Nota

Local clinical note annotation tool. All data stays on your machine.

Features

Annotation Mode

• Notes panel (left): Browse, search, and filter your imported notes
• Document view (center): Read and highlight text spans
• Questions panel (right): Tag highlights with clinical questions using hotkeys 1-0

Review Mode

• See all annotations grouped by question
• Jump to any annotation in context
• Edit or delete annotations

Format Mode

• Bulk upload raw clinical notes (.txt files)
• Auto-format with section header detection
• Side-by-side before/after preview
• Load formatted notes directly into annotator

Session Sharing

• Export full session (notes + annotations + settings) as JSON
• Share with collaborators who can load the exact same state
• All data stays local - safe for PHI

Persistent Storage

• Auto-saves after every action
• Survives app close and computer restart
• No manual saving required

Quick Start

cd nota
bun install
bun dev

Opens at http://localhost:3000

Download

Pre-built executables available on the releases page:

Platform	Download
Windows	Nota_x.x.x_x64-setup.exe or .msi
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Nota_x.x.x_aarch64.dmg
macOS (Intel)	Nota_x.x.x_x64.dmg
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)	Nota_x.x.x_amd64.deb
Linux (Fedora/RHEL)	Nota_x.x.x.x86_64.rpm
Linux (Universal)	Nota_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
1-0	Tag selection with question 1-10
←/→	Previous/next note
Tab	Cycle between modes

Clinical Questions (Default)

The default questions are based on kidney stone disease research:

1. Symptoms - flank pain, hematuria, bloody urine
2. Progression - interval stone growth, stones growing
3. Rare Disease - cystinuria, cystine, primary hyperoxaluria
4. SDOH - housing, transportation, support
5. Devices - Fr, French, sheath, laser fiber
6. Radiology - stone size, location, hydronephrosis
7. Diet Advice - water, sodium, oxalate, protein
8. ER Visit - ED presentation for stone
9. Post-op Complication - complication within 30 days
10. Stone Passage - passed stone at home

Questions can be customized in Settings.

Data Formats

Import: JSON, JSONL, or TXT files (single or folder)

Export:

• annotations.json - full data for downstream analysis
• annotations.csv - flat table for spreadsheets
• nota-session-*.json - shareable session bundle

Building from Source

# install rust (for desktop app)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# install dependencies
bun install

# run development server
bun dev

# build desktop app
bun run tauri:build

Privacy

• All data stored locally (browser localStorage or app data directory)
• No network requests
• No telemetry
• Safe for PHI/HIPAA workflows

Desktop app data locations:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\com.nota.app\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/com.nota.app/
• Linux: ~/.local/share/com.nota.app/

Citation

If you use Nota in your research, please cite:

@software{nota2025,
  author = {Qassem, Layth M},
  title = {Nota: Local Clinical Note Annotation Tool},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://github.com/editnori/nota}
}

Or in text:

Qassem, L. M. (2025). Nota: Local Clinical Note Annotation Tool. https://github.com/editnori/nota

License

MIT

Author

Dr. Layth M Qassem PharmD MSACI