ExpandNote Documentation

Learn how to use ExpandNote to supercharge your note-taking with AI automation, intelligent tagging, and seamless sync.

Getting Started

Welcome to ExpandNote! This guide will help you get up and running with the most powerful AI-powered note-taking app. In just a few minutes, you'll learn how to create notes, organize them with tags, and automate your workflow with AI.

Create Notes Instantly

Write notes with full markdown support. Your notes sync automatically across all your devices.

Organize with Tags

Use tags to categorize and filter your notes. Tags can also trigger AI automations.

Automate with AI

Create AI Profiles that automatically process your notes when you add specific tags.

Quick Start Steps

1

Create Your Account

Sign up for free at ExpandNote. No credit card required.

Sign Up Free
2

Create Your First Note

Click the + button or press Cmd/Ctrl+N to create a new note. Start typing using markdown for formatting.

3

Add Tags to Organize

Click the tag icon to add tags to your note. Tags help you organize and can trigger AI automations.

4

Set Up AI (Optional)

Go to Settings → AI Configuration to add your API keys. Then create AI Profiles to automate your workflow.

Tip
ExpandNote works offline! Your notes are saved locally and sync automatically when you're back online.

Notes

Notes are the core of ExpandNote. Each note supports full markdown formatting, can hold up to 1MB of content, and syncs across all your devices in real-time.

Creating Notes

There are several ways to create a new note:

  • Click the + New Note button in the sidebar
  • Use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + N
  • Send an email to your unique ExpandNote address (see Email-to-Note)
  • Use voice input to dictate your note

Markdown Support

ExpandNote supports full GitHub-flavored markdown. Here's what you can use:

Formatting

  • **bold** → bold
  • *italic* → italic
  • `code` → code
  • ~~strikethrough~~ → strikethrough

Structure

  • # Heading 1
  • ## Heading 2
  • - Bullet list
  • 1. Numbered list

Note Actions

Favorite

Star important notes to access them quickly from the Favorites filter.

Archive

Archive notes you want to keep but hide from your main view.

Lock

Lock notes to prevent accidental edits. Unlock anytime to make changes.

Delete

Deleted notes go to Trash and can be restored within 30 days.

Auto-Save

Your notes are automatically saved every 2 seconds as you type. You'll see a sync indicator showing the status:

  • Synced - Note is saved and synced
  • Syncing - Changes are being saved
  • Pending - Changes queued (offline)
  • Conflict - Edit conflict detected
Note
When you're offline, ExpandNote continues to work normally. Your changes are saved locally and automatically sync when you reconnect.

Tags

Tags are powerful labels that help you organize your notes. But in ExpandNote, tags do much more than organize—they can trigger AI automations that transform your notes automatically.

How Tags Work

  • Each note can have up to 5 tags
  • Tag names can be up to 50 characters
  • You can create up to 100 tags per account
  • Tags are case-sensitive (#Work and #work are different)

Creating Tags

There are two ways to create tags:

1

From the Note Editor

Click the tag icon on any note, then type a new tag name and press Enter. The tag is created and applied to your note instantly.

2

From Settings

Go to Settings → Tags to manage all your tags. Here you can create, rename, or delete tags.

Filtering by Tags

Use the tag filter in the sidebar to view only notes with specific tags. You can:

  • Click a single tag to filter by that tag
  • Click multiple tags to show notes that have all selected tags
  • Clear the filter to show all notes again

Tags + AI Profiles

The real power of tags comes when you connect them to AI Profiles. When you add a tag that's connected to an AI Profile, the AI automatically processes your note!

Example: Auto-Summarize

Create an AI Profile connected to the #summarize tag. Now whenever you add #summarize to any note, the AI automatically generates a summary!

See the AI Profiles section to learn how to set this up.

Tip
Use descriptive tag names that reflect how you'll use them. Tags like #meeting, #idea, or #summarize make it easy to organize and automate.

AI Profiles

AI Profiles are the superpower of ExpandNote. They let you create custom AI automations that transform your notes instantly. Just add a tag, and watch AI work its magic.

How AI Profiles Work

1

You write a note

Capture your thoughts

2

Add a trigger tag

e.g., #summarize

3

AI transforms your note

Instant results!

Creating an AI Profile

1

Go to Settings → AI Profiles

Click 'Create New Profile' to start configuring your automation.

2

Name Your Profile

Give it a descriptive name like 'Meeting Summarizer' or 'Action Items Extractor'.

3

Select a Trigger Tag

Choose which tag will trigger this AI Profile. When you add this tag to a note, the AI runs automatically.

4

Choose Your AI Provider

Select from OpenAI (GPT-4), Anthropic (Claude), or OpenRouter (40+ models).

5

Write Your Prompts

Configure the System Prompt (AI's role) and User Prompt (what to do with the note). Use variables to include note content.

6

Set Output Behavior

Choose how the AI output should be handled: append to note, replace content, or create a new note.

Prompt Variables

Use these variables in your prompts to include dynamic content from the note:

{note_title}→ The note's title
{note_content}→ The full note content
{tags}→ Comma-separated list of tags

Output Behaviors

Append

AI output is added to the end of your note. Great for summaries or analyses.

Replace

AI output replaces the entire note content. Use for transformations.

New Note

AI creates a new note with the output. Original note stays unchanged.

Trigger Modes

  • Automatic - AI runs instantly when you add the trigger tag
  • Manual - AI only runs when you click the "Run AI" button

Supported AI Models

OpenAI

  • GPT-4o (recommended)
  • GPT-4 Turbo
  • GPT-4
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo

Anthropic

  • Claude 3.5 Sonnet
  • Claude 3 Opus
  • Claude 3 Sonnet
  • Claude 3 Haiku

OpenRouter (40+)

  • Google Gemini Pro
  • Meta Llama 3
  • Mistral Large
  • xAI Grok & more...

Example AI Profiles

Click on any example below to see the complete system prompt and user prompt template. Use the copy button to quickly copy prompts to your clipboard.

Tip
Tips for writing good prompts:
  • System Prompt = Define WHO the AI is and HOW it should behave
  • User Prompt = Define WHAT to do with the specific note content
  • Use {note_content} to inject the actual note text
  • Be specific about the output format you want
Important
AI Profiles require an API key from your chosen provider. Go to Settings → AI Configuration to add your API keys.

Voice Input

Capture your thoughts hands-free with voice input. ExpandNote uses OpenAI's Whisper API for highly accurate speech-to-text transcription in over 50 languages.

How to Use Voice Input

1

Click the Microphone Button

In the note editor, click the microphone icon to start recording.

2

Speak Your Note

Talk naturally. The app will show a recording indicator with waveform animation.

3

Stop Recording

Click the stop button when you're done. The audio is sent to Whisper for transcription.

4

Edit and Save

The transcribed text appears in your note. Edit it if needed, then save.

Voice Input Requirements

  • An OpenAI API key configured in Settings
  • Microphone access permission in your browser
  • Audio files up to 25 MB in size

Supported Languages

Whisper supports 50+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and many more. The language is automatically detected.

Tip
For best results, speak clearly in a quiet environment. Voice input works great for capturing ideas on the go, meeting notes, or quick thoughts.

Email-to-Note

Turn any email into a note instantly! ExpandNote gives you a unique email address. Send emails to this address, and they automatically become notes—complete with attachments and tags.

Setting Up Email-to-Note

1

Go to Settings → Email-to-Note

Find the Email-to-Note section in your settings.

2

Enable the Feature

Click 'Enable' to generate your unique email address.

3

Copy Your Address

You'll receive an address like: u-abc123@expand-note.com

4

Start Sending Emails

Forward or send emails to this address. They become notes automatically!

How It Works

1

Email Subject → Note Title

The email subject becomes your note's title

2

Email Body → Note Content

The email body becomes your note's content

3

Hashtags in Subject → Tags

Add #work #urgent to your subject to apply tags

4

First Line Hashtags → Tags + AI Trigger

Hashtags on the first line of your email body are extracted as tags. If an AI Profile is linked to that tag with automatic mode, it runs instantly!

Attachment Support

ExpandNote extracts text from common attachment types and includes it in your note:

  • PDF files - Text content is extracted and added to your note
  • Word documents (.docx) - Full text extraction with formatting preserved
  • Maximum attachment size: 10 MB

Adding Tags via Email

Include hashtags in your email subject to automatically apply tags:

Email Subject:

Meeting Notes from Client Call #work #client #urgent

Result: Note titled "Meeting Notes from Client Call" with tags: work, client, urgent

Note
If a tag doesn't exist, it will be created automatically when you send the email. Tags in the subject are removed from the note title.

Triggering AI Profiles via Email

The real magic happens when you combine Email-to-Note with AI Profiles! Place hashtags on the first line of your email body, and if an AI Profile is linked to that tag with automatic mode enabled, it will process your note instantly.

⚡How First-Line Hashtags Work

  1. Put hashtags on the first line of your email body
  2. The hashtags are extracted and applied as tags to your note
  3. The hashtag line is removed from the note content (keeps it clean!)
  4. If any AI Profile has that tag with "automatic" mode, it runs immediately

Click on any example below to see how this workflow looks in practice:

Tip
This is perfect for quick capture workflows! Forward meeting notes to your email address with #meeting #summarize on the first line, and get an AI-generated summary automatically.

Security

  • Your email address is unique and private to you
  • You can regenerate your address anytime for security
  • You can disable the feature completely if needed

Version History

Never lose your work again. ExpandNote automatically saves versions of your notes as you edit, and creates special snapshots before and after AI processing. You can view and restore any previous version.

How Versions Work

ExpandNote creates versions automatically at key moments:

Auto-Save Versions

Created periodically as you edit, so you can recover recent changes.

Manual Versions

Create a snapshot anytime by clicking "Save Version" in the note menu.

Before AI Processing

A snapshot is created before any AI Profile modifies your note.

After AI Processing

A snapshot is created after AI has transformed your note.

Viewing Version History

1

Open a Note

Navigate to the note whose history you want to view.

2

Click the History Icon

Look for the clock/history icon in the note toolbar.

3

Browse Versions

See a list of all versions with timestamps and triggers (auto-save, manual, AI).

4

Preview or Restore

Click a version to preview it, then restore if you want to go back to that state.

Restoring a Version

When you restore a version:

  • The note's content and title are restored to that version
  • Tags are restored to what they were at that time
  • A new "before restore" version is created for safety
  • You can always undo by restoring a different version
Tip
Version history is especially useful when working with AI Profiles. If an AI transformation doesn't produce the result you wanted, you can easily restore the previous version.

Settings

Configure ExpandNote to work exactly how you want. From AI API keys to theme preferences, all your settings are in one place.

AI Configuration

To use AI features (AI Profiles and Voice Input), you need to add API keys for your preferred providers:

OpenAI API Key

Required for: GPT models and Voice Input (Whisper)

Get your key at: platform.openai.com/api-keys

Anthropic API Key

Required for: Claude models

Get your key at: console.anthropic.com

OpenRouter API Key

Required for: 40+ models (Gemini, Llama, Grok, etc.)

Get your key at: openrouter.ai/keys

Note
Your API keys are encrypted and stored securely. They are only decrypted when making AI requests and are never logged or transmitted in plain text.

App Preferences

Theme

Choose between Light, Dark, or Auto (follows system preference).

Default Sort Order

Choose how notes are sorted by default: Modified Date, Created Date, or Alphabetical.

Default AI Provider

Set your preferred AI provider for new AI Profiles.

Other Settings

  • Tags - View, rename, and delete all your tags
  • AI Logs - View execution history for all AI Profile runs
  • Email-to-Note - Enable, disable, or regenerate your email address
  • Account - Change password or sign out

Ready to Supercharge Your Notes?

Start using ExpandNote today and experience the power of AI-automated note-taking.

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