User Manual

Getting started

A structured system for learning anything deeply. From calculus to Python programming. Everything you need to use the app effectively.

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Getting Started in 5 Steps

01
Create a subject

Click "+ Add subject" at the bottom of the left sidebar. Give it a clear name and pick a colour. One subject, one page. You can promote topics to their own sub-pages later when they grow complex enough to need it.

02
Dump all topics into Uncategorised

Click "+ Add topic" in the Topic Board header. Do not organise yet. Get everything out of your head first. Once they are all visible, drag cards into Core, Important Detail, or Additional Details. Then Ctrl+click two cards to draw a connection between them and describe the relationship.

03
Add your first questions

Click "+ Add question" in the Questions header. Write the question, then click topic names to link it to them. Every question starts at Unknown.

04
Go study. Come back and advance questions as your understanding shifts.

Click any stage dot on a question row to set its stage. Hover any question row and click the THINKNOTES button to open a full-screen ThinkNotes editor for that question, or click the THINK button to open the full-screen depth check panel. When something blocks you, use the "Feeling Blocked?" section at the bottom of the Think panel to mark the question as stuck. Add activities, mistakes, and quiz questions as you go.

05
Work through the depth checks

Hover any question row and click the THINK button. It shows all six depth check sections as full rich-text editor cards. Write in any section and tick its checkbox. Once two depth sections are ticked, the Upgrade button unlocks at the bottom of the panel, letting you move the question to "I Can Use It".

Do not wait until the Topic Board is perfectly organised before adding questions. Do not wait until all questions are in before starting to study. Structure emerges from use, not from planning.

The goal is not a perfectly filled app. The goal is knowledge you can actually use.

What is this app?

Most people learn by collecting notes, watching videos, and hoping things stick. The problem is not effort, it is structure. Without structure, learning feels productive but results in shallow retention and isolated knowledge that cannot be applied when it matters.

This app gives your learning a system. It helps you capture what you are trying to understand, organise it into meaningful topics, track how well you actually know each thing, and then deeply interrogate that knowledge until it becomes genuinely yours.

It works for any complex subject. Theoretical topics like calculus, procedural topics like Python programming, or anything in between.

The core insight: Most people confuse exposure with understanding. Seeing information once, even understanding it in the moment, is not the same as owning it. This app forces the gap between those two things into view, and gives you the tools to close it.

The Layout

The app is organised into one page per subject. Each page has three sections arranged in an L-shape:

1 - Top left
Subjects: Your list of subjects. Click any subject name to open it. Right-click a subject for edit, duplicate, or delete options. Click "+ Add subject" at the bottom to create a new one.
2 - Bottom
Topic Board: Where you lay out all the topics of your subject across four columns. Drag cards to reorder or move them between columns. Ctrl+click two cards to connect them. Shift+click adjacent cards in the same column to group them.
3 - Middle
Questions: Every question you have about the subject. Click a stage dot to the right of the question to set or advance the stage. Hover any question row to reveal the THINKNOTES and THINK per-row buttons. A small appears at the right of any row that has written ThinkNotes. Small pin icons appear just left of the THINKNOTES button area for any question that has margin pins saved in its ThinkNotes. Drag one question on top of another to merge them.
4 - Right
Track your understanding: Six depth check columns sit next to every question row: Teach, Mistakes, Scenario, Limits, Contrast, Apply. Click any cell to tick it. Hover over a cell and click the pencil icon to write a note for that check using a full rich-text editor.
5 - Top bar
Mode buttons and panels: The questions header bar contains THINKNOTES, THINK, and DOODLE mode buttons (each with a ▼ arrow for a read-only preview), plus Quiz, Confusing terms, Activities, and Mistakes panel buttons. Per-row THINKNOTES and THINK buttons open full-screen panels for a single question.

You can drag the horizontal divider between the Questions section and the Topic Board up or down to give more screen space to whichever you are using.

DaCosta Thinklab interface

The Topic Board

The Topic Board is where you build the structure of your knowledge. A topic is anything you need to learn: a concept, a technique, a tool, a term. Topics do not need to be understood yet. They just need to exist so nothing gets lost.

Adding topics

Click "+ Add topic" in the Topic Board header. A modal appears with the following fields. The name is required; everything else is optional.

Name
The topic name. Keep it short and specific. "Selecting objects" is better than "How object selection works in Cinema 4D for scripting purposes".
Type
An optional category shown as a small badge on the card. Options are Concept, Mechanism, Method / Technique, Problem / Use Case, Constraint / Limit, and Tool / Object. Pick the one that best describes what kind of knowledge this is.
Order number
An optional number shown in the card's left side when sequence matters, such as steps in a process or chapters in a course.
Starter questions
Tick "Generate starter questions" to have the app create a set of pre-written questions based on the topic type and name. A second screen appears showing the suggested questions. Tick which ones to include, edit their text if needed, and confirm. The selected questions are added to your Questions section already linked to this topic.

Right-click any card at any time to edit its name, type, number, or to retire it. Retired topics are hidden but not deleted; a toggle in the Topic Board header reveals them.

The four columns

Drag any topic card left or right to move it between columns. The columns are not labels you assign once. They should reflect your current understanding of the subject and you should update them as that understanding deepens.

Uncategorised
Just collected. You do not yet know where it fits.
Core / Foundational
Everything else depends on or connects to this. Without it, other topics make no sense.
Important Detail
Directly supports or extends a core topic. Significant but not foundational on its own.
Additional Details
Useful context, edge cases, or niche knowledge. Worth knowing but not always urgent.

To reorder cards within a column, drag them up or down. To move multiple cards at once, click and drag across empty column space to draw a selection rectangle, then drag any selected card and the rest follow. Right-click a column header to rename it if the default label does not fit your subject.

What a topic card shows

Each card gives you live information about that topic's state without opening anything.

Type badge
A small icon and label below the card name showing the type you assigned.
Strength bar
A thin horizontal bar across the bottom of the card. It fills automatically based on how far the linked questions have progressed through the four stages. You never set this manually. A full bar means the linked questions are mostly at "I Can Use It".
Question count
A small chip showing how many questions are linked to this topic.
Stuck dot
A red dot in the top-right corner when any linked question is marked as stuck. This keeps blocked topics visible without scanning every question.
Linked subject badge
When a topic has been promoted to its own full subject page, a badge shows the linked subject name. Click it to navigate to that subject directly.
Colour group border
A coloured background and border shared by all cards in the same group, with a label at the bottom of the group box. When you hover over a connection arrow, all groups that are not part of that connection dim, keeping focus on the connected topics.

Drawing connections between topics

Ctrl+click the first card, then Ctrl+click the second. A bar appears at the top of the Topic Board showing both card names.


Open the dropdown and select a relationship type such as Requires, Leads to, Extends, or Causes. Then type a one-sentence description of the specific relationship in the text field. Click "Add connection". A curved arrow appears between the two cards, colour-coded by its relationship type, with the first letter of the label on the curve. Hover over any arrow to read the full sentence in the header bar.

To create a custom connection type, select "+ Custom..." from the dropdown. A small modal opens where you define the label and colour. That type is then available for all future connections in this subject.

To edit or delete an existing connection, click "Connections" in the Topic Board header to open the Connection Manager. Every connection is listed with its two endpoints. Each row has a type dropdown (select from all defined connection types including custom ones, or add a new custom type via the "+ Custom..." option), an editable short label, an editable sentence, a colour picker, and a line style selector. Click the X on any row to delete the connection. Changes save immediately.

Grouping topics

Shift+click two or more cards that are adjacent in the same column. A bar appears at the top of the Topic Board showing the count selected and whether they are contiguous. Cards must be adjacent; the bar shows a warning if they are not. Once "Ready to group" appears, click the "Group" button in the bar. A modal opens where you type the group name, pick a colour, and optionally choose an icon. Click "Create group". The selected cards get a shared coloured border and a named label at the bottom of the group box.

To move a group to a different position in its column, drag the group label area up or down. The entire group moves as a unit and other cards slide to make room. To delete a group, right-click the group label area and select the delete option.

You can connect Cards to each other as well as entire groups to each other.

Promoting a topic to its own subject

Right-click any topic card and select "Promote to subject". A new subject is created named after that topic and linked to the original card. The card stays on the parent board with a badge showing the linked subject's name. Click that badge to navigate to the new subject. Use this when a single topic grows complex enough to need its own full Topic Board and Questions section.

Questions

Every question you have about your subject lives here. Each question tracks one thing: how well you actually understand the answer right now. The stage is yours to set, and you move it forward only when your understanding genuinely shifts.

Adding questions

Click "+ Add question" in the Questions header. A modal opens. Type your question in the text area, then click topic names below to link the question to them. You can link one question to multiple topics. Click "Add question" to confirm. The question appears in the list at the Unknown stage.

If no topics apply yet, leave the list empty. Unlinked questions collect in a separate "Unlinked" group at the bottom of the Questions section. To link a question later, right-click it and select "Edit question". The same modal reopens with all fields editable.

The four stages

Each question row shows four stage dots on the right side. The filled dot is the current stage. Click any dot to jump directly to that stage. The stages are intentionally honest.

Unknown
You have the question but no real answer yet. Every question starts here.
I've Seen It
You have come across relevant material (a YouTube video or book chapter, for example). You could not explain it if asked yet.
I Can Explain It
You could give a reasonable answer from memory. Not fully confident in unfamiliar contexts yet.
I Can Use It
You can explain it clearly and have completed at least two depth checks. The Upgrade button is mechanically locked until those two checks exist. If it is locked, a hint message appears on hover explaining you need to complete depth check sections first.

Per-question ThinkNotes and Think buttons


Every question row has two hover-reveal buttons: THINKNOTES and THINK. They are hidden by default and appear when you hover the question row, showing a pale blue left-edge border. Hovering directly over a button darkens it to solid blue.

ThinkNotes ✓ indicator: If you have written any ThinkNotes for a question, a small shows up at the far right of the question row. This lets you scan the question list and instantly spot which questions have something written without opening anything.


Margin pin icons: If a question's ThinkNotes editor has margin pins saved, small circle icons show up just to the left of the THINKNOTES button area on that question row. Each unique pin type shows once as a small black-bordered circle with its icon. Hovering shows a tooltip confirming that pin type is used in the ThinkNotes. This lets you see at a glance which questions have important points marked without opening them.


Clicking THINKNOTES opens a full-screen overlay for that specific question's ThinkNotes, with a rich-text editor, a Sources section, and a "Switch to Think" button. Clicking THINK opens a full-screen overlay for that question's depth checks, showing all six sections as rich-text editor cards plus the Mistakes list, Apply checkboxes, and the "Feeling Blocked?" section. The top-bar THINKNOTES and THINK buttons are different: they open a scrollable accordion covering the right side of the screen, showing all topic questions together.


Filtering, sorting, and view options

Click any topic card in the Topic Board below to select it. Then toggle the filter button at the top of the Questions header to show only questions linked to that topic. Click the filter button again to return to all questions.

Click the hamburger menu in the Questions header to reveal additional controls: sort by stage, alphabetically, or by newest first. Switch to a compact "thin" view that shows more questions on screen with less detail per row. Pinned questions always stay at the top regardless of sort order. Right-click any question and select "Pin question" to pin it; right-click again to unpin.

The filter controls are automatically hidden when ThinkNotes focus mode or Think focus mode is active, keeping the focus view clean.

Question evolution: merging one question into another

As you study, a vague early question often becomes obsolete once a sharper one replaces it. To absorb the old question into the new one, drag the older question by its row and drop it directly on top of the newer, sharper question. A confirmation modal appears showing both questions. Confirm the merge. The old question disappears from the main list. Its text is preserved inside the new question as a strikethrough line with a small arrow indicator showing it is a predecessor. To restore it as an independent question, right-click the strikethrough line and select the restore option.



Example: "How do I get the selected object in Cinema 4D?" becomes obsolete once you learn there are two methods. Drag it onto "When do I use GetActiveObject() vs GetActiveObjects()?" and the original is preserved as a strikethrough ancestor inside the sharper question.

Dependency chains


If one question cannot be understood until another is clear, you can link them into a dependency chain. Drag one question and drop it on another. A menu appears with the option "Link questions (dependency)". Click it to create the link. Both questions then show a small chain badge on their rows: a green chain icon marks the root question (learn this first), and numbered badges show the order in the chain.

Dependencies are also visible in the per-row ThinkNotes panel. At the top of the ThinkNotes, a "DEPENDS ON" section shows the prerequisite question (clickable), and a "REQUIRED BY" section shows any questions that depend on this one. Click the X next to either to remove the link.

You can also set dependencies via the JSON import format by adding a dependsOn field set to the id of the prerequisite question.

The Stuck indicator


If a question is genuinely blocking you, hover the question row and click theThinkNotes or THINK button to open its full-screen panel.


The "Feeling Blocked?" section is at the bottom of that panel. Three options appear: Missing Something (you lack a prerequisite or resource), I Don't Get It (it makes no sense yet), or Not Confident Using It (you understand it but would probably apply it wrong). Click the one that matches. A red dot appears on the question row and on the parent topic card. Click the active option again to clear it.

Preview panels (▼ buttons)


Each of the three mode buttons in the Questions header bar (THINKNOTES, THINK, and DOODLE) has a small ▼ arrow button beside it. Clicking ▼ opens a read-only preview overlay that replaces the six depth-check columns on the right side of the question list. The overlay stays pinned to the right of the visible screen area regardless of scroll position.




ThinkNotes ▼
Shows the current understanding ThinkNotes for one question at a time. Block labels (DEFINITION, REASONING, EXAMPLE, MISCONCEPTION) are stripped from the preview; only the content beneath them is shown.
Think ▼
Shows the six depth-check text entries for one question, labelled by check name (Teach, Mistakes, Scenario, Limits, Contrast, Apply).
Doodle ▼
Shows the sketch canvas for one question. Use the Category and Drawing dropdowns in the header bar to filter which doodle is displayed if a question has multiple sketches.

Navigation: A header bar above the preview shows arrow buttons with the current question index (e.g. "Q 3 of 14"). Click the arrows or press the Up/Down arrow keys to move between questions. You can also click any question row while a preview is open and the preview immediately switches to that question's content. Only one preview can be open at a time. The DOODLE button and its ▼ arrow are hidden when ThinkNotes or Think focus mode is active.

Quiz


Quiz is a flashcard-style review mode built entirely from questions you log yourself.

Adding quiz questions from the per-row Think panel: Hover any question row and click THINK. Go to the Mistakes section. Below the High-Impact Mistakes list there is an "Add to Quiz" area. Click "+ Add your question" and type a quiz question designed to catch that mistake again. Each one is stored against the question it came from.


Adding quiz questions directly from the Quiz panel: Click the "Quiz" button in the Questions header. In the panel, click "Manage" to enter manage mode. At the bottom, an "Add Question" form appears. Select which source question the quiz item belongs to from the dropdown, type the quiz question text, and click "+ Add".

Running the quiz: Click the "Quiz" button. One question appears. Try to answer it mentally. Click "Show context" to reveal the original question it came from. After revealing context, five small confidence spheres appear labelled "How well did I know this?". Click a sphere from 1 to 5 to record your confidence. Clicking the same level again resets it to zero. Click "Next question" to move on.


Managing the quiz: Click "Manage" in the Quiz panel header. A topic filter list with checkboxes lets you remove entire topics from the rotation. An individual question list lets you disable specific quiz questions without deleting them. Click "Done" to return to quiz mode.

Global Mistakes panel


The orange Mistakes button in the Questions header bar shows a live count of all High-Impact Mistakes logged across every question in the current subject. Click it to open the Global Mistakes panel, a full-width modal listing every mistake item from every question.


Sort controls at the top let you view all mistakes grouped by topic, by mistake type (Understanding / Choosing when to use / Doing the steps / Attention), or by severity (Minor slip / Would cause a problem). Each mistake entry shows its text, its type and severity badges, and an "Open →" button that opens the full-screen Think panel for that question so you can work on it immediately.


Use the Global Mistakes panel at the start of a study session to triage what needs the most attention across your entire subject before diving into individual questions.

Confusing Terms


Confusing Terms captures words and phrases that keep interrupting your understanding as you write. It is not a glossary you build manually.

How to add a term: Open any question's ThinkNotes panel. In the rich-text editor, select any word or phrase that confuses you. In the formatting toolbar, click the "Confusing" button. The selected text is saved immediately and a toast notification confirms it. If you flag the same term three or more times, the toast offers a direct shortcut to create a question for it.


Highlighting inside the editor: Click the sphere icon (a half-blue diagonal circle) next to the "Confusing" button in the toolbar to toggle confusing term highlighting. When active, every saved confusing term in the current subject is highlighted inside the editor as you write, reminding you to spot those words as they show up in your ThinkNotes.

Viewing and acting on terms: Click the "Confusing terms" button in the Questions header (it shows a count badge when terms exist). The drawer opens listing every saved term. Terms flagged more than once show a count badge. Each term has three action buttons: "+ Question" opens the add question modal, "+ Topic" opens the add topic modal, and the X button deletes the term.

Test Your Understanding

Reaching "I Can Explain It" means you can describe the answer. That is not the same as owning it. Owning it means knowing when to use it, where it fails, what mistakes you are likely to make, and whether you have actually applied it in the real world. The six depth checks close that gap.

The checks live in two places. The six depth columns on every question row let you tick checks at a glance across your entire question list. The per-row Think panel gives you a full rich-text writing space for each check. Both update the same state.

Using the depth columns on the question row

Each question row has six small square cells on the far right, one per check. Click any cell to tick it. A ticked cell turns teal (amber for Apply). Click it again to untick. To write a note for a check without opening the full Think panel, hover over any cell and click the small pencil icon that appears. A compact note panel slides up from the bottom of the screen with the prompt for that check visible above a rich-text editor. Write your notes and close the panel. The note is saved against that specific check for that question.

Using the per-row Think panel

Hover any question row and click the THINK button to open the full-screen Think panel for that question. It shows all six depth check sections as full rich-text editor cards, each with a prompt and a checkbox. The editors support the same DREM block labels, vague word highlights, confusing term highlights, right-click context menu, and margin pins as the main ThinkNotes editor. You can also right-click selected text in any depth check editor to add it as an activity. Tick a section's checkbox to mark it complete. Click "Switch to ThinkNotes" in the panel header to jump to that question's ThinkNotes editor. The "Upgrade" button at the bottom advances the question to the next stage and is locked until at least two checks are ticked.

My current understanding (ThinkNotes editor)

ThinkNotes is the app's own text editor, built specifically for learning. It is not a generic notes app. It is designed to help you think through what you know, catch weak spots in your understanding, and connect your writing to the rest of your study system. It shows up in the per-row full-screen ThinkNotes panel and in the top-bar ThinkNotes accordion mode.


Toolbar
The full toolbar includes: DREM block label buttons (D / R / E / M), a format block dropdown (Normal, H1, H2, H3, H4, Code block, Quote), Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, bullet list, numbered list, code toggle, five highlight colour dots, a "Nutshell" summary button, a "Vague?" check button, and the "Confusing" button to save selected text as a confusing term. The gear icon opens a settings panel with a font scale selector (S / M / L) and an editable vague words list.
DREM block labels
Four coloured block labels you can insert into any paragraph: DEFINITION (blue), REASONING (green), EXAMPLE (orange), MISCONCEPTION (red). Click a DREM button in the toolbar to wrap the current paragraph. The label appears as a non-editable tag at the start of the paragraph. To remove it, click the label itself. A definition is different from a working example, and tagging them makes that visible at a glance.
Font scale
Click the gear icon in the editor toolbar to open the settings panel. Three size buttons (S / M / L) adjust the font size inside the editor. The setting applies to all editors in the current session.
Vague words

Words that signal shallow understanding (like "basically", "kind of", "I think", "sort of") are highlighted in amber as you type. Click the gear icon to view and edit the vague words list: remove words that are not relevant to your subject, or add new ones. Changes apply immediately.
Confusing term highlights
Click the sphere icon (half-blue diagonal) next to the "Confusing" button to toggle highlighting of all saved confusing terms inside the editor. When a confusing term appears in your ThinkNotes, it gets a visual marker reminding you that word is one you have flagged before.

Right-click menu
Right-clicking inside the editor opens a context menu with formatting shortcuts (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code), text case changes (upper, lower, sentence, title), cut / copy / paste, and "Save as confusing term". If you have text selected, an "Add as activity" option also appears: clicking it pre-fills that text into the Activities panel and opens it immediately.
Margin pins
A narrow gutter runs down the left side of the editor. Click anywhere in the gutter to place a pin at that vertical position. A popup appears letting you choose an icon (Unicode characters as visual markers) and a short label. The pin is saved as a small black-bordered circle in the gutter. Hover over a saved pin to see its label. Click a saved pin in the gutter to remove it. Use margin pins to mark important lines in long ThinkNotes without disrupting the text itself. All unique pin types for a question appear as small circle icons just left of the THINKNOTES button on the question row.

The pins are:
Clarity issues:
? Don't fully understand yet, ◐ Partially clear / fragile, ≈ Approximation / simplified ·
Priority signals:
! Important / high leverage, ● Core point, ⊙ Insight / breakthrough ·
Structural signals:
∞ Connects strongly to another idea ·
Risk signal:
△ Easy to misuse ·
Action signals:
↺ Revisit later, ◇ Needs example / test
Sources
In the per-row full-screen ThinkNotes panel, a Sources section is available via the "Sources" toggle in the panel header. Each source entry has a type tag (Book, Article, Video, Course, Documentation, Person, Podcast, or a custom type), a text field for the title or URL, and two checkboxes: Helped and Not Clear. Delete individual sources with the X button. Click "+ Add source" to add a new entry.

The six depth checks

In the per-row full-screen Think panel, each depth check appears as a full rich-text editor card with a prompt above it. The editors support the same features as the ThinkNotes editor: DREM labels, vague word highlights, confusing term highlights, right-click menu (including "Add as activity"), and margin pins.


# Check What it asks and how to complete it
1
Teach
Write an explanation of this concept from memory, in plain language, as if talking to someone who has never heard of it. No jargon. No looking at your notes. 3 to 5 sentences. If you get stuck mid-sentence, note exactly where you lose clarity. That is the gap. Tick the check only when you can produce a complete, jargon-free explanation without going back to your sources.
2
Mistakes
This section has two parts. In the top rich-text editor, write common pitfalls: what usually goes wrong, what the tempting-but-wrong approach looks like, what beginners typically misunderstand. Below that, a High-Impact Mistakes list lets you log specific personal mistakes. Each mistake entry has: a text description, a type dropdown (◎ Understanding / ⇄ Choosing when to use / ▶ Doing the steps / △ Attention), a severity dropdown (· Minor slip / ◆ Would cause a problem), a "Repair my understanding" button, and a resolved checkbox. Use the sort-by-type toggle to group mistakes by type. In the "Add to Quiz" area below, click "+ Add your question" to write a quiz question from this mistake. The Mistakes check ticks automatically when any content exists.
3
Scenario
Name one specific real situation where this concept matters. Not a hypothetical. A concrete moment: what is happening, what decision is being made, and how does this concept guide that decision. Tick the check when your scenario is specific enough that someone else could visualise exactly what is happening.
4
Limits
Describe when this concept does not apply, gives the wrong result, or breaks down. Give at least one concrete example of a situation where you would not use it or where it fails. Tick the check when you have identified at least one real boundary condition with a concrete case.
5
Contrast
Name the thing most similar to this concept that you might confuse it with. Describe what overlaps between them, then state the key difference. Finish by explaining in which situation you would choose one over the other. Tick the check when you can distinguish the two clearly enough to explain the choice to someone else.
6
Apply
This check cannot be ticked directly. Three sub-options appear: "Used to solve a real problem", "Tested on a concrete example", and "Used to make a decision". Checking any one of them marks Apply as complete automatically and the cell turns amber. You must have actually done one of those three things. Completing Apply is what makes "I Can Use It" meaningful rather than just a stage you clicked.

The Upgrade button and stage gate

At the bottom of the per-row full-screen Think panel is an Upgrade button that moves the question to the next stage. It is locked until at least two depth checks are complete. If you have High-Impact Mistakes logged that are not yet marked as resolved, the app shows a modal before advancing. It lists the unresolved mistakes and asks whether you are past them. You can confirm and advance anyway, or go back and resolve them first.

Focus Modes

The app has two sets of writing and review modes. The top-bar modes (THINKNOTES, THINK, DOODLE buttons in the header) cover the right side of the screen with an accordion or overlay showing all topic questions. The per-row modes (THINKNOTES and THINK buttons visible on hover over any question row) open a full-screen panel covering the entire screen for one specific question.

While ThinkNotes or Think top-bar mode is active, the Doodle button and its ▼ arrow are hidden. Only one top-bar mode can be active at a time. Per-row panels overlay everything and are closed with the X in the panel header.

Top-bar ThinkNotes mode

Clicking THINKNOTES in the Questions header opens a scrollable overlay covering the right side of the screen. All questions linked to the current topic show up as expandable accordion cards. Expand any card to open its ThinkNotes editor. The header shows a "Show sources" toggle, a Download button to export your ThinkNotes, and a "One at a time" toggle that collapses all other question cards to keep only the active one expanded. To exit, click the THINKNOTES button again or press Escape.

Per-row ThinkNotes panel (full-screen)

Hover any question row and click the THINKNOTES button to open a full-screen ThinkNotes panel for that specific question. The panel covers the entire screen and shows the ThinkNotes editor in a clean white card. The "Sources" button in the panel header toggles the Sources section above the editor, where you can add, edit, and delete references with type tags and Helped / Not Clear checkboxes. Click "Switch to Think" in the header to jump to the Think panel for the same question. Close the panel with the X.

Top-bar Think mode

Clicking THINK in the Questions header opens a scrollable overlay covering the right side of the screen. All questions for the current topic appear as expandable cards. Expand any card to see its six depth check sections. The header shows a "Show hints" toggle for the depth check prompts. To exit, click THINK again or press Escape.

Per-row Think panel (full-screen)

Hover any question row and click the THINK button to open a full-screen Think panel for that specific question. It covers the entire screen and shows all six depth check sections as full rich-text editor cards (Teach, Mistakes, Scenario, Limits, Contrast, Apply), ordered top to bottom. Each card has a prompt, a full rich-text editor, and a completion checkbox.

The Mistakes card shows a "Common Pitfalls" editor at the top and a High-Impact Mistakes list below it. Add mistakes with "+ Add mistake". Each mistake has a text field, a type dropdown (◎ Understanding / ⇄ Choosing when to use / ▶ Doing the steps / △ Attention), a severity dropdown (· Minor slip / ◆ Would cause a problem), a "Repair my understanding" button, and a "No longer an issue" checkbox. Use the sort toggle to view mistakes grouped by type. At the bottom of the Mistakes card, an "Add to Quiz" section lets you add quiz questions linked to that mistake.

The Apply card shows three sub-checkboxes: "Used to solve a real problem", "Tested on a concrete example", and "Used to make a decision". Ticking any one automatically marks the Apply check as complete and turns the cell amber.

At the bottom of the panel, the "Feeling Blocked?" section has three buttons: Missing Something, I Don't Get It, and Not Confident Using It. Click one to mark the question as stuck. Click it again to clear it. The Upgrade button advances the question to the next stage once two depth checks are complete. Click "Switch to ThinkNotes" in the header to jump to the ThinkNotes panel for the same question.

Doodle mode (Sketch)

The Doodle button in the Questions header opens the doodle sketch panel. You can draw freehand diagrams, sketches, or visual notes linked to the currently selected question. Multiple sketches can be saved per question, organised by category and drawing name. The Doodle button and its ▼ arrow are hidden when ThinkNotes or Think focus mode is active.

The Doodle ▼ preview button opens a read-only canvas overlay over the depth columns. Use the Category and Drawing dropdowns in the header bar to switch between saved sketches for the current question without entering the full doodle editor.

Activities

Activities is a structured to-do system for your learning sessions. It lives between the Confusing terms and Mistakes buttons in the Questions header. Use it to plan and track what you are actually doing: reading, building, reviewing, testing. Unlike a generic task list, each activity can record the kind of mental effort it requires and map it to the specific concepts you are trying to understand.

Purpose: Structured practice and deep work. Add your learning activities below, attach concepts to each one, and link those concepts directly to questions you are working on.

Opening the Activities panel



Click the "Activities" button in the Questions header. The panel opens as a modal. The header shows how many activities are pending and how many are done. A count badge on the button itself shows how many pending activities exist for the current subject so you can see at a glance whether you have things left to do without opening the panel.

Adding an activity

Type the activity name in the footer input at the bottom of the panel and press Enter or click "+ Add". Activities can also be pre-filled from any ThinkNotes or Think editor: select any text in the editor, right-click, and choose "Add as activity". The selected text is used as the activity name and the panel opens immediately.

Activity controls

Each activity row shows the following controls.

Checkbox
Tick to mark the activity done. When an activity is checked, a yellow "Just done" banner appears at the top of the panel asking "What was the most confusing part of this task?". Two buttons appear: "+ Add question" to open the add question modal, and "+ Add topic" to open the add topic modal. A Dismiss button closes the banner. The banner stays until dismissed or until the panel is closed.
Context dropdown
Four context types: Reading, Building, Reviewing, Testing. Pick the one that describes the kind of work this activity involves. Context appears alongside the activity text in thin mode.
Monotasking button (1)
Click the small "1" button on any activity to enter monotasking mode for that activity. All other activities are hidden from the list. A highlighted indicator in the panel header shows monotasking is active. Click the same button again, or click "Exit focus" in the header, to return to all activities.
Delete
Click the X button to permanently remove an activity.
Brain power
Two radio buttons: High and Low. Mark whether this activity needs a focused, uninterrupted mental state (High) or can be done with lower cognitive load (Low). Use "Sort: Brain power" in the panel header to group activities by this setting so you can tackle high-focus work when you have the energy and low-focus work when you do not.

Concept chunking

Below the brain power setting on each activity is a "Concept chunking" section. It answers the question: what do you need to understand in order to complete this activity? Add as many concepts as needed using the text input and pressing Enter or clicking "+ Add".

Each concept has a "Link question..." dropdown. Selecting a question from the dropdown adds it as a linked reference below that concept. You can add multiple questions to a single concept by selecting from the dropdown again: each selected question appears as a separate blue chip below the concept title. The question text is fully readable and selectable. Click the X next to any linked question to remove it. This lets you map a concept to every relevant question without losing the connection between concept and question.

Panel display modes

The panel header includes two display options.

Thin mode
Click the "Thin" button in the panel header to switch to a compact list view. Each activity shows only its checkbox, activity text, a vertical divider, and the context type as text. Brain power, concept chunking, monotasking button, and delete button are all hidden. Click "Normal" to return to the full view.

Sort
The sort dropdown in the header has three options: Default (order added), Brain power (High first, then Low, then unset), and Context (alphabetical by context type). Done activities are always sorted to the bottom within their group.

Adding activities from ThinkNotes and Think editors

Every rich-text editor in the app (ThinkNotes full-screen panel, Think depth check editors, and ThinkNotes top-bar accordion) supports "Add as activity" from the right-click context menu. Select any word, phrase, or sentence in the editor. Right-click. Choose "Add as activity". The selected text becomes the activity name, the Activities panel opens, and the new activity is pre-filled. This lets you turn a thought or insight from your ThinkNotes directly into a concrete task without losing context.

How Everything Connects

The sections communicate automatically. You never need to manually update the Topic Board based on what you do in Questions.

Strength bar
The strength bar on each topic card fills as its linked questions advance through stages. Unknown contributes nothing. I've Seen It contributes a little. I Can Explain It contributes more. I Can Use It fills that question's share completely.
Question count vs. strength
The question count chip shows depth: how many angles you are interrogating the topic from. The strength bar shows quality: how far those questions have progressed. A topic can have ten questions (high depth) and a nearly empty bar (low strength), meaning you have identified a lot to learn but have not worked through it. Both numbers matter.
Stage gate
A question cannot reach "I Can Use It" without at least two depth checks completed. This is mechanically enforced. You cannot bypass it by clicking the stage dot; the lock message will tell you exactly what to do.
Stuck propagation
When you mark a question as stuck, the red dot appears on the question row and on the parent topic card. Scanning the Topic Board tells you immediately which topics have unresolved blocks without looking at individual questions.
Merged question history
When you merge a question into another, the original is preserved as a strikethrough ancestor inside the new question. Work is never lost when a question evolves.
ThinkNotes ✓ indicator
A small ✓ mark at the far right of each question row shows up as soon as you have written any ThinkNotes for that question. Scan the full question list to see which questions have been actively written about and which are still blank.
Margin pin indicators
Small circle icons appear just left of the THINKNOTES button on any question row that has margin pins saved in its ThinkNotes. Each unique pin type shows once as a deduped icon. Hovering shows which pin type is used. This lets you see at a glance which questions have important points flagged without opening them.
Global Mistakes count
The orange Mistakes button in the header bar shows a live count of all unresolved High-Impact Mistakes across every question in the subject. As you mark mistakes resolved in the per-row Think panel, the count decreases. A zero count means every logged mistake has been addressed.
Activities count
The Activities button shows a count badge with the number of pending activities for the current subject. Checking an activity done decrements the count. Activities are scoped to the current subject so each subject has its own independent list.
Concept-to-question links
When you link questions to concepts inside an activity, you create a direct map from a concrete task to the knowledge it requires. This is not just bookkeeping. It makes the act of planning a study session a knowledge-retrieval exercise: naming the concepts you need tells you exactly which questions to work on next.

Learning Python inside Cinema 4D

You create a new subject called "Python in Cinema 4D". You click "+ Add topic" five times: Selecting objects, Traversing the object hierarchy, Creating and inserting new objects, Getting and setting object properties, Tags and their methods. All land in Uncategorised.

Initial topics

Selecting objects · Traversing the object hierarchy · Creating and inserting new objects · Getting and setting object properties · Tags and their methods

After reading, you drag "Selecting objects" into Core / Foundational. You drag "Traversing the object hierarchy" into Important Detail. You Ctrl+click both cards, choose "Requires" from the connection type dropdown, and type "You must be able to select an object before traversing from it." You click "Add connection". A curved arrow appears labelled "R".

You click "+ Add question" and type "How do I get the currently selected object?" linked to "Selecting objects". After studying, you find two methods: GetActiveObject() and GetActiveObjects(). The original question is now too vague. You add a sharper one: "When do I use GetActiveObject() vs GetActiveObjects()?" You drag the old question onto the new one, confirm the merge, and the old text appears as a strikethrough inside the new one.

You advance the merged question to I Can Explain It. You hover the question row and click THINKNOTES. A full-screen ThinkNotes panel opens. You write your understanding. You select the word "BaseObject" and click the Confusing button to flag it for later. You click "Switch to Think" in the panel header to jump to the full-screen Think panel.

Depth check responses

Limits: You write "Both return None or an empty list if nothing is selected. Without a None check, the script crashes silently." You tick the Limits checkbox. It turns teal.

Mistakes: In the top editor you write "Using GetActiveObject() when the user has multiple objects selected." You click "+ Add mistake" and enter: text = "I used GetActiveObject() in my first script and silently ignored two of three selected objects", type = Understanding, severity = Would cause a problem. You right-click the mistake description text, select "Add as activity", and the Activities panel opens pre-filled with that description. The Mistakes check ticks automatically.

Apply: You tick "Used to solve a real problem". Apply turns amber.

Three checks are complete. The Upgrade button unlocks. You click it. The question moves to I Can Use It. The strength bar on the Selecting objects topic card updates automatically. The orange Mistakes button shows a count of 1, reminding you one mistake has not been marked resolved yet. You open the Activities panel and see the activity you added from the right-click menu. You set its context to "Building" and brain power to "High", add the concept "GetActiveObject vs GetActiveObjects" and link it to your question.

Learning Calculus Derivatives

You create a new subject called "Calculus". You add nine topics to Uncategorised: Limits, Derivatives, Integration, Functions, Rate of Change, Chain Rule, Product Rule, Optimization, Higher Order Derivatives.

After reading, you drag Limits, Functions, Rate of Change, and Derivatives into Core / Foundational. You Ctrl+click Derivatives and Limits, choose "Requires", and type "A derivative is defined as a limit, so limits must be understood first." You drag Chain Rule and Product Rule into Important Detail, draw "Supports" connections to Derivatives, and Shift+click Chain Rule and Product Rule to group them under a "Differentiation Rules" label with a green colour.

You add your first question: "What even is a derivative?" linked to Derivatives. After studying you advance it to I Can Explain It. But the textbook definition still feels disconnected from anything real. You add a second question: "What does a derivative actually mean in real life, not in math language?" After studying further, you find the car example. That question reaches I Can Explain It. You hover the row and click THINK.

Depth check responses

Teach: You write "A derivative measures how fast something is changing at one specific moment." in the Teach editor. You tick the checkbox.

Scenario: You write a concrete car-journey example. You tick the checkbox.

Apply: You tick "Tested on a concrete example". Apply turns amber.

Two checks complete. The Upgrade button unlocks. You click it. The question moves to I Can Use It. You click the ThinkNotes ▼ button in the header bar to open the ThinkNotes preview overlay, use the arrow keys to navigate through your questions, and scan what you have written. The ✓ indicator on each question row confirms which ones you have already written ThinkNotes for. You open the Activities panel, add "Work through chain rule practice problems" with context "Building" and brain power "High", add the concept "Understanding chain rule application", and link it to your "When do I use Chain Rule vs Product Rule?" question.

Procedures

Procedures let you build step-by-step visual flowcharts for any process you are learning. Switch to the Procedures tab using the tab bar at the top of the Questions section. Each procedure is a separate flowchart with its own steps, connections, and layout.



Creating a procedure

In the Procedures sidebar on the left, click the "+" button to create a new procedure. Give it a name. The procedure appears in the sidebar list. Click any procedure name to select it and see its canvas.


Adding steps

Click "+ Add step" at the top of the canvas, or click the "+ Add below" link that appears below any existing step. Each step is a card placed on a column/row grid. Steps can be one of several types:



Start
A green circle marking the beginning of a process. Usually only one per procedure.
Task
A blue rectangle for a concrete action or instruction. The most common step type.
Decision
An orange diamond for a branching point where the process splits based on a condition.
Input / Output
A parallelogram for data entering or leaving the process.
Sub-process
A hexagon representing a nested or referenced sub-procedure.
End
An octagon marking the end of the process.

Click any step card to select it. The right side of the canvas shows the step detail panel with the title, description, colour, icon, type selector, and any attached modules.

Connections between steps

Steps connect to each other with arrows that show the flow of the process. Click a step's connection port (the small coloured circle at the edge of the card) and then click another step to draw a connection. Each connection can have a label, a colour, and a sentence describing the transition. Connection types work the same as topic connections on the Topic Board.

Modules

Each step can have one or more module rows attached to it. Modules are content blocks that hold study material, notes, or media directly on the step card. Click a selected step's "+ Add module" button to add a new row.



Each module row has one or more slots. Each slot can be one of the following types:

Text
A rich-text editor for writing notes, instructions, or explanations. Supports the same formatting as the main ThinkNotes editor.
Code
A Monaco code editor with syntax highlighting, multiple tabs, and language selection. Right-click a tab to rename it.
YouTube
Embed a YouTube video by URL or video ID. The settings panel (gear icon) lets you set a start time in hours/minutes/seconds, paste an embed code for auto-extraction, and paste YouTube chapter timestamps that appear as clickable pill labels to jump to specific moments.
Image
Display an image by URL. Useful for diagrams, screenshots, or reference material.
Split
A two-panel view with a code editor on the left (with tabs) and a ThinkNotes editor on the right, connected by a synced scrollbar in the middle. Use this for annotating code line by line.
Doodle
Embed a doodle sketch from your subject or topic doodle library. Click the gear icon to open the doodle picker and select from your saved sketches.
Webpage
Embed a webpage by URL inside an iframe. Not all websites allow embedding.
PDF
Embed a PDF document by URL.

Click the gear icon on any module slot to open its settings panel (centred on screen). Click the x button on a module row to delete it.

Phases

Phases let you group columns of steps into named, colour-coded stages. Click "Manage phases" in the Procedures toolbar to create phases and assign them to columns. A coloured strip appears below the column headers showing which columns belong to which phase. Phases are shared across all procedures in the same subject. The column-to-phase mapping is stored per procedure since each procedure has its own column layout.

Keywords and the sidebar

The Procedures sidebar has a keyword section below the procedure list. Add keywords to tag and categorise steps. Keywords can have dividers between them to create sections. Drag keywords to reorder. Keywords are stored per subject.

Minimap and Play mode

A minimap in the top-right corner of the canvas shows a scaled-down overview of all steps with their shapes and connections. Click "Play" to enter a presentation mode that steps through the procedure one card at a time with a dark overlay. Use arrow keys or click the navigation buttons to advance.

Importing a numbered list

Click the "Import list" button in the Procedures sidebar to paste a numbered list. Each numbered line becomes a step. In complex mode, the first line of each item becomes the step title and remaining lines become a text module on that step.

Definitions

Definitions let you build a per-subject glossary and link defined terms directly into your ThinkNotes.

Creating definitions

Click the "Definitions" button (book icon) in the Questions header bar to open the Definitions panel. Click "+ Add definition" to create a new entry with a term and its definition text. Definitions are scoped to the current subject.

Inline definitions in ThinkNotes

In any ThinkNotes editor, select a word or phrase, then click the "Def" button in the toolbar. A popup lets you choose an existing definition or create a new one. The selected text is wrapped in a dotted underline. Hover over it to see the definition in a popup without leaving the editor. Toggle the "Definitions" button in the toolbar to hide or show all inline definition markers.

Attached questions

Right-click a paragraph in the ThinkNotes editor and select "Attach question". A search dropdown lets you pick any question from the subject. A blue "?" icon appears in the left gutter at that paragraph. Hover the icon to see the question text and its answer preview. Right-click the icon to remove the attachment.

Paragraph connections

Right-click a paragraph and select "Add connection from here". A blue banner appears at the top of the editor. Click a second paragraph to complete the connection. A panel opens where you choose a connection type, description, and colour. Connection labels appear as pills in the left gutter below the source paragraph. Hover to see details and jump to the target paragraph.

Deep mode

Right-click a paragraph and select "Add to deep mode". That paragraph gets a blue right-side border marking it as "deep" content. Toggle the "Big Picture" button in the toolbar to hide all deep paragraphs, showing only the high-level summary. Blue dots in the gutter mark which paragraphs are deep content.

Sharing and Community

You can share individual ThinkNotes or your entire Topic Board with others via a unique link. Shared content is a frozen snapshot taken at the moment you click Share.

Sharing a ThinkNote

Open any question's per-row ThinkNotes panel. In the header bar, click "Share". A unique link is generated. Click "Copy link" to copy it to your clipboard. Anyone with the link can view the ThinkNote in a read-only page with the same formatting, block labels, and definitions.

Sharing a Topic Board

In the Topic Board section, click "Share board" in the toolbar. A unique link is generated for the board snapshot including all topics, connections, groups, and topic notes.

Publishing to Community

After sharing, click "Publish" to make the shared note or board visible on the /community/ page. Choose or create a category for your published content. Published items can be found and viewed by anyone visiting the community page.

Export and Import

Click the gear icon in the top-right of the subject header bar to open the export menu. The menu shows which subject is being exported.

Export (.json)

Saves a complete machine-readable backup of the current subject as a .json file. This includes everything: topics, questions (with all ThinkNotes, depth checks, sources, mistakes, quiz items), topic connections, groups, confusing terms, procedures with all steps and ThinkNote modules, doodle sketches, and definitions. Use this to move your data between browsers or devices, or to keep a local backup.

Import (.json)

Restores a previously exported .json file. The app creates a new subject with all the data from the file. If a subject with the same name already exists, it appends "(2)", "(3)", and so on. All internal IDs are remapped so there are no conflicts with existing data. Legacy .txt backup files from older versions are also supported.

Print summary (.txt)

Downloads a human-readable .txt document summarising the current subject. It includes topics grouped by column, questions grouped by stage with their ThinkNotes and depth check entries, topic connections, and procedures with their steps and ThinkNote content. This file is for reading and printing only. It cannot be imported back into the app.

Writing a custom JSON file

You can write a .json file by hand and import it to pre-populate a subject with topics, questions, procedures, and more. This is useful for converting course outlines, syllabi, or AI-generated topic maps into the app format. See the full JSON Reference for the complete specification and a working example.