Finding things

There are two places to look for something you caught: the box at the top of the timeline, which narrows what you see by the words you type, and the Ask tab, which searches by meaning, answers questions and writes from your cards.

The timeline's box

Type some words in the box above your timeline and press Enter. The timeline narrows to the cards that hold every one of those words, in the same order as before. It looks for the words themselves and never guesses at what you meant. A line under the box says what it narrowed to, with Show everything to go back.

If the words read like a question or a request, the same line offers Ask Caute this instead or Have Caute write this instead. Otherwise it offers Search by meaning instead. The same box also catches things: paste a link and press Enter to save it (see Catching things).

Beside the box you can narrow the timeline further: by kind (Everything, Pages, Documents, Thoughts, Images), Mine for what you wrote yourself, Later for your reading queue, and by space, tag or property.

The Ask tab

Open Ask, or press / on a page with no box of its own (on the timeline, / goes to the timeline's box). Its box has three modes, and it remembers the one you used last.

• Search matches by keyword and by meaning, so a card can turn up even when it doesn't use your exact words.
• Ask answers a question from what you saved, with its sources.
• Write writes something you ask for, such as a summary or a comparison, from your cards alone. It's on Pro and above.

What a result shows

Each result shows the passage that matched, with the matched words marked, and says where it came from: the kind of card, the site, the page of a document or the moment in a recording, and which space it's in. A result can also say "your highlight", "from a note on this card" or "matched a tag". Opening a result takes you to that place in the card, with the passage marked. A conversation with an assistant is shown as a short transcript.

To narrow results, use the buttons under the box: Web pages, Documents, Text, Images, Audio and Video; Mine for your own writing; Marked for only the cards you highlighted or wrote a note on; and a property, if you use them. When nothing matches, try other words or remove a filter.

Asking a question

1. Choose Ask and type your question, then Go.
2. Caute reads what you saved and writes a short answer. Each sentence ends in a numbered chip that jumps to its source below.
3. Under the answer, Sources lists the cards it drew on. See all matching cards (with their number) shows the rest of the results.

Answers come only from what you saved. A sentence that can't point to a card is left out, and if nothing you saved answers the question, Caute says so: "Nothing you've saved answers that." Cards in a space kept away from AI are left out of the answer, and the answer says how many; they still appear in the results.

Under an answer you can choose Save as a note, Copy, or Ask again with what's new. There's no back-and-forth conversation: the Ask a follow-up box asks a new question.

Asking uses your plan's allowance. If it runs out, the page says so and links to Plan and billing. See Plans.

Write mode

Choose Write and say what you want, in your own words. Caute finds the cards that fit, writes from them, and saves the result as a note, which opens when it's ready, usually in a minute or two. Every sentence cites a card you saved, and anything your cards don't give is left out rather than made up.

Your questions are kept

The questions you ask are kept on your account, with their answers, so they're on every device you use, including your phone. Only you can see them. The Ask tab lists them under Your questions, with Find a past question. Opening one shows the answer you got, without asking again. Caute keeps your newest 200.

To remove one, choose its × and then Undo if you change your mind. Clear history removes every question on every device, and the recent searches kept in this browser. Recent searches, unlike questions, stay in the browser you made them in.

Tags

Tags are how you gather working sets, such as a project or a client. A card can have many tags, and tags can nest by path: clients/acme sits under clients.

• Suggested and confirmed. Caute and connected assistants can suggest a tag for a card. A suggestion is drawn lighter, with a + to add it and an × to dismiss it. It does nothing, in filters, tag pages or search, until you add it. A suggestion from an assistant names the assistant. An assistant you allowed to apply tags without asking you first adds them outright.
• Personal and shared. A personal tag is yours alone, even on a card others can read. A shared tag belongs to the team workspace. A tag you add to a card in a private space is personal; in a shared space it's shared.
• Tags never change who can see a card. A tag page shows each person only the cards they can already open.

The Tags page lists every tag with its count, your pinned tags, and Suggested new tags: groups of your untagged cards that seem to belong together. Nothing is tagged until you choose Create tag (or Add to tag), and Review lets you rename it or leave cards out. You can rename, merge, pin, archive or delete a tag from its ··· menu. Archiving hides a tag but keeps it on its cards; deleting takes it off every card, and the cards stay.

A tag's own page lists its cards, with an optional overview note at the top. Select cards there to tag them, take them out of the tag, or move them to another space. Pinned tags appear in your account menu at the top right.

Saved searches

On a search's results, choose Save search and give it a name. It's pinned to your account menu, and it also appears under Saved searches on the Ask tab. A saved search runs again each time you open it, so it always shows what matches now, with the filters you chose. Saved searches are yours alone. Remove one with its × on the Ask tab.