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| # Notebooks, Sources, and Notes - The Container Model | |
| Open Notebook organizes research in three connected layers. Understanding this hierarchy is key to using the system effectively. | |
| ## The Three-Layer Structure | |
| ``` | |
| ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ | |
| │ NOTEBOOK (The Container) │ | |
| │ "My AI Safety Research 2026" │ | |
| ├─────────────────────────────────────┤ | |
| │ │ | |
| │ SOURCES (The Raw Materials) │ | |
| │ ├─ safety_paper.pdf │ | |
| │ ├─ alignment_video.mp4 │ | |
| │ └─ prompt_injection_article.html │ | |
| │ │ | |
| │ NOTES (The Processed Insights) │ | |
| │ ├─ AI Summary (auto-generated) │ | |
| │ ├─ Key Concepts (transformation) │ | |
| │ ├─ My Research Notes (manual) │ | |
| │ └─ Chat Insights (from conversation) | |
| │ │ | |
| └─────────────────────────────────────┘ | |
| ``` | |
| --- | |
| ## 1. NOTEBOOKS - The Research Container | |
| ### What Is a Notebook? | |
| A **notebook** is a *scoped container* for a research project or topic. It's your research workspace. | |
| Think of it like a physical notebook: everything inside is about the same topic, shares the same context, and builds toward the same goals. | |
| ### What Goes In? | |
| - **A description** — "This notebook collects research on X topic" | |
| - **Sources** — The raw materials you add | |
| - **Notes** — Your insights and outputs | |
| - **Conversation history** — Your chats and questions | |
| ### Why This Matters | |
| **Isolation**: Each notebook is completely separate. Sources in Notebook A never appear in Notebook B. This lets you: | |
| - Keep different research topics completely isolated | |
| - Reuse source names across notebooks without conflicts | |
| - Control which AI context applies to which research | |
| **Shared Context**: All sources and notes in a notebook inherit the notebook's context. If your notebook is titled "AI Safety 2026" with description "Focusing on alignment and interpretability," that context applies to all AI interactions within that notebook. | |
| **Parallel Projects**: You can have 10 notebooks running simultaneously. Each one is its own isolated research environment. | |
| ### Example | |
| ``` | |
| Notebook: "Customer Research - Product Launch" | |
| Description: "User interviews and feedback for Q1 2026 launch" | |
| → All sources added to this notebook are about customer feedback | |
| → All notes generated are in that context | |
| → When you chat, the AI knows you're analyzing product launch feedback | |
| → Different from your "Market Analysis - Competitors" notebook | |
| ``` | |
| --- | |
| ## 2. SOURCES - The Raw Materials | |
| ### What Is a Source? | |
| A **source** is a *single piece of input material* — the raw content you bring in. Sources never change; they're just processed and indexed. | |
| ### What Can Be a Source? | |
| - **PDFs** — Research papers, reports, documents | |
| - **Web links** — Articles, blog posts, web pages | |
| - **Audio files** — Podcasts, interviews, lectures | |
| - **Video files** — Tutorials, presentations, recordings | |
| - **Plain text** — Notes, transcripts, passages | |
| - **Uploaded text** — Paste content directly | |
| ### What Happens When You Add a Source? | |
| ``` | |
| 1. EXTRACTION | |
| File/URL → Extract text and metadata | |
| (OCR for PDFs, web scraping for URLs, speech-to-text for audio) | |
| 2. CHUNKING | |
| Long text → Break into searchable chunks | |
| (Prevents "too much context" in single query) | |
| 3. EMBEDDING | |
| Each chunk → Generate semantic vector | |
| (Allows AI to find conceptually similar content) | |
| 4. STORAGE | |
| Chunks + vectors → Store in database | |
| (Ready for search and retrieval) | |
| ``` | |
| ### Key Properties | |
| **Immutable**: Once added, the source doesn't change. If you need a new version, add it as a new source. | |
| **Indexed**: Sources are automatically indexed for search (both text and semantic). | |
| **Scoped**: A source belongs to exactly one notebook. | |
| **Referenceable**: Other sources and notes can reference this source by citation. | |
| ### Example | |
| ``` | |
| Source: "openai_charter.pdf" | |
| Type: PDF document | |
| What happens: | |
| → PDF is uploaded | |
| → Text is extracted (including images) | |
| → Text is split into 50 chunks (paragraphs, sections) | |
| → Each chunk gets an embedding vector | |
| → Now searchable by: "OpenAI's approach to safety" | |
| ``` | |
| --- | |
| ## 3. NOTES - The Processed Insights | |
| ### What Is a Note? | |
| A **note** is a *processed output* — something you created or AI created based on your sources. Notes are the "results" of your research work. | |
| ### Types of Notes | |
| #### Manual Notes | |
| You write them yourself. They're your original thinking, capturing: | |
| - What you learned from sources | |
| - Your analysis and interpretations | |
| - Your next steps and questions | |
| #### AI-Generated Notes | |
| Created by applying AI processing to sources: | |
| - **Transformations** — Structured extraction (main points, key concepts, methodology) | |
| - **Chat Responses** — Answers you saved from conversations | |
| - **Ask Results** — Comprehensive answers saved to your notebook | |
| #### Captured Insights | |
| Notes you explicitly saved from interactions: | |
| - "Save this response as a note" | |
| - "Save this transformation result" | |
| - Convert any AI output into a permanent note | |
| ### What Can Notes Contain? | |
| - **Text** — Your writing or AI-generated content | |
| - **Citations** — References to specific sources | |
| - **Metadata** — When created, how created (manual/AI), which sources influenced it | |
| - **Tags** — Your categorization (optional but useful) | |
| ### Why Notes Matter | |
| **Knowledge Accumulation**: Notes become your actual knowledge base. They're what you take away from the research. | |
| **Searchable**: Notes are searchable along with sources. "Find everything about X" includes your notes, not just sources. | |
| **Citable**: Notes can cite sources, creating an audit trail of where insights came from. | |
| **Shareable**: Notes are your outputs. You can share them, publish them, or build on them in other projects. | |
| --- | |
| ## How They Connect: The Data Flow | |
| ``` | |
| YOU | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Create Notebook ("AI Research") | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Add Sources (papers, articles, videos) | |
| │ └─→ System: Extract, embed, index | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Search Sources (text or semantic) | |
| │ └─→ System: Find relevant chunks | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Apply Transformations (extract insights) | |
| │ └─→ Creates Notes | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Chat with Sources (explore with context control) | |
| │ ├─→ Can save responses as Notes | |
| │ └─→ Notes include citations | |
| │ | |
| ├─→ Ask Questions (automated comprehensive search) | |
| │ ├─→ Can save results as Notes | |
| │ └─→ Notes include citations | |
| │ | |
| └─→ Generate Podcast (transform notebook into audio) | |
| └─→ Uses all sources + notes for content | |
| ``` | |
| --- | |
| ## Key Design Decisions | |
| ### 1. One Notebook Per Source | |
| Each source belongs to exactly one notebook. This creates clear boundaries: | |
| - No ambiguity about which research project a source is in | |
| - Easy to isolate or export a complete project | |
| - Clean permissions model (if someone gets access to notebook, they get access to all its sources) | |
| ### 2. Immutable Sources, Mutable Notes | |
| Sources never change (once added, always the same). But notes can be edited or deleted. Why? | |
| - Sources are evidence → evidence shouldn't be altered | |
| - Notes are your thinking → thinking evolves as you learn | |
| ### 3. Explicit Context Control | |
| Sources don't automatically go to AI. You decide which sources are "in context" for each interaction: | |
| - Chat: You manually select which sources to include | |
| - Ask: System automatically figures out which sources to search | |
| - Transformations: You choose which sources to transform | |
| This is different from systems that always send everything to AI. | |
| --- | |
| ## Mental Models Explained | |
| ### Notebook as Boundaries | |
| Think of a notebook like a Git repository: | |
| - Everything in it is about the same topic | |
| - You can clone/fork it (copy to new project) | |
| - It has clear entry/exit points | |
| - You know exactly what's included | |
| ### Sources as Evidence | |
| Think of sources like exhibits in a legal case: | |
| - Once filed, they don't change | |
| - They can be cited and referenced | |
| - They're the ground truth for what you're basing claims on | |
| - Multiple sources can be cross-referenced | |
| ### Notes as Synthesis | |
| Think of notes like your case brief: | |
| - You write them based on evidence | |
| - They're your interpretation | |
| - You can cite which evidence supports each claim | |
| - They're what you actually share or act on | |
| --- | |
| ## Common Questions | |
| ### Can I move a source to a different notebook? | |
| Not directly. Each source is tied to one notebook. If you want it in multiple notebooks, add it again (uploads are fast if it's already processed). | |
| ### Can a note reference sources from a different notebook? | |
| No. Notes stay within their notebook and reference sources within that notebook. This keeps boundaries clean. | |
| ### What if I want to group sources within a notebook? | |
| Use tags. You can tag sources ("primary research," "background," "methodology") and filter by tags. | |
| ### Can I merge two notebooks? | |
| Not built-in, but you can manually copy sources from one notebook to another by re-uploading them. | |
| --- | |
| ## Summary | |
| | Concept | Purpose | Lifecycle | Scope | | |
| |---------|---------|-----------|-------| | |
| | **Notebook** | Container + context | Create once, configure | All its sources + notes | | |
| | **Source** | Raw material | Add → Process → Store | One notebook | | |
| | **Note** | Processed output | Create/capture → Edit → Share | One notebook | | |
| This three-layer model gives you: | |
| - **Clear organization** (everything scoped to projects) | |
| - **Privacy control** (isolated notebooks) | |
| - **Audit trails** (notes cite sources) | |
| - **Flexibility** (notes can be manual or AI-generated) | |