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Find your way around the editor

What the two sidebars hold, what the command palette can reach, and the handful of shortcuts that open and close each panel.

2 min readUpdated

The editor is three columns: an outline on the left, the page in the middle, and a companion sidebar on the right. Both sidebars fold away, and everything in them is also reachable from the command palette, so you can keep the page alone on screen and still get anywhere.

The three columns with both sidebars open: the outline (1), the page, and the companion sidebar (2). The command palette (3) reaches everything in them.
The three columns with both sidebars open: the outline (1), the page, and the companion sidebar (2). The command palette (3) reaches everything in them.

The left sidebar: the outlineLink to this section

The outline lists every scene in order. Select a scene to jump to it, drag to reorder, and use the search box to find a heading. Show or hide it with ⌘\.

The right sidebar: the companionLink to this section

The right sidebar has six tabs:

  • Chat — the Dramaturg, an assistant that has read your whole script. See Chat with the Dramaturg.
  • Skills — the library of AI passes and their results. See The skills library.
  • Notes — sticky notes pinned to scenes. See Sticky notes.
  • Feedback — comments from readers of a share link. See Viewer comments.
  • Cast — every speaking character, with line counts. See The cast list.
  • History — save points, draft lines, milestones, and comparison. See Save points.

Show or hide it with ⌘⇧\.

For the names you meet in History and Skills, the Inkwell vocabulary reference connects each term to the article that explains it.

The command paletteLink to this section

Press ⌘K anywhere in the app. Type a few letters of what you want and press ↩. The palette lists commands (make a save point, switch draft line, export) and skills by name. To search the help center's own articles instead, put it in help mode: start your query with ?, press ⌘⇧/, or pick Search help… from the Help menu in the header — then "how do I…" finds an answer without leaving the page.

Press ⎋ to close the palette and return to where you were working.

Looking for a particular control? Find a feature maps common jobs to their menus and panels.

SettingsLink to this section

⌘, opens Settings from anywhere. The sections are listed on the settings reference.

What next

  • Write your first scene

    Type a scene heading, move between screenplay elements with Tab, accept a ghost-text suggestion, and reach any command from the palette.

    How-to · 1 min read

  • Keyboard shortcuts

    Every shortcut in Plot, for macOS and for Windows and Linux, grouped by what it does.

    Reference · 1 min read

  • Write in focus mode

    Hide the toolbar and both sidebars so only the page is left, then bring the chrome back with the same shortcut or Escape.

    How-to · 1 min read

What writers have asked about this — open the request to follow it.