pulpHome help

pulpHome looks after household life: drop in a paper (bill, prescription, tax notice, contract, warranty…), it reads it, files it and suggests what needs doing, and when. It also keeps track of the people and things in your home, your budget and your recipes. By default, everything is read and stored on your device; to share it with your family, see Working together.

Getting started

1. Open pulpHome. On first opening, an example household appears on its own so you can see what pulpHome looks like: a feed for the week, papers already understood, a monthly budget with its transactions, deadlines and the kitchen. It is never saved and never mixes with your records. Start from scratch or Remove the example removes it in one click, Import my data opens adding papers, and File › See the example again brings it back. Your first paper or first record replaces it. In an empty household, enter your first name so pulpHome knows what is “for me”.
2. Tap Add (or press N): Photograph a paper (edges detected, page straightened, several pages possible), Choose files, or drag your PDFs and photos onto the window.
3. The first time a photo is read, you are asked to agree to download the text-reading tool, once; after that it runs on the device, even offline.
4. The paper is filed in an area (Papers and ID, Home and works, Vehicles, Health, Money and budget, Children and activities, Celebrations and calendar, Kitchen, Purchases and parcels). Under What to do with this paper?, accept the suggestions: due date, payment, appointment, renewal.
5. The Today tab gathers what you mustn't forget: overdue, today, this week, upcoming.

The tabs are Today, Calendar, Areas, People, Things, Budget, Kitchen, Search and Settings. To check gathers the papers read automatically that are waiting for your review.

Common tasks

How do I check what pulpHome has read?

Papers read automatically land in To check. Open one: title, type, amount, due date, issuer and reference can all be edited. Compare them with the document, fix anything wrong, then tap Looks right. The Text read is shown at the bottom of the card, and Read again runs the reading once more. If a paper looks like one already filed, pulpHome says so: See the other one to compare, or Keep both.

How do I stay on top of things day to day?

In Today, the feed brings together due dates, payments, appointments, renewals, servicing, warranty ends, birthdays and parcels on the way. Tick what is done, or Postpone it until tomorrow or for a week. The chips at the top filter the feed for me, for one person or for the whole household, and summarise the month's budget, the parcels expected (tap Track to follow a parcel, Received once it has arrived) and the papers to check. The Weekly review sums up what got done, what is overdue and what is coming; the day and time it appears are set in Settings. File › Print prints the household feed.

How do I see my calendar?

The Calendar tab, next to Today, shows everything dated in the household on a calendar: payments, deadlines, appointments, renewals, services, birthdays (every year), events and reminders. Each kind has its own colour and icon, the people concerned are shown, and anything Overdue is flagged in red. Papers not yet checked are marked To check. Parcels stay in Today.

• Month, Week or Upcoming (the list, shown first on a phone): tap a day to see its details.
• On a line, Open shows the paper, the thing or the person; tick it when it is done, or Change date (and the time, optional).
• To add something, type under the chosen day as you would say it: “dentist 2 pm”, “pay school meals on the 5th”. Without a date in the sentence, it goes on the chosen day.
• Also show adds, if you wish, the deadlines from the other apps and the pulpInbox calendars you tick one by one (none at first: your work calendar only appears if you tick it). These lines are for viewing here and are changed in their own app. Your choice is kept on the device.

How do I add a simple reminder?

Add › Just a reminder, then write it the way you would say it: “Cat's vaccination Tuesday”, “Pay the school canteen on the 5th”. The date is picked up from the sentence; check it before confirming.

How do I follow my budget?

In Budget, tap Import a statement and choose the file downloaded from your bank (CSV, OFX, QIF, CAMT.053 or PDF). Transactions are sorted into categories; if you recategorise one, transactions with the same label will follow. You can set a monthly limit (Set a budget), browse months, attach an invoice to an expense and open the detail in pulpSheet with Analyse in pulpSheet. No bank login is ever asked for: pulpHome does not connect to any bank.

How do I find a paper?

Open Search (/) and ask the way you would say it: “the washing machine invoice”, “how much at the dentist this year”, “when does the home insurance expire”. Search covers your papers, expenses, due dates, recipes, things and people. You can also go through the Areas, People or Things. Smart search, which understands the meaning of words, is optional and needs a one-time download after you agree.

How do I keep track of the people and things in the household?

In People, Add a person creates a card for each household member (adult, child or older person): date of birth (their birthday goes into the feed), particular situation (shared custody, studying away, cared-for relative…) and other ways their name is written, so that papers are recognised. This is me marks your own card. Each card gathers that person's papers, appointments and activities.

In Things, Add a thing creates a card for a vehicle, an appliance, the heating, the home or an electronic device: brand, model, registration or serial number, purchase date, warranty end and next service, with the invoice, warranty and manual in one place. Warranty ends and servicing show up in the feed.

How do I manage the kitchen?

In Kitchen, Photograph a paper (a recipe card or a book page) or Paste a recipe's text: the recipe is read and tidied up, with its ingredients, method and preparation and cooking times. Change the number of servings, then Add to shopping list: the shopping list groups items by aisle, you can add items by hand, tick them off and remove ticked items.

How do I pick up bills received by email?

Add › Look in my emails: with your agreement, pulpHome goes through the emails from the last 60 days already in pulpInbox on this device and spots bills, confirmations, invitations and parcels. Choose the ones to file (File the selection); attachments become papers. Stop reading my emails withdraws the permission.

How do I file the papers of a folder automatically?

Settings › Watched folder › Choose a folder: PDFs and photos added to that folder on your computer are filed when pulpHome opens, or on request with Check now. This only works in some browsers (Chrome, Edge).

How do I avoid missing anything when pulpSuite is closed?

pulpHome notifications only appear while pulpSuite is open, and if you allow them in Settings › Notifications. To be alerted on your phone, first choose Settings › Notifications › Destination calendar: a single calendar, in a single pulpInbox account (for example “Family” in your personal mailbox). Until one is chosen, nothing is added anywhere. Send deadlines to the calendar then asks for your agreement, naming that calendar and account; no other calendar is changed. Add new deadlines automatically is off at first: tick it if you want the next ones to go there on their own. This calendar can be synced with your phone.

How do I send a paper from my phone?

Install pulpSuite on the phone's home screen (see Install pulpSuite), then, from the gallery or an app, Share › pulpSuite: photos, PDFs and texts arrive in pulpHome, which files them.

How do I find my documents from the other apps here?

Settings › Documents from other apps › Link documents from other apps: your letters, spreadsheets, quotes, photos… show up in pulpHome's searches and areas, with a button to open them in their own app. Stop showing this document removes a document from pulpHome without deleting it.

What can I do from a paper: letters, works, logins?

On a paper's card, buttons appear according to its type. On a contract or an insurance, Cancellation letter; on an invoice, a parcel or a quote, Complaint letter: pulpHome prepares the letter in pulpDoc; read it through and complete it before sending. On a quote or a works paper, See the works in pulpBuild. On an insurance, contract, statement or tax notice, Logins in the pulpNote vault. For the file itself: Open the file, Download or Share (using your device's own sharing). Prescriptions, medical reports and ID documents are never offered to the other apps in the suite.

How do I protect my papers?

Settings › Lock › Choose a code (6 characters or more). If the device allows it, add fingerprint or face unlock. You can set automatic locking after a few minutes of inactivity, or Lock now. Encrypt files on the device makes pages and PDFs unreadable without your code.

How do I back up or change device?

Settings › Backup › Back up the household (or File › Back up the household) produces a .phome file with all papers and cards, which can be password-protected. Restore a backup reads it on another device; restoring merges: for each card, the most recent version wins.

Working together

The household can be shared with family, or opened on a phone, with no account and no pulpSuite server. Because it holds sensitive data (health, identity, banking), the shared file is encrypted from the start. The general idea is explained in Share a file with your team or your phone; to compare it with the other ways of working: Where your data lives and how to work with others.

• Share the household: File › Save as a shared file… puts your records and papers (for example Home.phome) in a synced folder (OneDrive, Nextcloud, kDrive) or on a network drive. The Encrypted file box is ticked: choose a secret phrase and write it down, it cannot be recovered. Unticking asks you to confirm a warning. The folder then holds nothing readable. Your family opens it with File › Open a shared folder… and enters the phrase.
• Changes at the same time: if two people change the same field, the most recent value is kept and a notice tells you, with Keep or Use the other value. Nothing is lost silently.
• Attachments: pages, bills and prescriptions travel with the file. Up to 8 MB they arrive on each device by themselves; beyond that, they show To download.
• File status: the badge in the title bar shows On this computer or Shared · N devices; a click shows who has received your changes and offers Sync now.
• My phone: File › Open on my phone… shows a QR code; scan it, check that the 6-digit code is the same on both devices, choose Read only or Can edit and the duration. The phone shows the household live from the computer and keeps nothing.
• Guest on a paper or on the shopping list: Invite to this record sends a QR code or a link. The person sees only that paper and its actions (or the shopping list): nothing else is readable. An approval window appears on your computer: compare the code, then Refuse, Read only or Can edit. A guest who can edit does not get a copy of the file.
• Automatic backup: File › Automatic backup… keeps a full copy every day in the folder of your choice. It is always encrypted: without a secret phrase, it does not run.
• Lock: when pulpHome is locked with file encryption, what arrives from another device is never stored in clear.
• Limits specific to pulpHome: Erase everything only affects this device’s data; in a shared file, it removes nothing from the folder. The shared folder needs a computer with Chrome or Edge; anyone with access to the folder sees and changes the whole file (no per-person permissions: encrypt it if needed); changes arrive at the pace of the folder’s synchronization, not in real time. For the phone and guests, the computer must stay on, with the app open.

Full details: Share a file with your team or your phone and Where your data lives and how to work with others.

Supported formats

Known limitations:

• automatic reading sometimes gets it wrong on a blurred, badly lit or handwritten document;
• understanding papers (type, amount, dates) relies on French, English and Spanish cues and on French paperwork conventions (tax notice, vehicle inspection…);
• the Watched folder only works in browsers that allow it (Chrome, Edge);
• no bank connection: statements are imported from a file.

Keyboard shortcuts

AI in pulpHome

• Reading text in photos: a tool downloaded once after you agree, which then runs on the device. Nothing leaves the device.
• Filing and suggestions (paper type, area, amount, due date, issuer, duplicates): worked out on the device from simple cues, with no artificial intelligence.
• Smart search (optional): understands the meaning of words, downloaded after you agree, and also runs on the device.
• pulpAssist (off by default, Settings › pulpAssist help): for a tricky document, Ask pulpAssist for help passes it the text of the open document; it can also add a reminder or correct the fields read (amount, dates, issuer, reference). Every change waits for your approval and can be undone.

Downloaded tools are managed in Settings › On-device AI models (see AI models).

FAQ and troubleshooting

Are my papers sent to a server?

Not unless you decide so. By default, papers, text read, health and budget data stay on this device. If you share them in a file, they go, encrypted, into the folder you chose and that your synchronization service copies: nothing is sent to pulpSuite. Only pulpAssist, if you turn it on and use it, receives the text of the document you hand over. See Privacy and Working together.

Can the browser delete my papers?

A browser may clear its storage when space runs low. In Settings › Storage, tap Protect storage (the space used is shown there too), and make a .phome backup regularly. See also your documents.

An amount or date is wrong: what should I do?

Open the paper, fix the field and tap Looks right. Always check against the original document.

pulpHome says a paper looks like one already filed.

That is duplicate detection. Use See the other one to compare, or Keep both.

I did not get a notification.

Notifications only fire while pulpSuite is open and the browser allows them. Send your due dates to the calendar for a reliable reminder on your phone.

How do I start from scratch?

Settings › Erase everything on this device deletes pulpHome's papers, reminders and settings. Make a backup first: erasing is permanent. To remove only the example household, use Delete the example.