actualbudget/actual

[Bug]: filtering by "notes > has tags" matches all transactions when no '#' character is specified

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#7797 opened on May 11, 2026

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bughelp wanted

Description

What happened?

In the transaction list, if you want to filter transactions that have a specific tag, you choose "Filter > Notes > has tags" and then you're expected enter the tag name like "#foo". However, if you forget to specify the hash character and simply enter "foo" into the text entry box, it doesn't actually filtere anything and it simply shows all transactions.

How can we reproduce the issue?

  1. go to transaction list. Assume that the transaction list has some transactions with the tag '#foo' in their transaction notes
  2. click "filter > Notes > has tags"
  3. type 'foo' in text entry
  4. the list shows all unfiltered transactions

Where are you hosting Actual?

Docker

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Firefox

Operating System

Linux

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascriptreact
Domain
frontend
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.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
JavaScriptReact
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80
Research direction
The bug is in the filter logic for 'has tags' in the transaction list. When a user types a tag without the '#' prefix, the filter fails. The fix likely involves automatically prepending '#' if missing, or validating input. Look for the filtering component, likely in the UI code under src/ or similar. Check the function handling the 'has tags' filter condition and adjust to handle the missing hash symbol.