Internal Notes

An Internal note is a text message the team places in a conversation timeline without replying to the customer or giving its content to the AI. Use it to summarize a decision, leave context for the next teammate, or record a human follow-up.

An internal note is not a Note

SquadOS also uses Notes for the structured key/value memory attached to a contact or conversation. The Notes native tool (manage_notes) lets the AI read and change that memory. These features have different scopes and recipients; do not use their names interchangeably.

What happens when you add an internal note

The note:

• appears chronologically among the conversation messages;
• shows Only your team can see, plus the author and time;
• accepts 1 to 4,000 characters after leading and trailing whitespace is removed;
• stays outside the messages table, AI context, and channel deliveries;
• does not reply to the customer or change reply turn, assignee, SLA, conversation status, or AI setting;
• does not charge for a message or agent run.

Changes arrive in real time for authorized teammates who have the conversation open.

Add a note

1. Open Conversations and select the conversation.
2. In the composer, switch from Reply to Internal note.
3. Write the observation. The warning-colored frame, lock, and Only your team can see text confirm the private mode.
4. Click Add note.

The text enters the timeline; it is not sent to the customer. If the conversation cannot receive a reply — for example, because AI is active, it is completed, snoozed, outside the WhatsApp window, or is an internal conversation — the composer may open directly in Internal note, with Reply disabled.

An internal note does not claim or reopen a conversation. To change the service flow, use the actions in Conversation States and Human Handoff.

Edit or delete

On the note itself, use Edit internal note or Delete internal note:

• the author can edit or delete their own note;
• administrators can manage notes written by other people;
• other teammates with conversation access can read the note but do not get those actions;
• editing preserves the original time and adds the Edited indicator;
• deleting removes the content from the timeline after confirmation.

Creation, editing, and deletion generate operational events. Context → Activity preserves the fact and actor behind the operation, but it does not retain a copy of deleted text.

Who can see and write

In the normal flow, access requires an authenticated session, the Attendant role or higher, and access to the conversation inbox. Superadmins are also authorized by the backend.

Person or system	Reads internal-note text?	Can create one?
Customer on WhatsApp, public chat, widget, or another channel	No	No
AI agent	No	No
Attendant with inbox access	Yes	Yes
Administrator with organization access	Yes	Yes

The content belongs only to the conversation where it was written. It does not follow the contact into another service interaction.

Archiving is not access control

An archived conversation disappears from lists, but the current product still allows its direct URL to open and actions to run. Do not use archiving to protect a sensitive note.

Webhook events

The catalog offers conversation.internal_note_created, conversation.internal_note_updated, and conversation.internal_note_deleted. They are excluded from bulk selection because the interface classifies them as internal content.

In the current emitter, however, the operational payload contains the event type and note_id, not the note body. Do not treat these webhooks as text export, backup, or synchronization. This discrepancy between the interface and payload is recorded in the bug dossier. See Event Webhooks for the general delivery contract.

Do not confuse this with Notes

	Internal note	Notes
Format	Free text up to 4,000 characters	Key/value JSON object
Writer	Team member	AI through the Notes tool; the team can also adjust it in the panel
Location	Conversation timeline	Context → Contact, in the Notes card
Scope	This conversation only	Contact on external channels; conversation in Hub without an external contact
Does the AI receive it?	Never through the conversation flow	Yes, when it calls manage_notes
Recommended use	Human coordination and record keeping	Structured facts the AI needs to reuse

To enable AI memory, open the agent, go to Tools, and add Notes. It is one tool with no extra configuration: action: "read" reads a key or the full object; action: "write" creates, updates, or deletes a key (value: null deletes it).

On channels linked to an external contact, such as WhatsApp or Telegram, Notes belong to the contact and span conversations. In internal Hub conversations, they belong to the current conversation. Use canonical lowercase English snake_case keys; read existing keys before writing so the agent does not create duplicates.

Good practices

• Start with the decision or action: Refund approved; finance will reply by Friday.
• Record only the context the team needs; do not copy the full transcript.
• Do not store passwords, tokens, API keys, or other secrets.
• Use Internal note for human coordination and Notes for structured memory the AI needs to consult.
• After a handoff, record the owner and next step; do not assume the note changes the conversation assignee or status.