seven Finding types and their lifecycles.
Add a goal — create goals manually or from text and documents.
Add and use Workspace documents — how documents enter a Workspace.
What the AI can and can't see — the access boundaries around a connected assistant.
In Parallel MCP tools reference — every tool, and which ones read versus write.