Features
What KoNote does — and what it doesn't do. We believe in being upfront about capabilities and limitations.
What KoNote Does
Participant Records
Maintain records for each participant with personal information, program enrolment, and custom intake fields.
- Encrypted storage for all personal information
- Custom fields defined by your agency
- Preferred name / display name support
- Multi-program enrolment
- Program transfer with audit trail and cross-program sharing consent
- Status tracking (active, inactive, discharged)
- Duplicate detection with automatic matching
- Merge workflow for duplicate records
Outcome Plans
Define measurable outcomes and track progress toward goals.
- Plan sections for organising outcomes (e.g., "Employment", "Housing")
- Specific, measurable targets within each section
- Metrics library with common measures (PHQ-9, housing stability, etc.)
- Custom metrics defined by your agency
- Reusable plan templates
Progress Notes
Document participant interactions and track metric values over time.
- Quick notes for brief interactions
- Structured notes with sections and templates
- Participant reflection — capture what the participant is taking away
- Interaction types (phone, in-person, virtual, etc.)
- Record metric values within notes
- Full-text search across note content
- Backdate notes with full audit trail
- Follow-up tracking
Metrics & Visualisation
Track quantifiable outcomes and visualise progress over time.
- Pre-built metrics library
- Custom metrics with min/max values
- Progress charts showing change over time
- Compare actual values against targets
- CSV import/export for metric definitions
Group Tracking
Deliver and document group-based services alongside individual work.
- Programs configured as individual, group, or both
- Group rosters with membership management
- Attendance tracking per session
- Group progress notes linked to all attendees
Circles (Family & Network Groups)
Link participants who share a household, family, or support network into a named group for coordinated service delivery.
- Named circles with relationship roles (parent, child, partner, etc.)
- View all circle members from any participant's profile
- Shared timeline across circle members
- Cross-program circle membership
- Privacy controls — circle membership doesn't grant data access
Events & Alerts
Record significant milestones and flag important information.
- Customisable event types (intake, discharge, crisis, etc.)
- Colour-coded event categories
- Safety alerts attached to participant records
- Two-person safety rule — alerts require a second person to cancel
- Timeline view of participant events
Messaging & Communication Logging
Log and track all participant communications in one place.
- Log phone calls, texts, emails, and in-person visits
- Quick-log buttons for common interaction types
- Communication history on participant timeline
- Optional SMS and email integration (Twilio, SMTP)
- Automated appointment reminders (36 hours in advance)
- Delivery tracking (sent, delivered, failed, bounced)
- System health monitoring with admin alerts on channel failures
- CASL consent tracking for electronic messages
- Channel-level contact preferences per participant
Meetings & Calendar
Schedule and track meetings with participants.
- Schedule meetings with date, time, location, and status
- Meeting types: in-person, virtual, phone, home visit
- iCal feed — sync meetings to Outlook, Google Calendar, or Apple Calendar
- Upcoming meetings on the dashboard
- Meeting history on participant timeline
Consent Management
Record and track participant consent with a full audit trail.
- Consent records linked to participant files
- Immutable records — consent can be withdrawn but never deleted
- Withdrawal tracking with reason and date
- CASL compliance for electronic communications
- Preferred language and contact preferences
Role-Based Access
Control who can see and do what, based on their role.
- Five roles: Admin, Program Manager, Direct Service, Front Desk, Executive
- Program-scoped access (staff only see their programs)
- Program Managers get scoped admin access (templates, metrics, team members within their programs)
- Field-level visibility controls per role
- Confidential programs hidden from unauthorised staff
- Program context switcher for multi-program staff
- Admins blocked from participant data by default
Executive Dashboard
High-level outcome monitoring for directors and executives who need the big picture without accessing individual participant records.
- Agency-wide outcome statistics at a glance
- Program cards with enrolment, active participants, and achievement rates
- Aggregate demographic breakdowns
- No access to individual participant data — monitoring only
- Accessible to the Executive role
Audit Logging
Complete record of who accessed what and when.
- All data changes logged with before/after values
- Participant record access logged
- Login/logout events
- Separate, immutable audit database
- Searchable audit log viewer
Customisation
Adapt KoNote to match your agency's language and workflow.
- Rename "Client" to "Participant", "Member", etc.
- Customise all terminology in English and French
- Enable/disable features via toggles
- Full bilingual interface (English/French) following canada.ca conventions
- CSV import/export for metric library management
- Agency-configurable custom fields for participant profiles
Self-Service Registration
Let participants register themselves via a shareable link.
- Program-specific registration links
- Customisable registration fields
- Auto-approval or manual review
- Capacity limits and deadlines
- Waitlist management
Demo & Training Mode
Built-in demo accounts for training and evaluation, with safeguards that keep demo activity completely separate from real data.
- Pre-configured demo user accounts with realistic sample data
- Training data isolation — demo records excluded from all reports, exports, and dashboards
- Demo admin accounts restricted to view-only for agency settings
- Persistent training-mode banner so staff always know they are in demo
- Visually separated "Training Accounts" section on the login page
- Demo login events audited for operational awareness
- Regenerate demo data anytime to start fresh — no risk to real participant records
Participant Portal
Optional self-service portal where participants can view their own progress, complete surveys, access resources, and stay connected to their plans.
- Participants log in to view their own outcome plans and progress
- Complete assigned surveys and check-ins directly in the portal
- Auto-save on survey responses — pick up where you left off if the browser closes
- Self-report on metrics between sessions
- View progress charts and milestone history
- Access shared resources and program materials
- Private journal for participant reflections
- Send messages to assigned worker
- Request corrections to notes or records
- Secure invite workflow with optional verbal code for identity verification
- Consent flow during portal onboarding
- Multi-factor authentication (TOTP app or email codes)
- Account lockout after failed attempts
- Staff can revoke access or reset MFA from the participant file
- Agency controls which fields and plans are visible
- Optional feature — disabled by default
Surveys & Assessments
Collect structured feedback from participants — intake forms, satisfaction surveys, standardised assessments, and recurring check-ins.
- Six question types: short text, long text, single choice, multiple choice, rating scale, yes/no
- Multi-page forms with section-based navigation
- Conditional logic — show or hide sections based on previous answers
- Section scoring (sum or average) for standardised instruments
- Three delivery channels: shareable public links, participant portal, or staff data entry
- Shareable public links — collect feedback without requiring login or a portal account
- Automatic assignment rules — trigger surveys on events, enrolment, time-based schedule, or participant characteristics
- Configurable repeat policies: once per participant, once per enrolment, or recurring
- CSV import for existing instruments (PHQ-9, SPDAT, etc.) with custom score values
- Draft, active, closed, and archived lifecycle management
- Full bilingual support (English/French) for all survey content
- Free-text answers encrypted at rest
- Auto-save on portal responses — participants can resume mid-survey
- Response export as CSV
Data Erasure Workflow
PIPEDA and GDPR-ready data erasure with multi-stage approval.
- Erasure requests with reason categories
- Multi-program manager approval workflow
- Automatic execution when all approvals received
- Tiered anonymisation (partial or full erasure)
- PDF erasure receipts
- Permanent audit record preserved after erasure
- Data summary snapshot before deletion
AI-Assisted Writing & Analysis
Optional AI features to help staff with goal writing, documentation, and analysis.
- AI-assisted goal building — natural language goal writing with research-grounded validation
- Metric suggestions based on target descriptions
- Outcome goal improvement suggestions
- Note structure assistance
- Funder narrative generation from aggregate metrics
- Suggestion themes — qualitative feedback grouping and pattern analysis
- Outcome insights — AI-generated program summaries with transparency timestamps
- Two-tier toggle: tools-only mode (no participant data) or de-identified analysis mode
- Privacy-safe — no participant identifying information sent to AI
Funder Reporting
Generate templated reports for funders and partners with the data they need.
- Configurable funder report templates
- Demographic breakdowns by program or agency
- Achievement rate summaries (% of participants meeting targets)
- Multi-step approval workflow for funder reports
- Partner report approval — share draft reports with partner agencies for review before submission
- Common Impact Data Standard (CIDS) metadata tagging
- JSON-LD export for standards-compliant data sharing
- AI-generated funder narrative summaries from aggregate data
- Date presets and PDF export for executive dashboard reports
Data Export & Offboarding
Get data out when you need it — for individual participants or full agency offboarding — with controls to prevent misuse.
- Individual participant export in PDF, CSV, and JSON formats
- Secure, time-limited download links (24-hour expiry, single-use protection)
- Elevated export controls — large exports trigger admin notification and delay
- Download tracking and admin revocation
- CSV export of participant data and metrics
- Audit log export
- Agency-wide offboarding export — fully encrypted, password-protected, includes all participant data organised by person
- Full audit trail on all exports — who downloaded, when, how many times
CIDS Data Standards Compliance
Align your outcome data with the Common Impact Data Standard (CIDS) for interoperability and standards-compliant reporting.
- CIDS metadata fields on programs, outcomes, and indicators
- Organisation profile with CIDS sector, geography, and legal status
- CIDS code lists imported and mapped to your programs and outcomes
- Admin UI for tagging outcomes and indicators with CIDS codes
- Standards Alignment appendix automatically included in funder reports
- Machine-readable export for sharing data with other standards-compliant systems
- Impact dimensions for structured outcome categorisation
Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)
Built with accessibility as a core requirement, not an afterthought. Tested with automated tools and manual review.
- Semantic HTML structure with proper heading hierarchy
- Full keyboard navigation — use Tab and arrow keys to reach every control
- Skip navigation links on every page
- WCAG 2.2 AA colour contrast compliance
- Screen reader-friendly menus, tabs, and interactive elements
- Touch-friendly button and control sizes for tablet and mobile
- Screen reader compatible — tested with NVDA and VoiceOver
- Automated accessibility checks run on every code change
- Graceful offline fallback when internet connection drops
Offline Field Collection
Collect data in the field without an internet connection, then sync it to KoNote when connectivity is available.
- Integration with ODK Central for offline-capable mobile data collection
- Works on Android devices in locations with no internet
- PII protection tiers — control what identifiers are sent to field devices
- Sync collected data back to KoNote when connected
- Device loss protocol to protect data if a device is lost or stolen
Multi-Agency Hosting
Multiple organisations can share a single server to reduce hosting costs, while maintaining strict data separation between agencies.
- Each agency's data is completely separated — no mixing between organisations
- Each agency gets its own encryption key, managed independently
- Shared infrastructure for cost optimisation ($4–10/month per agency vs. $35–100 standalone)
- Independent configuration per agency (terminology, features, programs)
- Consortium model for agencies that want to share aggregate reporting
- Consent-based aggregate reporting across consortium members
- Ideal for umbrella organisations, consortia, or regional networks
What KoNote Does NOT Do
We believe in being clear about limitations. KoNote is purpose-built for outcome tracking — not a general-purpose system.
Billing & Invoicing
No financial features. KoNote doesn't track payments, generate invoices, or integrate with accounting systems.
Alternative: Use QuickBooks, Wave, or your existing accounting software.
Clinical Assessments
KoNote doesn't include standardised clinical assessment tools (GAD-7, AUDIT-C, etc.) out of the box. It's an outcome tracking system, not a clinical EMR.
Note: You can import standardised instruments as surveys via CSV, or create custom metrics that mirror these assessments.
Public API
KoNote is designed for staff use through the web interface. There's no REST API for external integrations.
For developers: You can extend the Django codebase directly.
Mobile App
KoNote is web-only. The interface is responsive and works on tablets and phones, but there's no native app.
Note: A service worker provides a graceful offline fallback — you'll see a friendly message if connectivity drops, and the app resumes when you're back online. Add to home screen for an app-like experience.
Complex Workflow Automation
KoNote has basic automation (appointment reminders, health alerts), but no rules engine or complex triggers. You won't get notified automatically if a participant hasn't been seen in 30 days.
Note: Manual filtering and reports can surface this information.
Video/Telehealth
KoNote is a notes and outcomes system. No video conferencing or telehealth features.
Alternative: Use Zoom, Teams, or a dedicated telehealth platform.
Vendor Support
This is open source software. There's no vendor hotline, no guaranteed response times, no SLA.
Support options: Community via GitHub, or professional services.
Technical Specifications
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend Framework | Django 5.1, Python 3.12 |
| Database | PostgreSQL 16 (two databases: operational + audit) |
| Frontend | Server-rendered Django templates + HTMX + Pico CSS |
| Charts | Chart.js |
| Authentication | Azure AD SSO (primary) or local with Argon2 |
| Encryption | Fernet (AES-128-CBC + HMAC-SHA256) |
| Deployment | Docker Compose (Railway, Azure, OVHcloud, Elestio, or self-hosted) |
| Canadian Hosting | OVHcloud Beauharnois data centre (QC) for Canadian data residency |
| License | MIT (free, open source) |
Scaling Notes
KoNote has been tested with up to ~2,000 active participants. The encrypted search works by loading accessible participants into memory and filtering in Python, which may slow down at larger scales. For organisations with more participants, performance testing is recommended.
Want to try it?
Read the getting started guide to evaluate KoNote for your organisation.