The following example:

\starttext

abc\footnote[fn:abc]{footnote abc}\ abc

def
\startfootnote[fn:def]
 footnote def
\stopfootnote
\ def

No problem here: abc\note[fn:abc]

Problem appears here: def\note[fn:def]

\stoptext

Generates a missing reference error for a reference provided on \startfootnote (and \startendnote) accessed by \note:

references      > start missing references
references      >    1  [][fn:def]
references      > stop missing references

ConTeXt  ver: 2021.08.04 17:51 LMTX  fmt: 2021.8.4

There was no problem with previous versions.

--
Rik