Command nodes help you get one or more tasks done in Tana. You can create your own command nodes with multiple commands, or steps, within them. For example, build a “Process voice memo” command node that grabs the voice recording, transcribes it, creates and tags tasks and ideas that it finds, and sends it all to your daily notes.
Command nodes can be run via the command line, as buttons on a supertag, or via node events.
Command nodes are easier to understand if you're already comfortable with using the command line and the search query.
For commands that use AI, see here: AI commands
command node that is a container for the command, the commands that represent the actions you want to do, and the parameters that are the settings for the commandsIS COMMAND in the search node.To create a command node, on any node go Cmd/Ctrl+K > Convert to command node:
The icon of the node will change. Give the command node a name, which will appear on command buttons, and on the command line.
To configure the command node, select the commands you want using @. This gives you a filtered list of all available commands, including Tana commands, AI commands and custom commands you've defined previously.
Tana commands include:
See All Tana commands for a full list of options.
Each command has a set of parameters you use to configure it. To add a parameter to a command, add any of the listed parameters as a field under the command. Parameters with a star are required.
Using the example of the Move node command, you'll find these settings:
Using the Move node-command and these settings, you could, for instance, make a command that
Combining this with Add tag and Set field values, you could
#project (Add tag)Brage (Set field value)Active (Set field value) and Viral Content (Move node)all with one button click.
Once you've configured your command node, it will appear in the command line (Cmd/Ctrl+K) as another command you can access alongside the default commands.
Once you've configured your command node, you can use it to make buttons appear in any node. With your caret on target node, go to the command line Cmd/Ctrl+K > Configure node to open the node configuration. Add your command node in the Commands field.
You can also add a command node to a supertag or field, see the Advanced section of the supertag/field configuration panel. The command will appear alongside the tagged node or field.
Using the parameter Node Filter, you can use search query language to control which nodes the command can be run on.
For instance, if you made a command specifically to run on your #standup tag and no other tag or node, you can add this:
>Node filter: #standup
An excluded node will not display the command, neither from the command line nor as a button.
You can find all commands in your workspaces by creating a search node and using the keyword operator IS COMMAND. Scope it down to a workspace to only find commands from there.
You can have commands trigger when child nodes are added or removed from any node. For more, see On child added/removed
You can also have commands trigger when a supertag is added or removed from any node. For more, see On added/removed
Can be used to emulate template behaviour, add a new time log entry to a time log etc
System command that inserts a date using the relative date string.
System command that moves a node
System command for adding a tag to a node.
System command for removing a tag from a node.
System command for setting field values to a field.
System command for setting field values to a field applied to all children. Example: Set all children to "status deployed" for a release process.
Removes the specified field
Sets the done status of a node to a particular setting
Takes the same information that is stored as a custom view on a node - can be used to configure which columns are shown, sorting, filtering, grouping etc.
Can set node to table, cards, list, tabs, calendar view.
Displays a user alert
Displays a user confirm command, and halts execution if user does not confirm
Takes a list of commands as input, and runs them in parallel (default is sequential)
Let's you run any command from the command line. Does not work well with multi-stage prompts
Let's you run a command on all children.
Let's you run a command on the children based on what currently is in view. It respects the current search query (which may not be saved) and filtering of results.
For commands that use AI, see here: AI command nodes
Settings > Private keyboard shortcuts to the shortcut you just made and expand it. You'll find the command written out in a node.🙏 Thanks to Chuck for surfacing this excellent tip for all keyboard users out there doing incremental/bullet journaling and who find that command buttons just aren't their thing! For more stuff like this, join our community to share and learn about all things Tana 🫶
Use one keyboard shortcut to bring up a very specific set of commands.
For this example, we're going to build one command that brings up a set of commands for a bullet journaling practice. People who practice bullet journalling (or BuJo) usually decide on a list of keys or "signifiers": bullet symbols that mean different things to the writer. Here's an example of things that might be in this list:
In Tana, we can assume each item in the list is a separate supertag.
Bujo:".Bujo:. To test it, use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P
Bujo: in the command lineThat's it 🙌
🙏 Thanks to many community members but especially Ready and Navigator Dee for surfacing this tip in a recent conversation! For more stuff like this, join our community to share and learn about all things Tana 🫶
To move all nodes to a single place when they get tagged. This is useful if you want nodes of a certain type to live in a place that makes sense for breadcrumb navigation.
For this example, we're going to build a command that moves all tagged nodes to the Library.
Library from the dropdown. There are other locations to choose from as well, and you can insert a reference to any node you want as the targetunchecked so it leaves a reference of the node in the original locationcheck it. This ensures that even when you use the Add tag action on a reference, it moves the original node to the desired location and not the reference (which won't achieve the goal of this command)To test it, use the supertag on a node:
That's it 🙌
Community member Jérémie asked: "I created a new supertag called #feedback to collect feedback from my team. They can easily add a comment and add the supertag. Is there a way to receive a notification when the tag has been added?"
Great question! Below was the solution that worked 👇 For more stuff like this, join our community to share and learn about all things Tana 🫶
Notify @[your tana account email]. Example: Notify @fei@tana.incTest the command by adding the supertag. You should
🙌 That's it!
🙏 Credit goes to Ulises RJ and Navigator Theo for coming up with this elegant solution! Join our community to share and learn about all things Tana 🫶
You want to build one command that toggles the state of something, like a checkbox. The key that unlocks this is the obscure Run commands in parallel command, and this is an excellent use for it. The uses for a toggle are endless; this example will demonstrate how to build a visibility switch for command buttons.
Let's call it the single-command toggle.
Note: This is more like a proto-command, something that isn't useful on its own, but unlocks many creative uses.
Always>NOT:: >is visible:: true (checked)Fields to set: >is visible:: true (checked)>is visible:: true (checked)Fields to remove: is visible (field definition)Commands to run, add references to the two commands you created earlierThe commands are now ready to go.
To configure the commands you want to toggle the visibility on, each command will need a node filter where the checked state of the is visible field determines whether they show up or not:
>Node filter:: >is visible:: true (checked)Test the command again by running the Toggle visibility command on the node. It should make the buttons appear/disappear.
🙌 That's it!
There is a command called Set view definition. It can set the Group, Sort and Display settings of a node view.
There is no good UX for this at the moment, so the instructions are not conventional nor friendly for beginners. But right now, this is one way of doing it:
When you run this command on a node, this should change the view settings according to your configuration.
Use Insert relative date command, here's an example:
The Autofill command can generate a new node title and description based on the URL.
To set up the command
Autofill fields commandAutofill title and Autofill description parameters to change bothModel to use to control which model you prefer. If left empty, Tana will pick the one that returns the answer with best quality and consistencyTo run the command
