Burst Notes: The Command Window
The command window is the only piece of user interface you normally see. It is a search field over a list, and it is designed to be driven entirely from the keyboard.
Opening and closing
The window opens on the global keyboard shortcut, Command-Shift-B unless you have changed it, or from the menu bar icon via Bring Up Command Window. Escape closes it. When you choose an item that finishes the job, such as appending a line with Command-Return or pasting a snippet, the window closes by itself and the application you came from is brought back to the front.
What the list shows
The list is a tree:
- at the top level are your open Markdown files, one row each, followed by the global commands
- inside a file are its top-level headers, the capture commands for the file as a whole, and the file commands
- inside a header are its sub-headers and the capture commands for that section
When you only have one file open, Burst Notes starts you inside that file so that its headers are the first thing you see. Breadcrumbs at the top of the window show the file and header path you are in.
In Navigation, Copy and Paste modes the list also contains every line of the current file, not just its headers.
Finding things
Start typing and the list narrows as you type. Matching is forgiving: tod finds Today and To-Do, and most commands answer to a few synonyms, so new finds Create New File and prefs finds Settings. A header match also considers the file name, so you can type part of a file name to narrow down to one file’s headers.
The order of the matches is not fixed. Burst Notes remembers which headers and commands you choose and ranks frequent ones higher, so the list adapts to the way you use it.
Keys
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
up arrow, down arrow |
move the highlight |
Return |
choose the highlighted item: drill into a header or file, run a command |
right arrow, Command-right arrow |
drill into the highlighted header or group |
left arrow |
go back up one level |
Escape |
close the window |
Command-Return |
open the built-in editor at the start of the highlighted header’s section (in any mode) |
Command-Shift-Return |
open the editor at the end of the highlighted header’s section (in any mode) |
Control-M |
cycle through the modes |
Control-N, Control-G, Control-E, Control-C, Control-P |
switch to Normal, Navigation, Edit, Copy or Paste mode |
Control-W |
toggle where new lines go: end of section or just below the header |
Control-L |
cycle the line type for new lines: bullet, to-do, text |
The Control shortcuts match on the character you type, so they work on Dvorak, AZERTY and other layouts just as on QWERTY.
The footer
The footer of the window shows the current mode, for example Mode: Edit · End of Section. It is a pull-down menu: click it to switch mode, change the insertion position or the line type with the mouse. The same three sections are available from the menu bar icon.
Appearance
The command window comes in a light and a dark theme. Choose Activate Dark Mode or Activate Light Mode from the list, or use the Appearance item under Settings.