Natural-Language Capture

Capture (/app/capture) lets you record activity by typing what happened in ordinary English.

Nobleway uses AI to read the sentence. The ledger does not change until you confirm. Your household shares a daily Nobleway AI allowance for Capture and Ask. If you use your own AI key, that work does not use the household allowance. The allowance resets at UTC midnight. Burst protection and your provider’s own limits can still apply.

The Core Rule: Nothing is saved until you confirm

Models can misread slang or mix up merchants. You always have the last word.

1. You type a sentence (for example, Spent $45 on lunch).
2. Nobleway fills a draft with the fields it found.
3. You review and correct anything that is wrong.
4. You confirm. Only then is it a saved record.

How to Use Capture

1. In the sidebar, click Capture (/app/capture).
2. Type a sentence describing the transaction.
3. Click Capture transaction (or press Enter).
4. Review the Candidate Review card.
5. If the fields look right, click Confirm transaction.
6. The transaction is saved, balances update, and the box is ready for the next sentence.

Example Phrasing

Everyday expenses

• "Spent 45 on groceries from Checking today"
• "Coffee for 6.50 at Blue Bottle paid with Sapphire Card"
• "Paid 120 for electric bill from Main Checking yesterday"
• "Uber ride home 28 from Credit Card"

Income & deposits

• "Received 3500 salary into Checking on Friday"
• "Client payment 750 deposited to Business Checking"
• "Dividend of 42.50 credited to Investment Account"

Account transfers

• "Transferred 500 from Checking to Emergency Savings"
• "Moved 200 from Checking to Cash"
• "Paid 350 from Checking to Sapphire Card"

People

• "Dinner with Sarah 85 from Checking"
• "Bought school supplies for Daniel 45 on Card"
• "Alex paid 18 for parking from Cash"

How Nobleway Matches Your Words

Capture looks at names already in your workspace:

• Accounts: "from Checking" matches an account named Checking or Main Checking.
• Categories: "filled gas 50" can map gas or fuel to Transport / Fuel if that category exists.
• People: "Sarah" links to Sarah’s person profile. A private alias (for example, "dad" → Daniel) maps only for you.

Reviewing and Correcting the Draft

The Candidate Review card shows:

• Type: Expense, Income, or Transfer.
• Amount & currency.
• Date: Everyday words such as "yesterday" become a calendar date.
• Account.
• Category.
• Person.
• Merchant & notes.

Making corrections

If the category or amount is wrong:

1. Click Edit details.
2. Fix the fields with the usual dropdowns and inputs.
3. Click Confirm transaction.

What must be complete before you confirm

• Amount must be a valid positive number.
• The account must be active (not archived).
• For transfers, source and destination must be two different accounts.
• Expenses and income need a category. Transfers cannot have a category.

If something is missing, Confirm transaction stays disabled and the card says what to fix (for example, "Select a category").

What Happens After Confirmation?

1. The record is saved.
2. Account balances, monthly spending, and category totals update.
3. Nobleway keeps the original sentence with the transaction. You can see it on the transaction detail page (/app/transactions/[id]).

Next Steps

• Record credit card bill payments: Credit Card Payments.
• Handle loan EMI payments: Loan Payments & EMI.
• Ask questions about captured spending: Asking Questions.