Keys and commands

Every command Leathercase answers, with its key, where it works and what it does, then the keys each view answers while it is on screen, and how to change any of them. Keys are written for Windows and Linux; on macOS, use Cmd wherever this page says Ctrl, and Option for Alt.

Three ways reach every command:

• its key, when it has one;
• the menu bar (File, Edit, Story, View, Window), built from the same list, so the two never disagree;
• the find field in the title bar (Ctrl+K): type part of a command's name and press Enter. The commands you used last come first.

To see the keys of the view you are in, press ? (when you are not typing in a field). A panel titled Keys of this view lists them; ? or Esc closes it.

Where a command works

Each command has a scope. A command outside its scope is not offered in the find field and does nothing when its key is pressed.

Scope	The command works
Always	On every screen, even before a writing home is open
With a home open	Once a writing home is open
With a story open	While one of the home's stories is open in a view

A story view's command (Plot grid, Threads and the like) pressed when no story is open opens that view of the story you worked on last.

Commands

Go

Command	Key	Scope	What it does
Library	Ctrl+1	With a home open	The home's start page, with its stories
Desk	Ctrl+2	With a home open	The Desk; see The Desk
Writer	Ctrl+3	With a home open	The Writer Board; see The Writer Board
Plot grid	Ctrl+4	With a home open	The story's plot grid; see Plot grid
Threads	Ctrl+5	With a home open	The story's threads; see Threads
Graph	Ctrl+6	With a home open	The story's graph; see Graph
Manuscript	Ctrl+7	With a home open	The manuscript; see Manuscript
Tags	Ctrl+8	With a home open	The home's tags; see Tags
Beat board	Ctrl+9	With a home open	The story's beat board; see Beat board
Inbox	Ctrl+0	With a home open	What agents proposed; see Proposals and the inbox
Characters	none	With a home open	The story's characters; see Characters
How this story is read	none	With a home open	What Leathercase found in the story's folder and why; see How a story is read

Story

Command	Key	Scope	What it does
Declare a story	none	With a home open	Starts declaring a new story in the home; see Declaring a story
Story settings	none	With a story open	The open story's settings page; see Story settings
Export the manuscript as one file	Ctrl+E	With a story open	Exports the open story at once: the save dialog opens, with the settings already saved for the story. The export settings themselves are in Settings › Export for the story; see Export
Open the story in your software	Ctrl+Shift+O	With a story open	Opens the story's files in the app you write in
Mark the sentence log	none	With a story open	Opens the find field with mark: typed, to name a mark in the sentence log; see Sentence log
Run the mate now	none	With a story open	The mate looks at the open story at once; see The mate
Next proposal	Ctrl+]	With a story open	Picks the next proposal and opens the Proposals sheet
Previous proposal	Ctrl+[	With a story open	Picks the previous proposal
Accept the proposal	Ctrl+Shift+Enter	With a story open	Accepts the picked proposal, then picks the next
Dismiss the proposal	Ctrl+Shift+Backspace	With a story open	Dismisses the picked proposal, then picks the next
Next proposal, in a review	Tab · Shift+Tab	Reviewing a changeset, from the page or a proposal	Picks the next or previous proposal of this view; see Reviewing in a view
Accept, dismiss, edit, in a review	A · D · E	Reviewing a changeset, not in a field	Accepts, dismisses or opens to edit the picked proposal

View

Command	Key	Scope	What it does
Search in this view	Ctrl+F	With a home open	Puts the cursor in the view's own search field; in the Graph it opens the side column to it; where a view has none, it opens the find field
Find or make in this view	Ctrl+O	With a home open	Opens the find field in the title bar; see Find, open and make
Show or hide the assistant's layer	Ctrl+.	With a home open	Hides or shows what agents and the mate left on the views; remembered
Proposals for this story	Ctrl+Shift+.	With a story open	Opens or closes the Proposals sheet in the side column
Zoom in	Ctrl+=	Always	Draws the whole window larger, words and controls together, one step up to 300%; remembered
Zoom out	Ctrl+-	Always	Draws the whole window smaller, one step down to 50%
Actual size	none	Always	Puts the window back at 100%. The zoom is also in Settings › Accessibility

App

Command	Key	Scope	What it does
Find a story, a view or a command	Ctrl+K	Always	Opens or closes the find field
Add a writing home	none	Always	Picks a folder to open as a writing home; see Homes and stories
Settings	Ctrl+,	Always	The Settings page; see Settings
Check for updates	none	Always	Opens Settings at Updates and asks which version is newest; see Updates and uninstalling
About Leathercase	none	Always	Opens Settings at About: the version, whether a newer one is out, and where every version is
Collapse or expand the sidebar	Ctrl+\	Always	Folds the sidebar to icons, or opens it; remembered
Toggle the side column	Ctrl+B	With a home open	Opens or closes the view's side column; closes the Proposals sheet when it is open
Show or hide the mate	Ctrl+Shift+M	Always	Opens or closes the mate's panel; remembered
Theme: light	none	Always	Light theme
Theme: dark	none	Always	Dark theme
Theme: follow the desktop	none	Always	Follows the system's light or dark setting

Keys with Ctrl work everywhere, even while you type in a field. A key with no Ctrl never runs a command while you type in a field, and Tab is never taken: it always moves between controls.

The menu bar

The menu bar holds the same commands, in the app's language. The items the system provides (Undo, Copy, Quit and the like) are worded by the system.

Menu	Items
Leathercase (macOS)	About Leathercase · Services · Hide, Hide Others, Show All · Quit
File	Add a writing home, Declare a story · Settings, Check for updates · Quit (Close on macOS)
Edit	Undo, Redo · Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste and Match Style, Delete, Select All
Story	Story settings · Export the manuscript as one file, Open the story in your software, Mark the sentence log · Run the mate now
View	Desk, Inbox, Tags, Graph, Beat board, Plot grid, Threads, Characters, Manuscript, How this story is read · Library, Find a story, a view or a command, Search in this view, Show or hide the assistant's layer, Proposals for this story, Collapse or expand the sidebar, Toggle the side column, Show or hide the mate · Zoom in, Zoom out, Actual size · Theme: light, Theme: dark, Theme: follow the desktop
Window	Minimize, Zoom
Help (Windows and Linux)	About Leathercase

On macOS the application menu (About, Hide, Quit) comes first, as for every Mac app. The Edit menu is what gives fields Cmd+C, Cmd+V and Cmd+Z on a Mac.

Keys inside a view

Each view answers some single keys while it is on screen. They are dead while you type in a field, do nothing while a dialog or menu is open, and leave Enter, Space and Delete to a button that has the focus. Press ? in any view to see its list.

Plot grid

Key	What it does
← → ↑ ↓	Move between cells
Home / End	First or last column of the row
Page Up / Page Down	Ten rows up or down
Enter	Edit in the cell
Esc	Put it back: cancel the anchor pick, then clear the selection
Delete or Backspace	Remove the stop in the selected cell
"	Anchor the selected cell on a quoted sentence
n / p	Next or previous broken anchor, or a gauge flip no quote marks
o	Open the scene of the selected row
v	Audit view on or off
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo / redo the last write

While editing a cell: Enter writes it, Shift+Enter starts a new line, Esc cancels. See Plot grid.

Beat board

Key	What it does
← →	Previous or next card
Enter	Write the selected card
n	New card in the selected column (or loose)
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected card
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo / redo
Esc	Deselect

Threads

On the chart:

Key	What it does
+ or = / -	Zoom in / out
f or 0	Fit the manuscript
Esc	Clear the selection
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo / redo the last write

As lanes:

Key	What it does
↑ ↓	Previous or next thread
Enter	Go to the thread's first stop
Esc	Clear

Graph

Key	What it does
Tab	Next name
← → ↑ ↓	The nearest name that way, or pan when nothing is pinned
Enter	Pin what is under the pointer
c	A tie from the pinned name
p	Paths from the pinned name
f	Focus on the pinned name and its neighbours, and back
m	Matrix, and back
z / Shift+Z	Fold the group / every group
Delete	Remove the pinned tie
+ or = / -	Zoom in / out
0	Fit everything
Drag from a name's ring	Make a tie
Double-click	Open the note
Esc	Let go

The tie picker: 1 to 5 pick a type, Tab goes to the word, X flips the direction, Enter saves, Esc drops it. The matrix: the arrows move a cell, Enter opens its tie.

Manuscript

Key	What it does
Click	Select a sentence
↑ ↓	Previous or next paragraph
Alt+↑ / Alt+↓	Previous or next chapter (note)
Home / End	First or last paragraph
Enter or Ctrl+Enter	Open the selected passage in its app
Ctrl+J	Next broken anchor
l	Next lens
Esc	Close the review, then clear the selection, then turn the lens off

In the comments pane, Enter sends a comment and Shift+Enter starts a new line.

Writer Board

Key	What it does
Ctrl+O	Find or make a card
← → (or ↑ ↓)	Previous or next card
Enter	Edit a card Leathercase made, or open your own note
n	New card in the selected list
m	Move the selected card
f	Fit
e	Every line on or off
+ / -	Zoom in / out
Esc	Deselect

Tags

Key	What it does
↑ ↓	Previous or next tag
Enter	Open the tag's first note
Esc	Deselect

Pages

On Settings, Story settings and the declaring pages, Esc goes back (on Settings, to the Library; from the uninstall guide, back to Settings).

The find field

While the find field is open:

Key	What it does
↑ ↓	Move through the results
Enter	Run or open the picked result
Esc	Close
word: title	Typing a kind, a colon and a title offers to make it, for example character: Nora

A command named with a word and a colon, such as Theme: light, still runs when its full name is typed: it comes first, above the Make row.

See Find, open and make and, for questions and meaning search, The mate.

Menus and dialogs

A menu or dialog keeps its keys to itself: Esc closes it, and the view behind it takes no key while it is open. The agents menu in the title bar closes with Esc too.

Keys that work anywhere on this computer

Two keys can work even when another app is in front. They are off by default, so Leathercase takes no key from other apps until you ask.

Key	Default	What it does
Capture to Writer	Ctrl+Shift+N	Opens a small window over any app; what you type lands in the Writer's Ideas. In that window, Ctrl+Enter keeps it and Esc closes it
Show Leathercase	Ctrl+Shift+S	Brings Leathercase forward from any app

Turn them on in Settings › Hotkeys › Anywhere on this computer with Turn on global keys. To change one, click its key and press the new keys. If another app already holds a key, the row says so in amber, "Another app holds this key, so pressing it does nothing here", and you can pick another; if the system cannot hold it at all, it says "The system cannot hold this key." Turn off global keys gives them back to other apps. These two keys are kept in this computer's preferences.json.

Changing keys

Every command's key can be changed or removed in keybindings.json, a file in the app's data. Open it from Settings › Hotkeys with Edit keybindings.json; it opens in your text editor.

• The file holds your changes only, and starts empty: { }. A key the app changes in a later version reaches you unless you overrode it.
• Beside it, keybindings.defaults.json lists every command's id and default key, rewritten each time; copy a line from it.
• Write one line per command: the command's id (shown in grey in Settings › Hotkeys), then its key. Write Mod for Ctrl (it becomes Cmd on macOS), and null to remove a key.
• Leathercase reads the file the next time it starts.

For example, to give Characters a key and take Export off Ctrl+E:

{
  "go.characters": "Mod+Shift+C",
  "story.export": null
}

Settings › Hotkeys lists every command with its id and its key as it stands, so you can check the result.

Command ids

The ids, for keybindings.json:

Id	Command	Default
go.start	Library	Mod+1
go.desk	Desk	Mod+2
go.writer	Writer	Mod+3
go.grid	Plot grid	Mod+4
go.threads	Threads	Mod+5
go.map	Graph	Mod+6
go.manuscript	Manuscript	Mod+7
go.tags	Tags	Mod+8
go.beats	Beat board	Mod+9
go.inbox	Inbox	Mod+0
go.characters	Characters	none
go.files	How this story is read	none
story.declare	Declare a story	none
story.settings	Story settings	none
story.export	Export the manuscript as one file	Mod+E
story.open	Open the story in your software	Mod+Shift+O
story.markLog	Mark the sentence log	none
mate.run	Run the mate now	none
view.search	Search in this view	Mod+F
view.open	Find or make in this view	Mod+O
view.layer	Show or hide the assistant's layer	Mod+.
view.proposals	Proposals for this story	Mod+Shift+.
view.zoomIn	Zoom in	Mod+=
view.zoomOut	Zoom out	Mod+-
view.zoomReset	Actual size	none
proposal.next	Next proposal	Mod+]
proposal.previous	Previous proposal	Mod+[
proposal.accept	Accept the proposal	Mod+Shift+Enter
proposal.dismiss	Dismiss the proposal	Mod+Shift+Backspace
app.palette	Find a story, a view or a command	Mod+K
app.openLibrary	Add a writing home	none
app.preferences	Settings	Mod+,
app.checkForUpdate	Check for updates	none
app.about	About Leathercase	none
app.sidebar	Collapse or expand the sidebar	Mod+\
app.sideColumn	Toggle the side column	Mod+B
app.mate	Show or hide the mate	Mod+Shift+M
app.theme.light	Theme: light	none
app.theme.dark	Theme: dark	none
app.theme.system	Theme: follow the desktop	none

The view keys (arrows, n, f and the like) and the two global keys are not in this file.

See also

• Settings
• A tour of the window
• Find, open and make
• Export