Sermon notes library

Quick start

1. Open Sermon Notes from the sidebar (/sermon-notes).
2. Click New note for a blank manuscript or AI note for AI-generated content.
3. Click New folder to organize notes by series or speaker.
4. Use Search notes to find notes by title or content across your library.
5. Click a note card to open the editor.

You should see folders (when present), note cards with excerpts, and Prep / Speech badges.

Deep dive

Page header

The library shows Sermon Notes as the page title with:

• AI note — always shown; opens the generate modal for prep or speech from a topic (not beta-gated). Detail → AI sermon prep and AI sermon speech. Editor Generate grounded prep is a separate beta control.
• New note — create a blank note in the current folder and open the editor
• New folder — create a subfolder in the current location

Use the contextual ? next to the title for a short summary. A second ? near AI note links to AI prep help.

Folders and breadcrumbs

All notes is the root (/sermon-notes). Open a folder to see only notes inside it (/sermon-notes/folder/{folderId}). Older bookmarks to /sermon-notes/{folderId} redirect to /sermon-notes/folder/{folderId}.

The breadcrumb trail shows your path — click any segment to go back. Folders must be empty before you can delete them.

Search

• Search runs across all notes (not limited to the current folder).
• Enter a query and click Search notes, or press Enter.
• Clear search returns to folder browsing and shows breadcrumbs again.

While searching, the folders section is hidden and results replace the normal note list.

Note cards

Each card shows:

• Title and excerpt
• Prep badge — prep tab has content
• Speech badge — sermon tab has content
• Click the card to open the editor

Note actions menu (⋮)

Item	When available
Edit	Always — opens the editor
Create presentation	When the note has sermon speech content
Generate presentation	When the note has sermon speech content and AI presentation beta is enabled
Delete	Always — confirmation required

Create presentation opens a split wizard and creates the deck immediately. Generate presentation queues an AI job. Editor and library use the same flows — see Presentation from sermon.

Creating a new note

New note sends POST /api/sermon-notes with the current folderId (if any), then navigates to /sermon-notes/note/{id}.

The editor opens on the Prep tab by default unless the note already has sermon content.

Empty states

• No notes yet — create your first note or folder
• This folder is empty — add a note or subfolder here
• No results — try a different search term

Tips

• Use folders per preaching series so you can find last year's notes quickly.
• Search is the fastest way to locate a scripture reference buried in prep content.
• Cards with both Prep and Speech badges are ready for presentation generation.

Troubleshooting

Cannot delete a folder

• Folders must be empty. Move or delete notes inside first.

New note opens in the wrong folder

• Navigate into the target folder before clicking New note — the note is created in the folder you are viewing.

Generate presentation is missing from the menu

• The note needs sermon speech content (Speech badge). Open the editor and write or generate sermon content first.