Make your own lists: a contacts directory#

scrap has a few kinds of page built in (notes, todos, Later, boards, docs), but most of what you keep falls into classes of your own: people, recipes, places, gift ideas. You don’t need a new kind for each. A class is a tag, a list is a search for it, and a pin puts the list one tap away. This guide builds a contacts directory as the worked example; the same steps make any other list.

1. Pick a tag for the class#

Choose one top-level tag for the class, and a sub-tag under it for each group you want to see apart:

Tag

For

person

everyone you keep a note on

person/family

family

person/work

colleagues

A search for tag:person also finds person/family and person/work, so the top-level tag is the whole directory and the sub-tags are its sections. Someone can be in two groups: give their page both sub-tags. Keep each person to one page, titled with their name; the text holds whatever you want to remember (an address, a birthday, who they work with).

2. Add people#

Any of these works, and you can mix them:

  • New from the list. Search for tag:person/work. With a tag filter on, the top bar shows New (a + at its right end, as New todo is on the Todos screen). Tap it and the composer opens with Tags already set to #person/work. Type the name on the first line (it becomes the title), anything else below, and Save. The composer closes back onto the search, and the new page joins the list once it has uploaded. The same works for a kind: on kind:later, New opens the composer with Later chosen.

  • Tag by hand. On any page, tap Tags (or Add tags) under the title and add person/family. In the composer, open the Tags line above the text.

  • Let Claude suggest it. Once the tag is in use on a few pages, Claude’s reading of a new note (About this page) can suggest it. A tag Claude added is marked ✦; keep it, or take it off with Tags.

  • A business card. Tap Camera on Capture and photograph the card. Claude reads the text on it (What’s in the photo, then Text in the photo), so the name, number and email are searchable. Add the person tag in the composer’s Tags line before you save, or on the page after.

3. Find them#

Search for tag:person and open Filters (the slider at the end of the search box). The Group row sets how the list is laid out:

  • A–Z puts everyone under their first letter (group:letter).

  • Tag puts them under their sub-tags, person/family and person/work (group:tag); someone with both appears in both.

Each choice is written into the query, so you can type it too: tag:person group:letter. Add words to narrow it (tag:person whitby), or pick a sub-tag alone (tag:person/family).

4. Keep the list one tap away#

Tap the empty search box: Pinned is listed first, then Recent. There are three ways to add to Pinned:

  • From the results. On a search with results, the header has the count on the left and two icon buttons on the right: Pin search and Copy link. Tap the pin. It fills on an amber disc and its name becomes Unpin search; tap it again to unpin. The header is always one 48 px line, so the buttons never move.

  • From Recent. Each search under Recent has a pin beside its ✕. Tap it to pin that search.

  • A page. Open a page, tap Share, then Pin to Search (Unpin from Search once it is pinned).

Pinning shows Pinned with Undo. A pinned search is named after its query, as the filter chips say it: tag:person group:letter becomes #person · grouped A–Z.

Pins are kept on a page of their own, titled Pinned: a list of links, one per pin. Tap Edit pins beside the Pinned heading to open it, then Edit to change it. Rename a pin by changing its link text, reorder by moving its line, take one out by deleting its line:

- [People A–Z](/search?q=tag:person%20group:letter)
- [Family](/search?q=tag:person/family%20sort:title)
- [Contacts](/p/contacts)

Because Pinned is an ordinary page, your pins are the same on every device, and you can link to it from other pages.

Or write an index page#

For a list with several views, write one page of search links and pin that instead. A Contacts note might read:

The people I keep a note on are tagged #person, with family and work under it.

- [Everyone](/search?q=tag:person%20group:letter)
- [By group](/search?q=tag:person%20group:tag)
- [Family](/search?q=tag:person/family%20sort:title)
- [Work](/search?q=tag:person/work%20sort:title)

A link to /search?q=... opens the search in place, and Back returns to the page. To get a search’s address, run it and tap Copy link in the results header. Then pin the page with Share, Pin to Search. To keep a list of links to individual pages, as bookmarks, see Keep an index of your pages.

Other lists#

The same recipe, with a different tag:

  • Recipes: recipe, with recipe/baking and recipe/weeknight; group by Tag.

  • Places: place, with place/eat and place/visit; photograph the menu or the sign.

  • Gift ideas: gift, with a sub-tag per person (gift/dad); pin the one you need in December.

  • Equipment: kit, with kit/garden and kit/climbing; a photo of each model plate makes the serial number searchable.