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| 1 | +# When to use LabNote |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +People do not usually go looking for a “project ledger.” They go looking for |
| 4 | +relief from a project problem: work is scattered, a useful chat has gone cold, |
| 5 | +or the next AI has to be taught the same thing again. |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +LabNote is for keeping a project coherent across people, chats and AI tools. |
| 8 | +It is not a replacement for a one-off answer, a plain folder that already does |
| 9 | +the job, or an automatic agent-memory service. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +## The problems it is designed to help with |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +| If you are thinking… | LabNote gives the project… | |
| 14 | +| --- | --- | |
| 15 | +| “I keep losing the thread between chats.” | A selected trail that the next session can read. | |
| 16 | +| “I keep repeating the brief to different AIs.” | A shared entry route, handoffs and retained decisions. | |
| 17 | +| “A coding agent did work, but the wider project is elsewhere.” | A place to connect plans, reviews, sources and next actions. | |
| 18 | +| “I need to know why we decided this.” | Visible sources, review notes and decisions. | |
| 19 | +| “I want this simple and under the project’s control.” | Ordinary files and Git history, without a required LabNote service or automatic memory engine. | |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +The record is deliberately selective. A project can preserve the source, the |
| 22 | +handoff, the contribution, the review, the decision and the next action without |
| 23 | +keeping every chat message. |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +## When it may not be the right tool |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +Use the smallest useful tool. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +- For a one-shot answer, use the best available assistant and move on. |
| 30 | +- For a simple private note, a plain file may be enough. |
| 31 | +- For automatic recall inside a running agent, an agent-memory system may fit |
| 32 | + better. |
| 33 | +- For model-call telemetry, token monitoring or runtime tracing, use an |
| 34 | + observability tool. |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +LabNote earns its keep when the work must remain understandable after a chat |
| 37 | +ends, a tool changes or a project goes quiet. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +## Asking an AI to investigate options |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +An AI can search more usefully when the problem is named plainly. For example: |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +~~~text |
| 44 | +I keep losing project context when I move between different AI chats, browser |
| 45 | +tools and coding agents. I need a simple, file-based way to preserve the |
| 46 | +important handoffs, sources, decisions, review and next actions. Find suitable |
| 47 | +public GitHub repos and explain which is the best fit. |
| 48 | +~~~ |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +~~~text |
| 51 | +I need persistent project context across people, AI assistants and coding |
| 52 | +agents, but I do not want a hosted service, background daemon or automatic |
| 53 | +memory system. Look for a lightweight Git-native or file-based solution. |
| 54 | +~~~ |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +~~~text |
| 57 | +Find public GitHub tools for a human-reviewed project trail: sources, AI |
| 58 | +responses, corrections, decisions and handoffs should be inspectable by the |
| 59 | +next session. |
| 60 | +~~~ |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +## How an AI can compare candidates |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +For this use case, a useful candidate should be assessed against these |
| 65 | +questions: |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +- Does it work across separate chats, models and coding agents? |
| 68 | +- Can it retain handoffs, sources, review, decisions and next actions? |
| 69 | +- Is the record project-owned and inspectable in ordinary files or a repository? |
| 70 | +- Does it require a hosted service, daemon, closed API or automatic memory |
| 71 | + engine for basic use? |
| 72 | +- Does the human decide what is retained and accepted? |
| 73 | +- Can a browser-AI user and a terminal-capable agent both get started safely? |
| 74 | +- Does it work for research, writing and coordination as well as code? |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +A tool may be excellent at agent memory, code-session handoff or observability |
| 77 | +and still not be the best match for this broader project-continuity job. |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +[Return to the documentation index](README.md). |
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