helpivefallen is a small personal knowledge tool that I use to take notes, write down small diary entries, and create flashcards on the fly.
All the notes, diaries, and flashcard entries are purposefully append-only. The point isn't to have a pristine set of notes that I can import to my local machine - it's to capture thoughts and learnings on the fly so that I can go back and review/edit them at the day's end. The editing session in and of itself is integral to how I remember things, so the tool embeds this behavior into its usage model.
- Rename the config file to
config.json - Go to @BotFather in Telegram, and create a new bot. BotFather will give you a Bot ID/Key which you should paste into
config.json. - Find your Telegram ID and paste into
config.json. - Find your OpenAI API key and paste into
config.json. - Run
pip install -r requirements.txt. - Run
python bot.py
/define [WORD]: defines a word using GPT-3.5; only defines the first word. Overkill? Probably.
/explain [CONCEPT]: explains a concept using GPT-3.5. Can take multiple words.
/qa [QUESTION]??[ANSWER]: saves a question-answer flashcard. The argument needs to be in the form [QUESTION]??[ANSWER].
/note [NOTE]: save a note.
/diary [ENTRY]: saves a diary entry.
Alternatively, you can save a note by prefacing a message with Nn . For example, you can send Nn I like dogs to save the note "I like dogs". You can also save a question-answer flashcard by just using the question-answer syntax i.e. [QUESTION]??[ANSWER].
helpivefallen is a Telegram bot that runs on a DigitalOcean Droplet running Linux. My local repository of notes, flashcards, and diary entries are updated on a daily basis using a cronjob. Simple, but effective.
When I'm reading, I frequently look up definitions/concepts. However, Siri is usually terrible at understanding what I want, and doing a Google search means I have to parse through search results. This tool makes it easy for me to quickly look up a definition or a concept, and turn right back to my reading without interrupting my focus too heavily.
I also jot down notes in the form of question-answers in a small notebook or in the book itself. But I usually get lazy and don't import the notes into my spaced repetition system. I have a horrible memory, so usually I'll have forgotten what I read a week or two later (provided that I stop thinking about it). This tool lets me avoid migrating notes every single time I'm learning/reading, and keeps my flashcards updated and ready-for-review.
For posterity: the name helpivefallen is from a popular meme. The idea is that the bot helps me "get back up" after I've fallen... into confusion.