Capture work automatically

Turn signals your project already produces — code comments and editor warnings — into Kard Kards, instead of retyping them by hand. This page covers two capture tools: the TODO scanner and Message Log capture.

Note

This is a power-user guide. Both tools live in a side menu, run on demand, and assume you already know how to create and organize Kards. New to Kard? Start with the Quick start first.

Where the capture tools live

Both tools open from the Kard toolbar’s settings menu:

1. Open Kard, then click the settings combo on the Kard toolbar.
2. Under Tools, choose either:
   • Scan Project for TODOs…
   • Capture from Message Log…

Each opens its own standalone window. The window is a throwaway tool, not a Kard tab — open it when you need it, close it when you’re done. Re-opening the same tool brings the existing window forward, so your triage isn’t lost.

Scan code and Blueprint comments for TODOs

The TODO scanner finds TODO, FIXME, and HACK markers in your project and lets you turn the ones that matter into tasks.

What it scans:

• C++ source comments — single-line // comments in .h, .cpp, and .hpp files under your project’s Source/ and Plugins/*/Source/ folders.
• Blueprint comment nodes — the text inside comment boxes in any Blueprint graph.

Note

The scanner reads // line comments only. Multi-line /* ... */ comments are not matched. Engine source is not scanned.

Run a scan

1. Open Tools → Scan Project for TODOs…
2. Click Run Scan.
3. Review the results — each match shows its source (C++ or Blueprint), its marker type (TODO / FIXME / HACK), its location, and the comment body.

By default the scanner reads C++ source only. Loading every Blueprint is slow on large projects, so Blueprint scanning is off by default — tick the Blueprint source option before you click Run Scan to include comment nodes.

Caution

Scanning Blueprints loads every Blueprint in the project, one at a time. On projects with hundreds of Blueprints this can take a while. Leave it off unless you specifically want Blueprint comments.

Use the filter pills (TODO, FIXME, HACK) and the search box to narrow the list to what you care about.

Jump to a match

Click a row’s location to open it in place:

• A C++ match opens the source file at that line in your configured external editor.
• A Blueprint match focuses the comment node in the Blueprint graph.

This is read-only navigation — clicking a location never creates a Kard.

Capture matches as tasks

1. Select one or more rows in the list.
2. Click Capture Selected.

Each selected match becomes a Task Kard:

• The title is the comment text (or the source location, if the comment has no body after the marker).
• The description is the full matched line or comment.
• A tag is added for the marker type: todo, fixme, or hack.
• The Kard carries a link back to the source, so you can jump from the Kard to the code or Blueprint node later.

After capture, the scanner refreshes. Captured rows show their new marker and drop out of the default view.

Caution

When you select a single row, capturing also opens the new Kard so you can edit it. Capturing several rows at once does not open them — that would pop one tab per Kard. Find them afterward with the marker tag (todo / fixme / hack) instead.

Note

New Kards land in a target folder. Confirm where captured tasks go and how to choose the folder before you capture.

Understand the round-trip marker

When you capture a comment, Kard writes a small marker back into the source comment so the same comment isn’t captured twice on the next scan:

// TODO: refactor this   →   // TODO(KARD-A1B2C3D4): refactor this

The KARD-A1B2C3D4 part is a short ID that ties the comment to the Kard it became. This is intentional and honest by design — it means:

• Re-scans skip captured comments. A comment that already carries a (KARD-...) marker won’t be offered again, so you can re-scan freely without duplicate Kards.
• Your source files change. Capturing a C++ TODO edits the source file to insert the marker. Capturing a Blueprint TODO edits the comment node and marks the Blueprint dirty — you’ll be prompted to save it like any other change.
• It’s safe to re-run. Writing the marker is idempotent: if a marker is already there, nothing is rewritten.

Caution

Capturing a C++ TODO modifies the source file on disk. If the file is under source control, Kard tries to check it out first; if it’s read-only, Kard tries to clear that. If the write can’t happen (for example, source control isn’t connected), the Kard is still created — only the marker write is skipped, and Kard tells you how many writes failed.

Tip

Want to see comments that were already captured? Turn on the Captured toggle to include rows that already carry a (KARD-...) marker — useful for tracking down an existing marker. It’s off by default because captured rows are noise during normal triage.

Capture Message Log rows as tasks

The Message Log capture tool turns rows from Unreal’s Message Log — the warnings and errors the editor surfaces — into Kard tasks, with the diagnostic text and severity carried over for you.

Capture from a listing

1. Open Tools → Capture from Message Log…
2. Pick a listing from the dropdown. The tool reads Unreal’s six standard listings:
   • Map Check — actor and level errors
   • Blueprint Log — Blueprint compile output
   • Load Errors — asset load failures
   • Asset Check — asset validation
   • PIE — Play-In-Editor warnings
   • Lighting Results — static lighting bake
3. Select the rows you want.
4. Click Capture Selected.

Each selected message becomes a Task Kard:

• The description is the message’s text.
• The severity becomes a tag: error, warning, or info.
• Every captured message also gets a messagelog tag, so you can filter for “everything I captured from the editor” in one step.
• The asset or actor a message points to is linked on the Kard, so you can jump back to the offending object.

Captured Kards are not opened automatically — bulk capture would pop a tab per Kard. Find them afterward with the messagelog tag.

Caution

The Message Log tool does not de-duplicate. If you capture the same message twice, you get two tasks. This is deliberate — you clicked Capture on purpose. Use the messagelog tag to spot and clean up duplicates.

Note

There is no right-click “Create Kard from message” on Message Log rows in this release — Unreal 5.7 offers no hook for it. The capture window is the supported path.

Related Reads

• Create & edit Kards — fill in, edit, and refine the Kards you just captured.
• Folders, boards & columns — sort captured tasks into folders and workflow columns.
• Relate & link Kards — connect captured tasks to related work.