---
title: "Tag notes"
description: "Label notes with tags in their front matter or text, and find every note with a tag from the sidebar search."
canonical_url: "https://trytree.house/docs/files/tag-notes"
last_updated: "2026-10-30"
---

# Tag notes

Label notes with tags in their front matter or text, and find every note with a tag from the sidebar search.

Tags group notes across folders. A note can carry any number, and they're written in the note itself, so they travel with it: an Obsidian vault you sync into Treehouse keeps its tags.

## Add a tag

Write it in the note's text, or list it in the note's [front matter](https://trytree.house/docs/files/front-matter). Both count the same.

**projects/launch.md**

```markdown
---
tags: [planning, product]
---

Ship the beta by Friday. #launch/beta
```

That note has three tags: `planning`, `product` and `launch/beta`.

- **In the text**, a tag is `#` and a word, written after a space or at the start of a line: `#planning`. It can hold letters, numbers, `-`, `_` and `/`, but not only numbers (`#2026` isn't a tag).
- **In front matter**, `tags:` takes a list (`tags: [planning, product]`) or names separated by commas (`tags: planning, product`). The `#` is optional there.

Capitals don't matter: `#Planning` and `#planning` are the same tag.

A `#` in a heading (`# Title`), in the middle of a word or address (`page#section`), or inside code isn't a tag.

## Nest tags

A `/` puts one tag under another. `#launch/beta` is also filed under `#launch`, so looking for `launch` finds notes tagged `launch/beta` as well.

## Find notes by tag

Type `#` in the sidebar's search box. It shows the tags in use, each with the number of notes carrying it, and lists those notes. Keep typing to narrow it: `#pla` matches `planning` and `planning/q4`. Select a tag to show only its notes and any nested under it. To find one note among many with a tag, add part of its name after the tag: `#planning roadmap`.

Open a note to see its tags under **Tags** in the details panel's **Info** tab. Select one to search for it.

## Agents and tags

An agent connected over MCP calls `list_tags` to see the tags in use, and `list_tags` with a tag to find the notes carrying it. `get_links` on a note includes its tags. Agents add tags the same way people do, by writing them into the note. See the [MCP server reference](https://trytree.house/docs/agents/reference/mcp-server#list_tags).

## Limits

- **Private notes stay private.** A note that's private to someone else is never listed or counted under a tag for you. See [keep files private](https://trytree.house/docs/files/private-files).
- **Markdown only.** Tags are read from markdown files. Notes over 2 MB aren't read for tags.
- **Older notes.** In a workspace with many notes written before tags were indexed, the search says it's still indexing and the list fills in as it works.
- **Tags aren't highlighted in the text.** An inline `#tag` reads as ordinary text in the note.

## Related

- [Front matter reference](https://trytree.house/docs/files/front-matter): The YAML block at the top of a markdown file, and the keys Treehouse reads from it to label, title, schedule and track your files.
- [Link notes together](https://trytree.house/docs/files/link-notes): Connect notes with wikilinks, see which notes link to a file, and keep those links working when you rename it.
- [Keep files private](https://trytree.house/docs/files/private-files): Make a file or folder visible only to you and your own agents, even in a workspace you share with others.
- [MCP server](https://trytree.house/docs/agents/reference/mcp-server): Every tool the Treehouse MCP server exposes, with parameters, outputs, limits and the instructions it gives connected agents.