Tana Fundamentals 02 - Intro to Supertags

Tana’s super tags are built to turn ordinary notes into structured, relationship-aware “things”—and that structure is what makes both automation and AI work reliably. Instead of tagging as a loose label (like “productivity” or “history”), super tags define a semantic role for a note, such as “task,” and then attach a template of fields that consistently describe that role. A note tagged as a task automatically carries fields like status, due date, and a related project, making it easy to read and easy for AI to interpret across an entire workspace.

Super tags also create a semantic graph through a simple convention: “has” and “is” relationships. A task “has” a related project, and that related project is itself a note with a “project” super tag. Fields then link to other notes that match the expected relationship type—so the workspace becomes a network of typed connections rather than a pile of unrelated pages. This graph is the foundation for deeper understanding now, and it’s positioned to become even more powerful as AI starts operating on the structure of that network.

Beyond the built-in task super tag, Tana supports creating new super tags in two ways: by typing a hashtag plus the tag name (which triggers an auto-filtering dropdown and creates the tag if it doesn’t exist), or by creating a note named after the tag and converting it into a super tag. Each super tag includes a template of fields that gets applied every time the tag is used. Fields can be added to templates after the fact (“add to template”), and their types can be changed—ranging from text to dates, numbers, URLs, emails, and checkboxes. Option fields become dropdowns; for example, the task status field can be configured with values like “to-do,” “done,” “canceled,” or “dropped.”

A key productivity feature is auto-initialization for relationship fields. When a note is indented under a parent note that has a relevant super tag, Tana can automatically fill fields like “related project” based on the ancestor context—so users don’t have to manually set the relationship each time.

Super tags are also composable. Adding multiple super tags to a note merges their field templates, and colors indicate which super tag each field comes from. Even more powerful, one super tag can inherit from another (“extend from”), so a “design task” can automatically include all “task” fields plus extra ones like a Figma URL. That inheritance means searches for “task” can still surface “design task” items without requiring users to apply multiple tags.

For AI readiness, super tags can be assigned a base type from Tana’s built-in categories, helping AI understand what the tag is for. Fields can be configured as AI-enhanced option fields that use AI to infer and populate values—such as identifying the topic of a quote and linking it to an existing “topic” note (or creating one if needed). Tana also supports AI instructions per super tag and voice-driven workflows via audio-enabled super tags, where recorded audio is transcribed into a child note and summarized back into the tagged note. The result is a system where structure, relationships, and AI automation reinforce each other rather than competing for attention.