actualbudget/actual

[Bug]: Append to notes rule not working if a note already exists

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#7,303 opened on Mar 27, 2026

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Description

What happened?

I was trying to setup a rule with and condition (in my case payee and category) to append a text to notes.

Expected behavior would be that when payee and category match the condition, the text is appended to the notes, e.g.:

  • Text before rule applied: Coffee and cake
  • Text after rule applied: Coffee and cake Appended Text

Actual behavior:

  • The text from the rule is not appended to the notes text.

How can we reproduce the issue?

  • Create rule, e.g.: Category is: Restaurants, and Payee is Coffee House Then Append to notes: Appended Text
  • Enter new transaction in Order: Payee, Notes, Category, Payment

Text from the rule is not added to notes

Where are you hosting Actual?

None

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Firefox

Operating System

Windows 11

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the rule application logic for appending to notes. Look at the code path that handles 'Append to notes' action and compare with 'Set notes' to identify why appending fails.
Tech stack
javascript
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
Git
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65