Write Notes

The Notebook workspace is your digital lab notebook: rich text pages with embedded data from every other workspace, approval workflows for review, and full version history. It's where the narrative of your research lives.

Creating Pages and Folders

Pages

Click New Page to create a blank page. Every page has a title and a body built from content blocks. Pages can live at the top level or inside folders.

Folders

Group notes by experiment, project phase, or topic. Drag pages between folders or use the move menu.

Starring

Star a page to pin it to the top of the workspace for quick access.

Finding Pages

Use the search box above the page list to find a page by title — type any part of a title to filter the tree instantly, even on projects with thousands of pages. Full-text search across every page's body isn't available yet; body text is matched only for pages you've already opened.

The Block Editor

Notes is a block-based editor. Every paragraph, heading, list, image, or table is its own block. Drag blocks to reorder them, copy or move them across pages, or turn a selection of blocks into a new page.

Text and Structure

• Paragraph for body text
• Headings (H1–H4) for document structure
• Bullet list, Numbered list, Checkbox list
• Code block for snippets
• Quote for callouts of cited material
• Callout for notes that stand out (warnings, tips, side notes)
• Divider for horizontal section breaks

Tables and Data

• Table embed for read-only data tables pulled from other surfaces
• Editable table for inline tabular data you maintain in the page

Embeds and References

• Image embed for pictures from your image-analysis collections or uploaded directly
• Graph embed for charts
• Sequence embed for genetic sequences
• Date embed for timestamps that auto-format
• Timer embed for time-stamped checkpoints
• URL embed for links rendered as cards
• Table of contents auto-generated from the page's headings
• Task progress widget for live progress against a linked task
• References to specific items in other workspaces: a sample, a model, a genetics record, an image collection, a flow collection, a plan task, an order, another notebook page

Protocol Blocks

Notes also includes blocks designed for protocols:

• Protocol step for numbered procedural steps
• Safety note for callouts about handling, PPE, or hazards
• Expected result for what success looks like at a given step
• Inventory list for the reagents, kits, and equipment a protocol uses
• Tool config for instrument settings

These are the blocks that make Notes a viable protocol home, and they're what get pulled into a Planner task when you embed a protocol page (see Plan your experiments).

Templates

Save a page as a template once and reuse it for every recurring write-up.

• Save as Template from a page's menu captures the block structure, headings, and placeholder content
• Templates can be saved at user scope (just for you) or team scope (everyone on your team can use it)
• Apply a template when creating a new page

Approval Workflows

When notes need review (a supervisor signing off on results, a labmate verifying a protocol), use the approval workflow.

Requesting Approval

1. Open the page you want reviewed
2. Click Request Approval and pick the reviewer(s)
3. Reviewers see the request in their Conspecta Inbox

Reviewing and Responding

When you receive an approval request, open the page and choose a response:

• Approve to confirm the content is correct
• Conditionally approve to sign off with stated conditions
• Deny to request changes, with a comment explaining what needs to be fixed
• Comment to weigh in without taking a final position

You can edit your response later if you change your mind, or delete it to withdraw your review.

All approval decisions are recorded in the page's audit trail. Approved blocks display a small approval icon on the left margin so reviewed sections are visible at a glance.

Mentions

Type @ followed by a teammate's name to mention them in a page. They get a notification in their Inbox with:

• A preview of the surrounding text
• A direct link to the exact block where you mentioned them
• A status that updates as they view and dismiss it

Use mentions to:

• Ask a colleague to review a specific section
• Flag results that need a second pair of eyes
• Attribute contributions explicitly

Version History

Every edit is tracked. Open Version History in the sidebar to:

• See every prior version of the page
• Compare changes between versions
• Open a read-only snapshot of an earlier version
• Publish a version with a major.minor.patch label

Publishing a version is how you mark a particular state of the page as official: the version a task pinned, the version that went to a grant, or the version that supported a published figure.

Sharing

Each page has a Shared toggle. A shared page is visible to everyone on the project; an unshared page stays private to its creator. Use it for personal scratchpads that you don't want cluttering up the team's view.

Next Steps

• Plan your experiments to link protocol pages from Notes to Planner tasks
• Inbox and notifications to manage approval requests and mentions