Generate Children & Expand Branch

Two of Notemap’s most powerful AI features help you build out your mind map quickly. Generate Children creates new child nodes from a prompt you write, while Expand Branch adds depth to an existing structure by generating sub-children for each child node.

Generate Children

Generate Children lets you describe what kind of child nodes you want in plain language, and AI creates them for you. It is the fastest way to go from a single idea to a fully fleshed-out branch.

How to Use It

1. Select a node by clicking on it.
2. Press Shift+A, or right-click and choose AI > Generate Children.
3. A prompt overlay appears. Type a description of the children you want to generate.
4. Press Enter or click the submit button.
5. AI generates the child nodes and adds them to your map.

Writing Effective Prompts

The more specific your prompt, the better the results. The AI already knows the context of the selected node and its position in the map, so you can focus on what you want.

Good prompts:

• “Generate key marketing channels for a SaaS product”
• “List the main components of a React application”
• “Break this down into phases with timeline estimates”
• “Add the pros and cons of this approach”

Less effective prompts:

• “Add some children” (too vague)
• “Ideas” (no direction)

What Gets Generated

AI generates child nodes that are relevant to the selected node’s topic and your prompt. Depending on the complexity of your request, the AI may also:

• Create multi-level structures — Generated children can have their own sub-children, giving you a richer hierarchy right away.
• Suggest colors — The AI may assign colors to generated nodes to help visually distinguish different categories or themes.

After Generation

Once the nodes are added to your map, they behave like any other nodes. You have full control to:

• Edit any generated node’s text by double-clicking it
• Delete nodes that are not relevant
• Rearrange nodes by dragging them to different positions
• Add more children manually or with another AI generation

Expand Branch

Expand Branch takes an existing set of children and adds depth to each one. Instead of generating children from a prompt, it analyzes the children that are already there and generates relevant sub-children for each.

How to Use It

1. Select a node that already has children.
2. Right-click and choose AI > Expand Branch.
3. AI analyzes each child node and generates sub-children for them.
4. The new sub-children appear under their respective parent nodes.

When to Use Expand Branch

Expand Branch is most useful when you already have a top-level structure but want AI to fill in the details. For example:

• You have a project plan with phases like “Research”, “Design”, “Development”, and “Launch”. Expand Branch adds specific tasks and deliverables under each phase.
• You have a business model canvas with categories like “Revenue Streams”, “Key Partners”, and “Cost Structure”. Expand Branch adds concrete examples under each.
• You have an outline with main sections. Expand Branch adds talking points and sub-topics to each section.

How It Differs from Generate Children

Example Workflow

Suppose you are planning a conference. Your root node is “Tech Conference 2026” and you have already created three children: “Speakers”, “Logistics”, and “Marketing”.

1. Select the “Tech Conference 2026” root node.
2. Right-click and choose AI > Expand Branch.
3. AI generates sub-children for each:
   • Speakers: Keynote speakers, Panel discussions, Workshop leaders, Speaker outreach timeline
   • Logistics: Venue booking, Catering, AV equipment, Registration system, Volunteer coordination
   • Marketing: Social media campaign, Email outreach, Partner promotions, Press releases, Early bird pricing

You now have a detailed conference plan built from a simple three-node structure.

Generate Mindmap

You can also generate an entire mind map from scratch using AI. Right-click on the canvas background and choose AI > Generate Mindmap. Enter a topic or description, and AI will create a complete mind map structure with a root node and multiple levels of branches.

This is useful when you are starting with a blank canvas and want AI to scaffold an initial structure that you can then edit and refine.

Quick Reference