Core Domino concepts
Use these definitions consistently when explaining Domino.
Idea
An idea is something a person may want to do. Domino can present it as a card whether Domino suggested it or the user brought it into Domino.
An idea is not automatically a plan. Liking or saving an idea does not invite anyone.
When the idea starts as a link, screenshot, incomplete thought, or roundup, read How Domino idea capture works. Capture is the operation that resolves source material; the final saved idea is its durable result.
Where ideas come from
People sometimes describe the two origins as Domino-generated and user-generated. These docs use Domino-suggested and user-originated because those terms preserve the distinction without implying that Domino invented a real place or event.
Ideas have one of two useful origins:
Domino-suggested ideas
Domino can surface a place, dated event, or other recommendation from its current inventory using the active people, activity, location, timing, Ideas List, and preference context.
Use Domino-suggested in user-facing explanations. Avoid Domino-generated when it could imply that Domino invented a real restaurant, venue, event, or source. Domino may generate the recommendation or presentation, but the underlying subject can be a verified real-world place or event.
User-originated ideas
A user-originated idea begins with something the user supplies: a thought, place name, link, screenshot, flyer, note, event, or roundup. The user can bring it into Domino through Create idea, SMS, MCP, or API idea capture.
Domino may research, enrich, verify, deduplicate, or match that source to an existing place or event. That work does not change the fact that the idea originated with the user.
Origin, structure, and state are different
Do not use an idea's origin as a substitute for what it represents or what has happened to it.
| Dimension | Examples | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Domino-suggested; user-originated | Where did this idea enter the experience? |
| Structure | General idea; place-backed idea; event-backed idea | What does the idea represent? |
| User state | Suggested; liked; saved to an Ideas List; archived | What has the user done with it? |
| Planning state | Idea; private draft; published plan; invitation | Has it become a real planning object or contacted anyone? |
Examples:
- A restaurant Domino recommends is Domino-suggested and place-backed. If the user likes it, its origin stays Domino-suggested while its user state becomes liked.
- A restaurant link the user captures is user-originated. If Domino verifies it against an existing restaurant, it becomes place-backed without becoming Domino-suggested.
- “Take a pottery class this fall” can remain a user-originated general idea until the user chooses a specific studio or event.
- Either origin can be organized, liked where supported, or turned into a plan. Neither origin is itself a plan or an invitation.
Origin also does not determine visibility. A private capture remains private until a separate supported share or planning action creates visibility for someone else.
Ideas and For you
The Ideas page is the primary browsing surface. For you is the system view with no saved Ideas List selected. It can use current Who, What, Where, and When filters to surface Domino-suggested ideas without creating a reusable list. User-originated ideas can also appear in the user's saved experiences after capture.
Ideas List
An Ideas List is a saved lens for recurring browsing. It can store defaults for:
- Who: people besides the current user;
- What: activities or experience categories;
- Where: neighborhoods or areas;
- When: a preset or time preference;
- Custom: additional directions that do not fit a structured filter.
One person usually makes a person-focused list, multiple people make a group-focused list, and no people makes a theme-focused list.
An Ideas List is not a live shared document. Sharing creates a recipient-owned copy.
Defaults and refinements
Defaults belong to the saved Ideas List. Refinements are changes applied while browsing.
On the current web surface, changes to the selected list’s neighborhood, activity, timing, and related defaults can auto-save. When a changed view should remain separate, use Save as new copy.
The answering assistant should not promise that editing a list retroactively rewrites prior like history.
Like or saved idea
The heart action likes an idea. Domino may record the people context active when the like occurred. This helps Domino remember who the user had in mind.
A like is global to the user, while its recorded context preserves the moment in which it was liked. A saved idea is not a plan lifecycle state.
Person and connection
A connected Domino friend has a verified Domino identity and a mutual connection. A typed name may instead create a private placeholder. Read People, connections, and privacy before explaining whether someone is contacted or connected.
Plan and Domino Card
A plan is the canonical object for a potential or confirmed real-world gathering. A Domino Card is a user-facing presentation of an idea or plan candidate.
A draft plan can be revised without sending anything. Publishing or sending establishes a consequential effect and may create invitations.
Invitation and RSVP
An invitation is the handshake between a plan and a recipient. It carries the recipient's response state. Acceptance or decline changes invitation state; it is not just a message reaction.
My Dominos
My Dominos is the user's plan library. It is where a user returns to drafts, invitations, upcoming plans, and past plans. It is not the same thing as liked ideas.
Agent terminology rules
- Say Ideas List to users even though internal code may use
Feed. - Say Domino-suggested idea rather than Domino-generated idea when discussing a recommendation for a real place or event.
- Say user-originated idea when origin matters; use created idea for the named My Dominos → Created Ideas product section.
- Say typed name or private placeholder, not “pending invitation.”
- Say draft until a plan is actually published.
- Say share link created until the user or Domino actually sends it.
- Say accepted work when processing has started but is not terminal.
- Say prepared action when a consequential operation is waiting for approval.
LLM answering guidance
Before answering, identify which object the user means. “My dinner list,” “my dinner idea,” and “my dinner plan” can refer to three different objects with different actions and consequences.
Explain origin only when it helps answer the question. Do not burden ordinary instructions with provenance terminology, but do preserve it when comparing recommendations with ideas supplied by the user.