Memos

A memo is a note to yourself (or a collaborator) about the analysis, not about the data. Instead of hunting through documents for where you had an idea, memos give it a permanent home — optionally attached to the exact code or document it's about, so it resurfaces right next to the thing it explains.

How memos work, and linking one to a code

Below is a real recording: creating a new memo, writing it with the rich-text toolbar (bold text, a bullet list), then switching its Linked to: field from the default “Project (general)” to a specific code — and watching the sidebar instantly re-group it under Code memos.

Nothing about the memo's content changes when you link it — linking only changes where it's grouped and which screens can pull it up as context. The bold “Ability” and the bullet list in the recording were applied live with the toolbar, not pasted in.

Three kinds of memo

Every memo has exactly one Linked to: value, chosen from a single dropdown — project-level, or any one code, or any one document. That single field is what sorts a memo into one of three groups in the sidebar list.

The Linked to: field, in the editor

Every memo, once created, shows its link as a dropdown directly under the title — not a separate step. The dropdown lists every code in your codebook and every document in the project, so re-linking a memo later is a single click, no need to delete and recreate it.

Writing a memo

The body is a small rich-text editor — enough formatting to structure a note without turning into a full document editor.

Finding a memo again

The search box above the list filters by both title and body text — across all three groups at once, live as you type.

Why bother with memos at all

It's tempting to skip memos and just remember your reasoning, or leave a mental note to "fix that code later." Memos exist because that doesn't scale past a handful of documents:

They're your audit trail

If a reviewer, collaborator, or your future self asks "why is this coded this way," a project-level or code-level memo written at the time you made the decision is a far better answer than reconstructing your reasoning months later from the codebook alone.

They travel with the thing they're about

A memo linked to a code shows up wherever that code's context matters — you don't have to remember a separate notes document exists, or which line of it was relevant. The link does that work for you.

They separate "notes about the data" from "notes about your thinking"

A code's definition has to stay short and rule-like, because the AI applies it verbatim. A memo linked to that same code is where the longer version lives — the false starts, the edge cases you're still unsure about, the reason you split one code into two. Keeping that out of the definition keeps the definition usable.

They're searchable later, unlike a paper notebook

Because memos are just project data, the same search box that filters your memo list also means a decision you wrote down in week one is one search away in week six — no flipping through old notes.