Recent Activity Widget
Live feed of the latest 5 system activities in your active Space - task changes, milestone progress, goal updates, archive events, attachments, comments, assignments, backups - with smart description rewriting and click-through to the Activity Detail modal.
The Recent Activity widget surfaces a chronological feed of the latest changes happening across your Space - the kind of activity you'd otherwise have to dig into multiple pages to see. PrimeTask auto-logs every meaningful change (task completed, milestone progressed, goal updated, project archived, file attached, comment added, assignee changed, backup created) and the widget shows the five most recent entries with smart, human-readable descriptions and timestamps.
This widget shows system activities - auto-logged events. It's separate from the CRM Activities system (manually-logged calls, emails, meetings, demos, proposals) which has its own page, modals, and trackers - see Activities Overview.
Recent Activity follows the active Space
Switch Spaces when you want to review activity from a different work context.
This widget is part of the customisable Dashboard layout. To show, hide, or move it, see Dashboard Layout.
What you can do
See the latest 5 system activities
in your active Space, sorted newest first
Read smart descriptions
PrimeTask rewrites raw activity records into human-readable timeline entries (extracting entity names, formatting actions)
See type icons
that visually distinguish task changes, milestones, goals, attachments, and more
See assignee avatars
when an assignment change happened
See relative timestamps
"2 hours ago", "yesterday", "3 days ago"
Click any activity
to open the Activity Detail modal with the full record
Navigate to the full Activities page
for filtering, search, export, and pagination
What counts as activity
PrimeTask auto-logs activity as you and your team work - you don't manually log system activities (CRM activities are different - see below). Activities are recorded when:
- Tasks are created, completed, deleted, status-changed, priority-changed, due-date-changed, start-date-changed, assigned, unassigned, commented on, attached, archived
- Milestones are created, completed, or have progress updated
- Goals are created, completed, or have progress updated
- Projects are created, archived, restored, or have settings changed
- Subtasks are added or removed
- Tags are added or removed
- Backups are created or restored
- Settings are changed (with metadata about what category)
- Attachments are added or removed
Each activity is stamped with a timestamp, the entity it affected, the action that was taken, the user who did it, and (when relevant) field-level changes showing what changed from what to what.
The nine timeline types
The widget transforms raw activities into one of nine timeline types for visual grouping:
| Type | What it represents | Example actions |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Task lifecycle | Created, completed, deleted, due-date changed |
| Comment | Comment on a task | New comment added |
| Status | Status change | Task or milestone status updated |
| Assignment | Assignee change | Task assigned or unassigned |
| Attachment | File operations | File attached, file detached |
| Milestone | Milestone events | Milestone completed, progress updated |
| Goal | Goal events | Goal completed, progress updated |
| Backup | Backup operations | Backup created, restored |
| Archive | Archive events | Project archived or restored |
Each type gets its own icon so you can scan the feed visually.
Click through when you need the source item
The widget is for the latest changes; the detail modal gives you the full record and related links.
Smart description rewriting
Raw activity records are technical - PrimeTask transforms them into user-friendly descriptions before display:
- Entity names are extracted and formatted clearly
- Actions like "due_date_changed" become "Due date changed to Friday"
- Status changes show old → new transitions
- Assignee changes show the affected user's name and avatar
- Tag changes show which tag was added or removed
- Bulk operations are summarised
This makes the feed scannable - you can tell what happened without needing technical context.
Click-through to Activity Detail
Clicking any activity in the widget opens the Activity Detail modal with:
- Full activity record - type, action, entity, timestamp, user
- Field-level changes showing old value → new value for each changed field
- Related entity links - click through to the affected task, project, milestone, etc.
- Assignee avatars for assignment changes
- Metadata - bulk operation context, integration source, device info when applicable
Where else activities appear
The dashboard widget is one of several activity views in PrimeTask:
| Surface | What you see |
|---|---|
| Dashboard Recent Activity widget (this widget) | Latest 5 system activities |
| Activities page (full list) | Every system activity with filters, search, pagination, export |
| Reports | Aggregated activity statistics and trends - see Reports Overview |
| Contact Details page (CRM) | Per-contact activity timeline - see Contact Details |
| Company Details page (CRM) | Per-company activity timeline - see Company Details |
| CRM Activities page | Master list of CRM activities (separate system) - see Activities Overview |
| Sales Activity Dashboard (CRM) | Aggregate analytics for CRM activities - see Sales Activity Dashboard |
| Tracker pages (CRM) | Filtered CRM activity by type - Call Tracker, Email Tracker, Meeting Tracker |
System activities vs CRM activities - important distinction
PrimeTask has two separate activity systems that often get confused:
System activities (this widget)
- Auto-logged when you and your team make changes
- Track entity lifecycle - task created, status changed, milestone completed, etc.
- Stored per Space in a system activity log
- 9 timeline types (Task, Comment, Status, Assignment, Attachment, Milestone, Goal, Backup, Archive)
- Surface: this widget + the full Activities page
CRM activities (separate system)
- Manually logged - you record interactions with contacts and companies
- Track external interactions - calls, emails, meetings, notes, LinkedIn outreach, demos, proposals
- 9 CRM activity types (call, email, meeting, note, linkedin_message, linkedin_connection, linkedin_profile_view, demo, proposal)
- Each type has its own rich field set (call duration, email subject, meeting agenda, demo feedback, proposal value, etc.)
- Surface: CRM Activities page, Contact/Company detail timelines, tracker pages
The dashboard widget shows system activities only. To see CRM activities, use the CRM surfaces. To log a CRM activity, use the Log Activity action in the Quick Actions Widget or any contact/company detail page - see Activities Overview.
CRM activities are separate
Calls, meetings, emails, and other CRM interactions are logged in CRM, not in this Dashboard widget.
Per-Space scoping
Activities are per-Space. The widget shows activities from your active Space only. Switch Spaces and the widget reloads with the new Space's activities.
System-wide activities (e.g., settings changes) are stored in a global activity log that's accessible from any Space.
Empty state
When the active Space has no recent activity (a brand-new Space, for example), the widget shows a "No recent activity" message with no entries.
Activity appears as you work
Create, edit, complete, archive, or restore items to build the activity history for a Space.
Things worth knowing
Timestamps are relative
The widget shows timestamps relative to now - "2 hours ago", "yesterday", "3 days ago". The Activity Detail modal shows the full date and time.
The widget shows 5 items; the page shows everything
Five is the dashboard cap - designed to be glance-friendly. To see every activity in your Space, use the Activities page which supports pagination (default 25 per page), search, filtering by entity type / action / date range, and CSV/JSON export.
Activities are sorted newest first
The widget sorts by timestamp descending - most recent at the top. The same sort applies on the Activities page by default; you can change it to ascending or sort by entity type or action.
Bulk operations get a single entry
When you do a bulk action (delete 20 tasks, change 50 statuses), PrimeTask logs one activity with metadata recording the count - not 20 separate entries. The activity description summarises the bulk operation.
Integration-driven changes get attribution
When a change comes from an integration (Apple Calendar sync, MCP agent, automation rule), the activity records the integration source in its metadata. The Activity Detail modal shows where the change came from.
Activities sync across devices
Activity logs are part of your Space data and sync via File Sync or iCloud. Team members in shared Spaces see the same activity feed - useful for collaborative awareness ("oh, Sarah completed the proposal milestone yesterday").
Activities can be exported
The full Activities page supports CSV and JSON export with all your filters applied. Useful for reporting, audit trails, or feeding activity data into another tool. Not available from the dashboard widget - use the page.
The activity store remembers filters per-Space
When you open the Activities page, your last-used filters (date range, entity types, actions, search) are remembered per Space. This makes it easy to resume an investigation without re-applying filters.
MCP agents also generate activity
When an AI agent acts via the MCP server (creating tasks, completing them, updating fields), each agent action generates activity entries with attribution to the agent's source. See External Integrations Settings.
Common questions
"Where do I see CRM activities like calls, emails, meetings?"
The dashboard Recent Activity widget shows system activities only (task changes, milestone completions, etc.). CRM activities (calls, emails, meetings, notes, LinkedIn, demos, proposals) live in the CRM system - see Activities Overview. You can also see them on individual Contact Details and Company Details pages, the Sales Activity Dashboard, and dedicated tracker pages.
"How do I see more than 5 activities?"
Open the full Activities page (link from the widget). It supports filtering by entity type and action, date range presets, search, sorting, pagination (configurable up to 25+ per page), and CSV/JSON export.
"Why don't I see activity from a Space I'm not currently in?"
Activities are per-Space. Switch to the other Space to see its activity feed. Some system-wide activities (settings changes) appear regardless of Space.
"Can I filter the dashboard widget?"
The widget is a fixed glance view (5 newest items). For filtering, search, and other controls, use the full Activities page.
"How is activity logged - do I have to do anything?"
System activities are automatic - you don't manually log them. Make a change in the app (complete a task, archive a project, attach a file) and PrimeTask records the activity. CRM activities, by contrast, are manually logged via the Log Activity action.
"Do bulk actions clutter the feed?"
No - bulk operations are recorded as a single activity with a count in the metadata, not many individual entries. Deleting 50 tasks creates one entry, not 50.
"Can I delete activity entries?"
System activities can be deleted from the Activities page (with confirmation). The dashboard widget doesn't support delete - go to the page for that. Activities are also automatically archived periodically based on age.
"How do team members' activities show?"
When you're in a shared Space, every member's activities appear in the feed. Each entry shows the user's name and avatar. This makes it easy to see who did what.
"What's the difference between this and Reports?"
The widget is a live raw feed - what just happened. Reports gives you aggregated trends and metrics - how many tasks completed this week, average time-to-completion, activity by user, etc. See Reports Overview.
"How do I hide this widget?"
Open the Layout Editor from the Dashboard Header and toggle Recent Activity off. See Dashboard Layout.
Where to go next
| If you want to… | Read this |
|---|---|
| See manually-logged CRM activities (calls, emails, meetings, etc.) | Activities Overview |
| See activity aggregated as analytics | Sales Activity Dashboard (CRM) |
| See cross-system reporting and trends | Reports Overview |
| Capture quick thoughts (vs system activity) | Quick Notes Widget |
| Log a CRM activity | Quick Actions Widget |
| See per-contact or per-company activity timelines | Contact Details |
| Set up AI agents to log activity via MCP | External Integrations Settings |
| Customise the dashboard | Dashboard Layout |
| Return to the Dashboard hub | Dashboard Overview |