[GH-ISSUE #531] [Feature] Ability to add tags to transactions #7143

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opened 2026-04-10 16:50:21 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 28 comments
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Originally created by @rich-howell on GitHub (Jan 22, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/531

Discussed in https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/discussions/151

Originally posted by winklevos August 6, 2022
Add a field to capture tags onto a transaction for later filter,

i.e tag a transactions with tax one-off

Originally created by @rich-howell on GitHub (Jan 22, 2023). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/531 ### Discussed in https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/discussions/151 <div type='discussions-op-text'> <sup>Originally posted by **winklevos** August 6, 2022</sup> Add a field to capture tags onto a transaction for later filter, i.e tag a transactions with `tax` `one-off`</div>
GiteaMirror added the feature label 2026-04-10 16:50:21 -05:00
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@MatissJanis commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2023):

@winklevos

Although we currently don't fully support search by tags, you can still use the notes field for them.

For example: #tax #one-off in the notes field

Given this: closing

<!-- gh-comment-id:1400876784 --> @MatissJanis commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2023): @winklevos Although we currently don't fully support search by tags, you can still use the notes field for them. For example: `#tax #one-off` in the notes field Given this: closing
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@albertogasparin commented on GitHub (Mar 8, 2023):

Hello, not sure what was discussed in #151 as it shows locked with 0 comments, but I'd like to add another reason why tags can become very useful: reporting and overview.

For instance, I do have a holiday category. I currently use notes as a way to group expenses by holiday destination but it is hard to visualise the impact of each on my yearly monthly budget. I have to manually select transactions in order to see their totals, and if in the future we will have better reports (for instance by category) it would be great to group by tags.

Hope it makes sense.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1459959072 --> @albertogasparin commented on GitHub (Mar 8, 2023): Hello, not sure what was discussed in #151 as it shows locked with 0 comments, but I'd like to add another reason why tags can become very useful: reporting and overview. For instance, I do have a holiday category. I currently use notes as a way to group expenses by holiday destination but it is hard to visualise the impact of each on my yearly monthly budget. I have to manually select transactions in order to see their totals, and if in the future we will have better reports (for instance by category) it would be great to group by tags. Hope it makes sense.
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@Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Mar 8, 2023):

100% agree with this suggestion

<!-- gh-comment-id:1460010266 --> @Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Mar 8, 2023): 100% agree with this suggestion
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@GurjinderSingh commented on GitHub (Mar 13, 2023):

currently I am using Firefly and it have tags based on rules. multiple tag can be used
https://demo.firefly-iii.org/transactions/edit/450

only problem with Firefly is refund transactions are not allowed and developer said its accountant suggestion

<!-- gh-comment-id:1465597112 --> @GurjinderSingh commented on GitHub (Mar 13, 2023): currently I am using Firefly and it have tags based on rules. multiple tag can be used https://demo.firefly-iii.org/transactions/edit/450 only problem with Firefly is refund transactions are not allowed and developer said its accountant suggestion
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@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (May 1, 2023):

Thanks for sharing your idea!

This repository is now using lodash style issue management for enhancements. This means enhancement issues will now be closed instead of leaving them open. This doesn’t mean we don’t accept feature requests, though! We will consider implementing ones that receive many upvotes, and we welcome contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help you make a successful contribution).

The enhancement backlog can be found here: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues?q=label%3A%22needs+votes%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc+

Don’t forget to upvote the top comment with 👍!

<!-- gh-comment-id:1530123106 --> @github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (May 1, 2023): :sparkles: Thanks for sharing your idea! :sparkles: This repository is now using lodash style issue management for enhancements. This means enhancement issues will now be closed instead of leaving them open. This doesn’t mean we don’t accept feature requests, though! We will consider implementing ones that receive many upvotes, and we welcome contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help you make a successful contribution). The enhancement backlog can be found here: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues?q=label%3A%22needs+votes%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc+ Don’t forget to upvote the top comment with 👍!
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@YagiOoda commented on GitHub (May 7, 2023):

I would really like this feature however it is implemented. I think even using the notes field and autocompleting based in "#" would be really helpful!

<!-- gh-comment-id:1537534465 --> @YagiOoda commented on GitHub (May 7, 2023): I would really like this feature however it is implemented. I think even using the notes field and autocompleting based in "#" would be really helpful!
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@jimmys888 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023):

I would really like this feature however it is implemented. I think even using the notes field and autocompleting based in "#" would be really helpful!

Second this. Most of the time I forget what tags I've entered in the past, so using autocomplete when typing # in the notes field is beneficial. Maybe a dedicated page to manage the tags? If a tag that's not in the tags list is entered, the user should add it to the list to appear in the autocomplete.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1695005620 --> @jimmys888 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023): > I would really like this feature however it is implemented. I think even using the notes field and autocompleting based in "#" would be really helpful! Second this. Most of the time I forget what tags I've entered in the past, so using autocomplete when typing `#` in the notes field is beneficial. Maybe a dedicated page to manage the tags? If a tag that's not in the tags list is entered, the user should add it to the list to appear in the autocomplete.
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@Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023):

I would also ideally like this tag feature to be implemented. I have a decent workaround at the moment. I enter a note in tag style in the notes field. I have quite a number of saved filters which reference specific "tags" and thus enable me to gather all the data I need.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1695116402 --> @Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023): I would also ideally like this tag feature to be implemented. I have a decent workaround at the moment. I enter a note in tag style in the notes field. I have quite a number of saved filters which reference specific "tags" and thus enable me to gather all the data I need.
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@jimmys888 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023):

I would also ideally like this tag feature to be implemented. I have a decent workaround at the moment. I enter a note in tag style in the notes field. I have quite a number of saved filters which reference specific "tags" and thus enable me to gather all the data I need.

That is a good idea. It's just that I often forget what tag(s) I entered for a transaction, and when I'm doing the same transaction I have to look for the older ones to see what tags I assigned. Autocomplete feature will help a lot.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1695344902 --> @jimmys888 commented on GitHub (Aug 28, 2023): > I would also ideally like this tag feature to be implemented. I have a decent workaround at the moment. I enter a note in tag style in the notes field. I have quite a number of saved filters which reference specific "tags" and thus enable me to gather all the data I need. That is a good idea. It's just that I often forget what tag(s) I entered for a transaction, and when I'm doing the same transaction I have to look for the older ones to see what tags I assigned. Autocomplete feature will help a lot.
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@apilbeam101 commented on GitHub (Nov 21, 2023):

Very much like this idea too.
Particular use-case in mind for me would be thigs like holidays and work expenses.
I would like my actual categories to reflect the purchase type, i.e Flights, Hotels, Food, Activities etc. but then the ability to tag specific spend as "Holiday" or "Work Expenses" means that I can see the breakdown of my costs when travelling as well as be able to ignore my work expenses since they'd be claimed back.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1820776773 --> @apilbeam101 commented on GitHub (Nov 21, 2023): Very much like this idea too. Particular use-case in mind for me would be thigs like holidays and work expenses. I would like my actual categories to reflect the purchase type, i.e Flights, Hotels, Food, Activities etc. but then the ability to tag specific spend as "Holiday" or "Work Expenses" means that I can see the breakdown of my costs when travelling as well as be able to ignore my work expenses since they'd be claimed back.
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@Rick-Thomas commented on GitHub (Nov 21, 2023):

I'm all for TAGs... Without this you have to OR duplicate the categories to identify the elements your tracking OR filter using the Notes field, hoping you have a uniform method to identify the elements your tracking...

<!-- gh-comment-id:1820968410 --> @Rick-Thomas commented on GitHub (Nov 21, 2023): I'm all for TAGs... Without this you have to _OR_ **duplicate** the categories to identify the elements your tracking _OR_ **filter** using the Notes field, hoping you have a uniform method to identify the elements your tracking...
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@thoughtlessmind commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023):

this would be a good addition to manage the subcategory or specific parts of the transactions. Suppose, I want to tag the expenses by the medium they spent, like credit card, direct transfer, UPI, etc. Right now, it's only notes (as suggested above), but that is not optimized as it can't be used in analytics or anywhere efficiently.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1848849922 --> @thoughtlessmind commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023): this would be a good addition to manage the subcategory or specific parts of the transactions. Suppose, I want to tag the expenses by the medium they spent, like credit card, direct transfer, UPI, etc. Right now, it's only notes (as suggested above), but that is not optimized as it can't be used in analytics or anywhere efficiently.
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@MikesGlitch commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023):

Other people have mentioned this, but I'm gonna throw my hat in as well - and provide some screenshots for clarity.

I've started using the notes field for tags like "#interest" and I've found it works great with reporting/analytics. It works well if you save a filter for it, e.g. "Bank account interest" which contains "#interest" and apply it to the report.

I think the downside to adding a new field for tags is we'd be making a new field for something that already "sort of" exists with notes. Maybe Notes should be enhanced, rather than a new thing developed.

Maybe this is a styling issue, could style it like this:

image

We already have different displays for when we're editing the field vs viewing - so I'd think the "View" would just change to recognise "#{thetag}" and when it see's the hashtag it styles it.

When we're entering the field, we could use the autocomplete control and trigger it when the input see's a "#". If there was a set of tags that you have already used, maybe we could save them somewhere for re-use and populate the autocomplete with them.

That would trigger the normal autocomplete but with a list of tags (excuse my paint skills):
image

<!-- gh-comment-id:1848937601 --> @MikesGlitch commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023): Other people have mentioned this, but I'm gonna throw my hat in as well - and provide some screenshots for clarity. I've started using the notes field for tags like "#interest" and I've found it works great with reporting/analytics. It works well if you save a filter for it, e.g. "Bank account interest" which contains "#interest" and apply it to the report. I think the downside to adding a new field for tags is we'd be making a new field for something that already "sort of" exists with notes. Maybe Notes should be enhanced, rather than a new thing developed. Maybe this is a styling issue, could style it like this: ![image](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/5285928/ed797595-b423-4c29-a4be-a8d2a2ae7704) We already have different displays for when we're editing the field vs viewing - so I'd think the "View" would just change to recognise "#{thetag}" and when it see's the hashtag it styles it. When we're entering the field, we could use the autocomplete control and trigger it when the input see's a "#". If there was a set of tags that you have already used, maybe we could save them somewhere for re-use and populate the autocomplete with them. That would trigger the normal autocomplete but with a list of tags (excuse my paint skills): ![image](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/5285928/7d3437fb-be04-48d7-9663-986059ec6180)
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@Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023):

@MikesGlitch I do exactly the same as you in the Notes field for any group of transactions I want to report on. A special home project, data for tax etc. Eg #GiftAid, #Interest or #Summerhouse. I would welcome something more formalised style wise!

<!-- gh-comment-id:1848999607 --> @Kidglove57 commented on GitHub (Dec 10, 2023): @MikesGlitch I do exactly the same as you in the Notes field for any group of transactions I want to report on. A special home project, data for tax etc. Eg #GiftAid, #Interest or #Summerhouse. I would welcome something more formalised style wise!
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@thoughtlessmind commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2023):

yes @MikesGlitch
that makes much more sense. there's already a relevant field so creating and managing a new similar field would be useless.

in notes, we can improve how a particular tag is treated, like a suggestion, formatting, bulk edit text of a particular tag, and all..

<!-- gh-comment-id:1855531809 --> @thoughtlessmind commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2023): yes @MikesGlitch that makes much more sense. there's already a relevant field so creating and managing a new similar field would be useless. in notes, we can improve how a particular tag is treated, like a suggestion, formatting, bulk edit text of a particular tag, and all..
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@shawalli commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2024):

I would love this feature, but I would recommend it be its own field. I think about it like I do for tagging other things. Take the most common programming example, a blog. One of the first things you add to a blog post are tags. They usually have their own input, have auto-complete for existing tags, and support multiple tags. The order doesn't matter, and you can filter by multiple tags.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1925882968 --> @shawalli commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2024): I would love this feature, but I would recommend it be its own field. I think about it like I do for tagging other things. Take the most common programming example, a blog. One of the first things you add to a blog post are tags. They usually have their own input, have auto-complete for existing tags, and support multiple tags. The order doesn't matter, and you can filter by multiple tags.
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@carkom commented on GitHub (Mar 1, 2024):

I'm not convinced that we'd need a new field just for tags. There's no reason you can't have multiple tags in the notes field and there's already functionality to filter by one or multiple tags that are currently in the notes (example screenshot below). The only thing we are missing to make this an integrated feature is auto-complete (which I think everyone agrees on) and formatting (like @MikesGlitch displayed). You could even create a new filterBy type for "tags" that just searches the notes field and uses the aformentioned auto-complete.

image

<!-- gh-comment-id:1973944595 --> @carkom commented on GitHub (Mar 1, 2024): I'm not convinced that we'd need a new field just for tags. There's no reason you can't have multiple tags in the notes field and there's already functionality to filter by one or multiple tags that are currently in the notes (example screenshot below). The only thing we are missing to make this an integrated feature is auto-complete (which I think everyone agrees on) and formatting (like @MikesGlitch displayed). You could even create a new filterBy type for "tags" that just searches the notes field and uses the aformentioned auto-complete. ![image](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/55785687/13d313d1-0c6c-4633-83ac-9aaede5bb2ce)
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@Teprifer commented on GitHub (Mar 1, 2024):

I'm not convinced that we'd need a new field just for tags. There's no reason you can't have multiple tags in the notes field and there's already functionality to filter by one or multiple tags that are currently in the notes (example screenshot below). The only thing we are missing to make this an integrated feature is auto-complete (which I think everyone agrees on) and formatting (like @MikesGlitch displayed). You could even create a new filterBy type for "tags" that just searches the notes field and uses the aformentioned auto-complete.

I like this approach, a separate column would change available estate, and I suspect adding tags would reduce the need for lengthy notes - sort of an add 1 here, sub 1 there type thing so the sum space needed is about the same.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1974019086 --> @Teprifer commented on GitHub (Mar 1, 2024): > I'm not convinced that we'd need a new field just for tags. There's no reason you can't have multiple tags in the notes field and there's already functionality to filter by one or multiple tags that are currently in the notes (example screenshot below). The only thing we are missing to make this an integrated feature is auto-complete (which I think everyone agrees on) and formatting (like @MikesGlitch displayed). You could even create a new filterBy type for "tags" that just searches the notes field and uses the aformentioned auto-complete. > I like this approach, a separate column would change available estate, and I suspect adding tags would reduce the need for lengthy notes - sort of an add 1 here, sub 1 there type thing so the sum space needed is about the same.
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@shawalli commented on GitHub (Mar 2, 2024):

I can get behind that…with searching though, I’d like for the tags to be able to be unordered. For example, “#taxes #hsa” and “#hsa #taxes” should return the same results.

EDIT: can’t -> can

<!-- gh-comment-id:1974192045 --> @shawalli commented on GitHub (Mar 2, 2024): I can get behind that…with searching though, I’d like for the tags to be able to be unordered. For example, “#taxes #hsa” and “#hsa #taxes” should return the same results. EDIT: can’t -> can
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@Teprifer commented on GitHub (Mar 2, 2024):

I can get behind that…with searching though, I’d like for the tags to be able to be unordered. For example, “#taxes #hsa” and “#hsa #taxes” should return the same results.

EDIT: can’t -> can

I'd assume tags would default to the contains option for each select, a slightly nicer way of using:

image

<!-- gh-comment-id:1974227772 --> @Teprifer commented on GitHub (Mar 2, 2024): > I can get behind that…with searching though, I’d like for the tags to be able to be unordered. For example, “#taxes #hsa” and “#hsa #taxes” should return the same results. > > EDIT: can’t -> can I'd assume tags would default to the contains option for each select, a slightly nicer way of using: ![image](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/34882928/9622a214-914c-41bb-ad3c-6a166d1ad4b6)
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@CodingEmil commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2024):

Is there any news to this?

<!-- gh-comment-id:2145476570 --> @CodingEmil commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2024): Is there any news to this?
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@lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024):

I was trying to tackle this feature based on some messages here, adding tags in notes looks easy but the input component must be rebuild from scratch using a div (with ContentEditable) instead of a input. This open for so many possible problems since it does not have .value attribute.

Any way, the way I made a POC. The video below shows it:

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/15043428/a110b200-91c8-41f0-a0ef-0e4779d31483

This is far for ready, there are too many events missing (since I changed from input to div). It's just to showcase a possible way to implement this if it makes sense.

WDYT @MatissJanis ?

<!-- gh-comment-id:2159183819 --> @lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024): I was trying to tackle this feature based on some messages here, adding tags in notes looks easy but the input component must be rebuild from scratch using a div (with ContentEditable) instead of a input. This open for so many possible problems since it does not have .value attribute. Any way, the way I made a POC. The video below shows it: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/assets/15043428/a110b200-91c8-41f0-a0ef-0e4779d31483 This is far for ready, there are too many events missing (since I changed from input to div). It's just to showcase a possible way to implement this if it makes sense. WDYT @MatissJanis ?
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@MatissJanis commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024):

@lelemm I'm currently vacationing, so can't do a deep dive this week. But take a look at #2670

<!-- gh-comment-id:2159193274 --> @MatissJanis commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024): @lelemm I'm currently vacationing, so can't do a deep dive this week. But take a look at #2670
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@lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024):

I just noticed that @MatissJanis / @youngcw . Looks like they took different approach on this

<!-- gh-comment-id:2159197113 --> @lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024): I just noticed that @MatissJanis / @youngcw . Looks like they took different approach on this
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@lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024):

Played around with their version. Looks very nice. There are two main differences as I can see:

  • I tried to use an WYSIWYG approach, they set the tags after done editing the input.
  • I added a different filter type (has tags) so you can easily search for notes with multiple tags on it without thinking about the order and without using regex
<!-- gh-comment-id:2159207827 --> @lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2024): Played around with their version. Looks very nice. There are two main differences as I can see: - I tried to use an WYSIWYG approach, they set the tags after done editing the input. - I added a different filter type (has tags) so you can easily search for notes with multiple tags on it without thinking about the order and without using regex
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@psybers commented on GitHub (Jun 12, 2024):

@lelemm Is there a branch/PR somewhere? I think there are things that are nice about both approaches. We might want to consider a merger.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2161862868 --> @psybers commented on GitHub (Jun 12, 2024): @lelemm Is there a branch/PR somewhere? I think there are things that are nice about both approaches. We might want to consider a merger.
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@lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 12, 2024):

@psybers here, created a draft PR for it: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/2869
It's far from usable, for example, I didn't made the tags clickable like @joel-jeremy version and it's missing many events to mimic the original input field

Lint doesn't like what I did cuz of this lines: raw html

I'm not keep digging this since there is a solution in place for this feature

<!-- gh-comment-id:2163367468 --> @lelemm commented on GitHub (Jun 12, 2024): @psybers here, created a draft PR for it: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/2869 It's far from usable, for example, I didn't made the tags clickable like @joel-jeremy version and it's missing many events to mimic the original input field Lint doesn't like what I did cuz of this lines: [raw html](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/2869/files#diff-1ec67e99a0958784935973fd65f348c2c881f4b83a0229070edad3cf7349afd7R66) I'm not keep digging this since there is a solution in place for this feature
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@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jun 21, 2024):

Initial support added by #2670. Will be in the next release.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2183257593 --> @youngcw commented on GitHub (Jun 21, 2024): Initial support added by #2670. Will be in the next release.
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Reference: github-starred/actual#7143