Capture once.
Keep it close.

Decide what gets through.

1. Sign in to BeginNotes. Open Settings → Automations & triggers → Manage my triggers.
2. Create a credential for each workflow. Name it, choose its destination project and set optional rules.
3. Match any comma-separated keyword; exclude words you do not want. Choose a source, individual weekdays, date range and local time window. Overnight windows work too.
4. Copy the credential once into the integration’s protected credential setting. It can add notes and claim or report its own pull requests. It cannot read, edit or delete saved notes.
5. Use Edit rules to change conditions later. Uncheck Automation enabled to pause it; re-enable it when ready. Revoke permanently invalidates that credential. Credentials expire after 90 days.

Rules evaluate when a request arrives. A filtered event is not queued on BeginThings. Keep it in the source workflow if you want it retried during a later window. Keyword rules are case-insensitive text matches, not AI interpretation.

Save selected text or a link.

Download and unzip the browser package. In Chrome or Edge, open Extensions, enable Developer mode, choose Load unpacked, and select the extracted folder. Add a capture credential in the extension’s Connection settings.

Right-click a selection or link and choose Save to BeginNotes, or open the toolbar popup. This is a development package, not a store-published extension. It uses active-tab access; it does not continuously monitor pages, history or your clipboard.

If a request fails or a rule filters it, the capture stays in the extension’s local pending queue. Open its popup and choose Retry. Retry or explicitly discard pending captures before changing the extension credential. Keep the source while resolving errors.

Import now, or keep it automatic.

Open Import & sync in BeginNotes. Import a supported file, paste text into a new draft, or refresh notes already in your account. For a connected Google script, choose Gmail, Google Calendar, or both, then save your source choices. Turn automatic imports on or off. Choose Pull selected apps to request a new check; the panel shows when it is waiting, running and complete, with imported, filtered and skipped counts.

Manual requests run on the script’s next scheduled check, normally around a minute, subject to Google availability. Capture rules still apply. Saving source choices cancels any request that has not started. A running check must finish before its assignments can change. An old connector shows an upgrade link instead of pretending it can pull.

Upgrading your existing Google script: replace Code.gs with the current download, keep your existing BEGINNOTES_TOKEN Script property, and run beginNotesEnable once. It replaces the old five-minute trigger with one one-minute trigger for the same function. Existing acknowledged items remain acknowledged.

Gmail and Calendar, selectively.

1. Download the Google package. Create a private project at Google Apps Script. Add the supplied Code.gs and appsscript.json files. Enable the listed Gmail and Calendar services when Google requests it.
2. In Script properties, add BEGINNOTES_TOKEN with your capture credential.
3. Apply a Gmail label named BeginNotes to chosen messages. For a primary-calendar event, add #beginnotes to its title or description.
4. Run beginNotesRun once. Review Google’s consent screen for read-only Gmail/Calendar access, outbound requests and trigger management. Check the resulting note.
5. Run beginNotesEnable to check for pull requests every minute. Automatic imports run about every five minutes. Run beginNotesDisable to stop the schedule.

The script captures labelled email from the last 30 days and marked calendar events from yesterday through the next 30 days. It imports a copy, not two-way updates. It does not send email or modify your messages or events. Gmail attachments are not imported. Read-only permissions can read more than the selected label or tag; the supplied script enforces that selection.

This uses your own Google account and its Apps Script quotas. It avoids a paid automation subscription, but timing and availability follow Google’s service.

Connect another workflow.

In n8n, Make, Zapier or a tool with authorized notification access, add an HTTP POST action after your chosen event. Store the credential in its protected settings.

Endpoint

https://beginthings.com/workspace/api/beginnotes-capture.php

Headers

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_CAPTURE_CREDENTIAL

{
  "eventId": "stable-source-event-id",
  "title": "Client revision",
  "body": "Use the new headline in the next draft.",
  "source": "webhook",
  "kind": "task",
  "dueDate": "2026-10-01"
}

Sources: gmail, calendar, browser, notification or webhook. Keep the same eventId and payload when retrying; changed content needs a new eventId. A response with accepted:false means filtered, not saved. Treat 401 as a connection problem, 409 as a conflict or quota issue, 429 as a signal to wait, and 5xx as retryable.

Phone notifications: a browser cannot read other apps’ notifications. An Android notification tool needs explicit notification-access permission before it can send a chosen event here. A dedicated BeginNotes native listener is not included in this release.

Know what is connected.

Account notes refresh in visible app windows roughly every 30 seconds. Offline or closed apps catch up when reopened online. Device records show successful contact; they are not proof of delivery to every device or a remote sign-out control.

Each trigger supports up to 30 capture attempts per minute and 1,000 event receipts over seven days. Duplicate protection lasts seven days. Account limits remain 200 notes and 20 MiB. Trigger intake accepts text and links; use the app for supported image attachments.

Apple Notes, personal Google Keep, WhatsApp chats and Instagram Saved are not connected automatically. Use selected copies, links and supported share actions. No Android notification listener, OCR, voice transcription or background reminder delivery is claimed.

References and permissions

These workflows follow Google’s Gmail service documentation, Apps Script installable triggers, Chrome’s active-tab permission model, and n8n’s HTTP Request documentation.