H E L M

Text your brain

SMS capture

Last updated September 11, 2026

Helm has a phone number. You text it an errand, a link, or a stray thought; it files the note into the Markdown file you own on GitHub and texts you back where it landed. No app, no unlock, works from any phone.

What you agree to when you opt in. This is the consent shown in Helm, above the code you text:

“By texting your code to (360) 594-5758, you agree to receive text messages from Helm at this number. Message type: confirmations of what Helm filed, sent only in reply to a message you send. Message frequency: 1 reply per message you send. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. See our Terms and Privacy Policy.”

The short version: you opt in from inside your own account by texting a one-time code, Helm only ever replies to a message you sent first, and one word — STOP — ends it and unlinks your phone.

The SMS capture row in Helm's Preferences: a one-time code to text to (360) 594-5758, followed by the consent language and disclosures above.
The opt-in screen inside Helm (Preferences → Channels → SMS capture), exactly as a signed-in person sees it. Nothing is pre-checked; the consent action is the person texting the code shown to them.

How you turn it on

Helm never texts a number that hasn’t asked for it. Consent starts on your side of the conversation, from an account you’re already signed in to:

  • Sign in at helm.day and open Preferences → Channels → SMS capture.
  • It shows Helm’s number — (360) 594-5758 —and a one-time code minted for your account alone, like HELM-7K2Q. The code is good for 24 hours.
  • You text that code to that number from the phone you want to use. That text is the consent record: it comes from your handset, carries a code only your signed-in account could see, and no message reaches you before it.
  • Helm confirms, and from then on anything you text files itself into your brain.

A number that hasn’t done this gets one polite line saying it isn’t set up, and nothing is stored.

What Helm texts you

Only replies to messages you sent. No marketing, no promotions, no broadcasts, nothing scheduled. In full, these are the messages Helm can send:

  • When you opt in: “Helm: This phone is now connected to your Helm brain. Text a note, errand, or link and Helm will file it. 1 reply per message you send, nothing else. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe, HELP for help. Terms: https://helm.day/terms Privacy: https://helm.day/privacy”
  • When it files something: “Filed under To Get · in Everyday / Grocery” — the list and category it chose.
  • When you text HELP: “Helm: Helm files the notes you text into a Markdown file you own. 1 reply per message you send. Support: https://helm.day/sms. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.”
  • When you text STOP: “You’re unsubscribed from Helm and this phone is no longer linked to a brain. No further messages. Reply START to reconnect.”

Message frequency: one reply per message you send — so entirely up to you, and zero if you never text. Message and data rates may apply; Helm doesn’t charge for texts, but your carrier may.

How to stop it

Text STOP to the number. That does two things at once: you stop receiving messages, and your phone is unlinked from your brain, so it can no longer write to it. START begins the opt-in again from the top. HELP returns the help line above.

You can also disconnect from Preferences → Channels → SMS capture without touching your phone. Either way, the notes you already captured stay in your file — they’re yours, and unlinking a phone shouldn’t delete your life.

What Helm stores about your phone

Not your phone number. Helm keeps a one-way cryptographic hash of it, which is enough to recognize your handset on the next text and useless for anything else — it can’t be turned back into a number to call, text, or sell. Nobody at Helm can read your number out of it.

The text itself becomes a line in your own Markdown file, the same as anything you capture in the app. Carrier opt-out status is held by Twilio, our messaging provider. We never sell or share phone data, and no mobile information is shared with third parties for marketing. The full picture is in the privacy policy.

Trouble

Texts not landing, or a phone you can’t unlink? Email hello@madronaproduct.com and we’ll sort it out.