Notes
Create, edit, and search personal notes — and let the AI manage them for you.
Overview
LucidPal has a built-in note-taking layer that stores text notes on-device. Notes are private, never uploaded, and instantly searchable. The AI can create, retrieve, and update notes on your behalf directly from the chat.
Viewing Your Notes
Tap the Notes tab (notebook icon) in the bottom navigation bar to open the notes list. Notes are sorted by last-modified date. Each row shows the note's category icon and an AI-generated summary instead of raw body text, so you can scan content at a glance. If a note has extracted action items, a badge shows the count.
Notes created by the AI from a conversation show a small source icon to distinguish them from manually written notes. Notes created via voice dictation or an AI chat session also display an indigo "From chat" badge on the note card, making it easy to identify AI-assisted entries at a glance.
Tap any note card to open the Note Detail View. By default the view is in read mode — tap Edit (top-right) to enter edit mode and make changes. A Share button in the toolbar opens the standard iOS share sheet so you can export the note to any app.
Recently Referenced
Notes that the AI has surfaced during a conversation appear in a Recently Referenced section at the very top of the notes list. A note qualifies if it was returned as a search result in the last 7 days. This section is hidden when no notes meet that threshold.
This makes it easy to pick up where you left off — if you asked the AI about a project note yesterday, it reappears here today without searching.
From Conversation
You can ask the AI to remember anything directly from the chat:
"Remember: buy oat milk"
"Save a note: call dentist Tuesday at 3 PM"
"Note that I need to finish the report by Friday"
The assistant creates the note automatically and confirms with a "Note saved" card in the chat. No need to switch to the Notes tab. The saved note appears immediately in the notes list and is enriched in the background (category, summary, action items) like any manually created note.
Pinned Notes
Pin any note so it stays visible at the top of the list in a horizontal pinned carousel.
- Pin: Swipe left on a note card → tap Pin
- Unpin: Swipe left on a pinned note → tap Unpin
Pinned notes still appear in the main list below the carousel (with a pin indicator) and are included in search and category filtering.
Category Filter
Below the pinned carousel, a row of category chips lets you filter the note list instantly. Tap a chip to show only notes in that category; tap it again (or tap All) to clear the filter.
| Chip | Category |
|---|---|
| All | Every note |
| 💡 | Idea |
| ✅ | Task |
| 📓 | Journal |
| 🏥 | Health |
| 🎯 | Goal |
| 🧠 | Memory |
| 💰 | Finance |
| 📝 | Other |
Categories are assigned automatically by the AI after you save a note. You cannot set them manually.
Creating a Note Manually
- In the Notes list, tap the + button in the top-right corner.
- Type a title (optional) and your note body.
- Tap Done in the toolbar — the note appears immediately in the list.
Rich Text Formatting
Notes support rich text formatting. When you create or edit a note, a formatting toolbar appears above the keyboard with the following options:
| Button | Format |
|---|---|
| B | Bold |
| I | Italic |
| U | Underline |
| S̶ | Strikethrough |
| Aa | Text style (Title / Heading / Subheading / Body / Monospaced) |
| • | Bullet list |
| 1. | Numbered list |
| — | Dash list |
| ≡ | Text alignment |
Select any text in the note body and tap a style to apply it. Rich text is stored as RTF data alongside the plain-text body, ensuring WYSIWYG display and full-text search compatibility.
Rich formatting is optional. Plain text notes continue to work exactly as before — the formatting toolbar is only visible when editing.
Live Notes
Record a conversation or voice memo directly from the Notes tab and have it saved as a searchable note with an AI-generated summary.
- Tap the waveform mic button (🎙) in the Notes toolbar (top-right).
- Grant microphone access if prompted.
- Speak — the transcript appears in real time with color-coded speaker bubbles.
- Tap Stop & Save when finished.
The transcript is saved as a note, enriched with a title, summary, and extracted action items. See the Live Notes guide for full details.
Live Notes requires a Pro subscription.
Asking the AI to Manage Notes
The AI can act on notes directly from the chat using natural language. No need to leave the conversation.
Create a note
"Save a note: dentist appointment Tuesday at 3 PM"
"Note that I need to review the project proposal before Friday"
When creating a note the AI can set:
- Title — a short label for the note
- Body — the full note content
- Tags — one or more keywords (e.g.
work,health) for your own reference
Search notes
"What notes do I have about the project?"
"Show me everything I saved this week"
The AI searches note titles and body text and returns up to five matching results as preview cards.
Update a note
"Update my shopping list note — add oat milk"
"Change the title of my dentist note to 'Dentist – rescheduled'"
The AI locates the note by searching first, then patches the title, body, and/or tags you specify. Fields you omit remain unchanged.
Delete a note
"Delete my draft ideas note"
"Remove the note about last week's meeting"
The AI finds the matching note and permanently deletes it. This cannot be undone.
The AI responds with a confirmation card in the chat. Each card shows:
- A colour-coded state icon (blue for saved, orange for updated, red for deleted, purple for found)
- A state label ("Note saved", "Note updated", "Note deleted", or "Note found")
- The note title
- A short snippet of the note content (up to two lines)
The AI matches your request against note titles and body text. Phrase requests naturally — exact titles are not required.
Save Note via Siri
Use the Save Note shortcut to create a note hands-free.
- Open Shortcuts → Automation, or ask Siri:
"Hey Siri, Save Note in LucidPal"
- Dictate the note content.
- LucidPal saves it in the background — no need to open the app.
You can also add the shortcut to your Home Screen or Siri Suggestions for one-tap access.
Searching Notes
In the Notes list, pull down to reveal the search bar. Typing filters notes in real time by title and body content.
AI-Enhanced Notes
After you save a note (manually or via the AI), LucidPal enriches it in the background using the on-device model. No action required on your part.
The AI automatically:
- Assigns a category — one of the eight categories listed in the Category Filter section above
- Generates a summary — a concise one- or two-sentence recap of the content
- Extracts action items — any tasks or to-dos mentioned in the note
Open the note and scroll below the body to find the AI Insights section, which shows:
- A category chip
- The generated summary
- Action items rendered as checkboxes
Tap any action item checkbox to send it to LucidPal as a reminder. The app schedules an iOS notification for that item so you get an alert at your chosen time — without leaving the note. See the Reminders guide for details on how reminders work.
Enrichment happens after saving and may take a few seconds. If you open a note immediately after creating it, the AI Insights section may still be loading.
Note Storage Limit
LucidPal stores up to 500 notes on your device.
When you reach the 500-note cap and create a new note, the oldest note is automatically deleted to make room. Delete old notes regularly if you want to keep your most important ones safe.
Deleting a Note
Swipe right-to-left (trailing swipe) on any note card in the list, then tap Delete. This action is permanent.
Deleted notes cannot be recovered. There is no trash or undo.
What the AI Knows About Your Notes
When you chat with the AI, it automatically receives context about your most recent notes so it can reference them without you having to ask.
- The AI sees up to 10 most-recent notes, ordered by last-modified date.
- For each note it receives: the note ID, title, tags, and the first 200 characters of the body.
- This context is only included when Internal Notes is enabled in Settings → AI.
This means if you saved a note earlier in the day, the AI can reference it, update it by ID, or remind you of its contents — all without a search step.
The AI does not see the full body of notes beyond the 200-character snippet unless it performs an explicit search action.
What data is stored and where?
All notes are saved locally on your device in the app's sandboxed storage. They are included in standard iPhone backups (iCloud or iTunes) if backup is enabled. Notes are never sent to any server.