> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trydear.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Index cards: capturing and organizing ideas

> Understand how index cards work in Dear — how AI generates headers and topic tags, what card statuses mean, and how to add, edit, and reorder cards.

An index card is a single idea. It holds a short piece of text you wrote, a compact AI-generated header that names the idea, and a topic tag that links it to neighboring cards. Index cards live in the **Explore** sub-tab of Outline mode and form the raw material for your plan and eventual draft.

## Anatomy of a card

Each card has four visible parts:

| Part                 | What it shows                                                                               |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Note text**        | The note you typed, spoke, or pasted — your words, unchanged                                |
| **Header**           | A short AI-generated label that summarizes the card's idea                                  |
| **Topic tag**        | A label that groups related cards by topic                                                  |
| **Topic connection** | A visual indicator showing whether this card shares a topic with the card directly above it |

The `header` is generated automatically. You do not need to name your ideas yourself, though you can edit the header text after it appears.

## Card statuses

After you submit a note, Dear moves the card through three statuses before it is ready to use:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Fetching header">
    Dear has sent your note to the AI and is waiting for a response. The header area shows a loading indicator.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Typing header">
    The header is streaming in character by character. You can already read a partial label.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ready">
    The header is complete and the card is fully usable — reorderable, editable, and available for the outline plan.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Topic grouping

When a card is generated, Dear determines whether it belongs to the same topic as the card above it. Cards with the same topic as their predecessor are displayed with a visual connection that helps you see clusters of related ideas at a glance.

Topic tags and grouping are assigned by the AI based on the meaning of each card's text. They update when you reorder cards.

<Note>
  The topic connection indicator is absent on the very first card in a document, since there is no preceding card to compare against.
</Note>

## Adding cards

You can add cards in three ways from the Explore sub-tab:

* **Type** — write a short note in the staging area and submit it.
* **Talk** — use live transcription to speak your idea aloud; Dear converts the transcript into a card automatically.
* **Import** — paste a block of text; Dear splits it into cards.

Each submission creates one or more cards. Dear fetches the header and topic tag immediately after each card is created.

## Editing cards

Click the text of any card to edit it inline. Changes you make to the card text do not automatically regenerate the header — the header reflects what the card contained when it was first submitted. If you substantially rewrite a card, you can trigger a fresh header by clearing and resubmitting the card.

## Reordering cards

Drag a card to a new position in the list. Card order matters: the outline plan and Stitch both use the sequence of cards as they appear in Explore. When you reorder, the topic connection indicators update to reflect the new neighbors.

<Tip>
  Group related cards together before you switch to the Outline sub-tab. The plan Dear generates will be more coherent if cards on the same subject are already adjacent.
</Tip>

## How cards become a draft

When you are ready to draft, switch to the **Outline** sub-tab, review the plan, and click **Send plan to Write**. Stitch converts your ordered cards into heading and body blocks on the Write canvas. See [Outline and Write](/concepts/outline-and-write) for the full picture.