Notes

Notes are searchable external records for project knowledge. Each Note has a title and body and can also contain tags and rich Asset, Pin, Note, Document, and Actor references.

Choose Shared or Private

Scope	Storage	Source-control behavior
Shared	`<Project>/ProjectNotes/`	Uses the active Unreal source-control provider when available
Private	`<Project>/Saved/Locus/PrivateNotes/`	Never queries or changes the provider

The scope is determined by the storage root. Locus does not convert an existing Note between Shared and Private.

Capture a Quick Note

Press Ctrl+Alt+N to open Quick Capture, a compact popup that saves an ordinary Locus Note without opening the main Locus workspace. The shortcut is rebindable in Unreal Editor’s Keyboard Shortcuts settings.

The body is the primary entry; the title is optional.
Every opening starts Private. Shared is an explicit choice for each capture.
Press Ctrl+Enter to save. Esc closes the popup and keeps your draft for the current Editor session.

Quick Capture attaches what you are working on as visible, removable reference chips. Context can include the focused Note, the selected Pin, the focused Document, selected Content Browser assets, and selected Level Editor Actors. Actors that cannot be referenced are listed with the reason and do not block saving. The saved current World is offered separately and is attached only when you choose Add. The normal reference rules still apply: a Shared Note cannot newly reference a Private Note or Private Pin.

Take Note opens Quick Capture with the relevant context already attached. It is available from the Content Browser Locus Notes menu, the Level Editor Actor context menu, a Pin’s viewport quick actions, the Pins workspace, the Locus workspace, and the Document Editor. A Note taken from a Pin is independent of that Pin and its comments.

Quick Notes Inbox

The Quick Notes Inbox in the Notes workspace shows your Quick Captures that are still at the root of your Notes, and appears only when it has Notes. For each one, file it into a folder, choose Mark as Filed to keep it at the root and remove it from the Inbox, or delete it. The Inbox is a personal view only: each Quick Capture is an ordinary Locus Note, not a separate storage location or content type.

Create and organize Notes

Use New Note or Ctrl+N and choose a scope. Locus creates a unique default title, saves the Note, and starts title editing. Use New Folder or Ctrl+Shift+N to organize the tree.

Locus filters to Private the first time Notes opens for a project. New Note creates immediately in the visible Private or Shared scope; under All, it follows the active Note and defaults to Private when none is active. A normal click selects one row. Use Ctrl/Shift-click for multi-selection and the matching duplicate, delete, or select-all actions.

The Notes toolbar remains one row. At narrow widths, Insert Reference, scope, and then creation actions move progressively into the ellipsis menu and return when space is available. Visible and overflowed entries run the same commands.

Folders are a logical organization layer within a scope. Deleting a folder requires confirmation and moves its Notes and child folders to the parent instead of deleting the Notes. Drag Notes or folders to reorganize them within the same scope. This changes the Note’s folder assignment rather than moving its stored file, so normal Note organization does not require a source-control file move. Press F2 to rename a selected item and Ctrl+D to duplicate a selected Note.

Locus Notes workspace with folder hierarchy, Shared scope context, and an active note — Notes organize project knowledge by folder and scope while the selected note stays visible for editing.

Edit and save

Select a Note to edit its title, body, tags, and references. Tags use compact chips: type a tag and press Enter to add it, or select × on a chip to remove it. Empty tags and case-insensitive duplicates are rejected. Locus saves after a short editing delay. Press Ctrl+S to flush pending changes immediately or retry a failed save.

The default Readable presentation displays resolved references as compact labels. Source presentation exposes their authored token form. Change the default, font size, and word wrapping in Settings.

Find Notes

Text search matches titles, bodies, tags, reference labels, and reference identities. Combine it with scope, tag, or selected-asset filters. Multiple selected tags use AND matching and tag matching is case-insensitive.

Use the Content Browser context action Show Related Project Notes to filter for the selected asset. Create Project Note creates a Shared or Private Note associated with Content Browser context.

Rich references

Use Insert Reference to search for and insert an Asset, Pin, Note, or Document reference. You can also type @ where supported or drag a supported Locus item or Content Browser asset into the body at the intended text position. Assets locate or open in the Editor, Notes select in the Notes workspace, Documents open in a Document Editor tab, and Pins use Go to Pin. Cross-map Pin navigation asks before using Unreal’s normal dirty-package save and level-open workflow.

To author an Actor reference, drag exactly one eligible loaded Actor from the World Outliner into an editable Note. Actor identity uses the saved root World and Actor GUID, not its label. Actor references are not offered by Insert Reference or @. Missing or malformed references remain visible for diagnosis rather than silently disappearing.

Shared Notes cannot newly reference Private Notes or Private Pins. Private Notes may reference Shared or Private content, preventing Private identities from leaking into project-owned text.

Recovery and external changes

Recovery snapshots are stored separately from the authoritative Note:

Shared recovery: <Project>/Saved/ProjectNotes/Recovery/
Private recovery: <Project>/Saved/Locus/Recovery/PrivateNotes/

When recovery is available, review it before choosing Restore, Restore as New Note, or Discard. If a file changes outside Locus while you have unsaved edits, Locus blocks a silent overwrite and offers safe actions such as reloading disk, saving the local text as a new Note, copying local text, or comparing both versions. A clean externally changed Note refreshes from disk.

Delete Notes

Deleting selected Notes requires confirmation and permanently removes their external files; Unreal’s undo system cannot restore them. When source control is active, Locus refuses unsafe deletion states such as another user’s checkout, an out-of-date file, or a status it cannot verify.

Source control and Local Mode

Private Notes always remain provider-neutral. Selecting, opening, or reading a clean controlled Shared Note does not check it out. It remains read-only until you use Check Out; successful checkout enables editing, while failure leaves the Note protected without a Make Writable bypass.

A new Shared Note is written locally first and then requests Mark for Add; if that provider operation fails, the valid local file remains and the action can be retried.

With no provider configured, new or untracked Shared Notes remain editable in Local Mode and Notes omits source-control status, tooltips, guidance, and actions. An already depot-controlled Note remains protected if its configured provider becomes unavailable. With a configured provider, Show Source Control Status controls compact list indicators without hiding required safety feedback or changing action eligibility. Locus does not submit, sync, manage changelists, or change repository typemaps. See Source Control and Troubleshooting.

Current limitations

Note organization stays within its existing Shared or Private scope.
References do not load assets, levels, or Actors merely to list or search Notes.
Actor authoring is limited to one eligible loaded World Outliner Actor dropped into an editable Note.
Source-control support is limited by the active Unreal provider and its reported file state.