Beta User Guide - SMS Knowledge Assistant

1. Getting Started

SMS Knowledge Assistant turns your text messages into an intelligent, searchable knowledge base. Here's how to send your first note.

Your First Note

Simply text any thought to your dedicated SMS Knowledge Assistant number. No commands needed for basic notes.

Your first note

Meeting with Sarah tomorrow at 2pm about Q1 planning

Got it! Saved and tagged: meeting, Sarah, Q1, planning. Your note is searchable.

Quick Tip

Write naturally, like you're texting a friend. The AI figures out categories, people, and topics automatically.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

When you send a note, our AI automatically:

Categorizes your note (work, personal, ideas, etc.)
Extracts people, places, projects, and dates
Generates searchable tags and keywords
Finds connections to your existing notes

2. Capturing Notes Effectively

You can capture anything: ideas, meeting notes, reminders, quotes, learnings, and more. Here are some examples of what works well.

Ideas & Thoughts

Idea: What if we added voice messages to the app? Could transcribe automatically

Saved! Tagged: idea, product, feature, voice. Connected to 2 related notes.

Meeting Notes

Call with Alex: they want to move up the launch date to March 15. Need to check with engineering first.

Saved! Tagged: meeting, Alex, launch, March 15, engineering, action item.

Things You Learn

TIL: The Pomodoro technique works better if you take a longer 15-30 min break every 4 cycles

Saved! Tagged: learning, productivity, Pomodoro, technique, tip.

Quick Reminders

Remember: password for staging server is in 1Password under "Dev Servers"

Saved! Tagged: reminder, password, server, 1Password.

Pro Tip: Be Specific

Including names, dates, and project names helps the AI categorize better and makes future searches more accurate. "Meeting with Sarah about Project Phoenix budget" is better than "Had a meeting today."

3. All Commands Reference

Commands start with / and let you interact with your knowledge base. Here's every command available.

/s (search)

Search your notes using semantic similarity. Find notes by meaning, not just exact keywords. Ask questions or describe what you're looking for.

/s <what you're looking for>

Examples

/s meeting with Sarah Finds all notes about meetings with Sarah
/s that book someone recommended Finds book recommendations even without exact title
/s ideas about productivity Finds notes related to productivity concepts
/s what did Alex say about the launch? Finds notes mentioning Alex and launch-related topics

/t (tag)

Find all notes with a specific tag or category. Great for browsing topics.

/t <tag name>

Examples

/t work All work-related notes
/t ideas All your captured ideas
/t Sarah All notes mentioning Sarah
/t recipes All your saved recipes

/h (history)

View your recent notes and conversation history. See what you've captured lately.

Example

/h Shows your last 5 notes with timestamps

/w (web / AI knowledge)

Ask questions about general knowledge. The AI answers using its training data. Responses are marked [AI KNOWLEDGE] so you know it's not from your notes.

/w <your question>

Examples

/w What is the Pomodoro technique? Explains the productivity method
/w How does compound interest work? Explains the financial concept
/w Best practices for code reviews Provides software development advice

/c (clear)

Remove notes you no longer need. Always shows a preview first so you can confirm. Backups are created for bulk operations.

/c <search term> [confirm]

Examples

/c old meeting notes Preview: shows which notes would be deleted
/c old meeting notes confirm Actually deletes the matching notes
/c all confirm Deletes everything (backup created first)

Be Careful

Deleted notes cannot be recovered (except for full backups from /c all confirm). Always check the preview first.

/info (help)

Get help and see all available commands. You can also get details about specific features.

/info [topic]

Examples

/info Shows all commands and quick reference
/info search Details about the search feature
/info privacy Information about data privacy

4. Mastering Search

Search is your superpower. Unlike traditional keyword search, SMS Knowledge Assistant uses semantic search to find notes by meaning.

Keyword vs. Semantic Search

Your original note (saved weeks ago)

Alex mentioned we should consider quarterly OKRs for the team

Today's search

/s goal setting ideas

Found 3 notes: 1. Alex mentioned we should consider quarterly OKRs... (89% match) 2. Read about setting SMART goals for... (76% match) 3. Team retrospective: we need better... (68% match)

Notice how the search for "goal setting" found the note about "OKRs" even though those exact words weren't used. The AI understands that OKRs are related to goal setting.

Search Tips

Be conversational: "what did Sarah say about the budget" works better than "Sarah budget"
Include context: "book recommendation from the conference" is more precise than just "book"
Try different angles: If one search doesn't find what you want, try describing it differently
Use questions: "why did we decide to use React?" can surface relevant decision notes

5. Tips for Effective Use

Best Practices

Capture immediately: Text your thought the moment it occurs. Don't wait until you have time to "properly" write it down.
Include names and context: "Meeting with Sarah about Q1 budget" is much more searchable than "Had a meeting about money."
One thought per message: Send multiple short messages rather than one long one. This helps the AI categorize and connect them better.
Use your own words: Write naturally. The AI adapts to your vocabulary and writing style over time.
Search often: The more you search, the more valuable your knowledge base becomes. Rediscover ideas you forgot you had.

Common Patterns

Daily Brain Dump

At the end of each day, text 3-5 things you learned or want to remember. In a month, you'll have a rich personal knowledge base.

Meeting Companion

During meetings, text key points, action items, and decisions. Search later with /s meeting with [name] to recall everything.

Idea Capture

Got an idea while walking? Text it immediately. Start with "Idea:" to help the AI categorize it. Search later with /t ideas.

Reading Notes

When you read something interesting, text a quick summary or quote. Include the source. Search later with /s book about [topic].

6. FAQ & Troubleshooting

What if I text the wrong number?

Your notes are tied to your phone number, so make sure you're texting from the number you registered with. If you need to change your number, contact us.

How long does it take for notes to be searchable?

Notes are processed and indexed within seconds of receiving them. You should be able to search for a note almost immediately after sending it.

Can I edit a note after sending it?

Currently, you can't edit notes directly. The workaround is to delete the old note (/c [text from note] confirm) and send a new, corrected version. Note editing is on our roadmap.

Why didn't search find my note?

Try different search terms. Semantic search is good but not perfect. If you're looking for a specific note, try searching for names, places, or unique words you remember using. You can also use /h to see recent notes.

Is there a limit to how many notes I can store?

During the beta, there's no hard limit. We want to see how you use the system. Future pricing tiers may include storage limits, but beta users will get generous grandfather terms.

Are my notes private?

Yes. Your notes are stored securely and only accessible through your phone number. We don't share your data with third parties. Text /info privacy for more details, or read our Privacy Policy.

What if I find a bug?

Please tell us! Text your feedback directly (just start with "Feedback:" or "Bug:") or email hello@smsknowledge.ai. Bug reports help us improve the product for everyone.

The response time seems slow. Is that normal?

Responses should arrive within 5 seconds for most operations. Searches over large knowledge bases may take slightly longer. If you're consistently experiencing delays over 10 seconds, please let us know.

How do I unsubscribe or delete all my data?

Text STOP to unsubscribe from messages. To delete all your data, use /c all confirm then contact us to confirm account deletion. We respect your right to be forgotten.

7. Beta Program Information

Thank you for being a beta tester! You're helping shape the future of personal knowledge management. Here's what to expect during the beta period.

What Beta Means

Early access: You're using features before they're publicly available. Things may change based on your feedback.
Bugs may exist: We've tested extensively, but you may encounter issues. Please report them -- it helps us improve.
Your input matters: We actively incorporate beta user feedback into our product decisions. Tell us what you love and what frustrates you.
Free during beta: There's no charge during the beta period. Beta users will get special pricing when we launch.

How to Give Feedback

Quick Feedback

Just text your feedback anytime! Start with "Feedback:" and we'll see it. Example: "Feedback: It would be great if search showed the date of each note"

For longer feedback or bug reports:

Email us at hello@smsknowledge.ai
Include your phone number so we can follow up
For bugs: tell us what you did, what happened, and what you expected

What We're Measuring

To improve the product, we track anonymous usage metrics like:

Number of notes captured per user
How often search is used
Response times
Which commands are most popular

We never read your actual notes -- metrics are aggregated and anonymized.

What's Coming Next

Based on early feedback, here's what we're working on:

Improved AI categorization accuracy
Note editing via SMS
Daily/weekly summary emails (opt-in)
Mobile app for browsing and visual knowledge graph (Phase 2)

Stay Updated

We'll text you about major updates and new features. You can also follow development updates at our blog (coming soon).