Reading and editing
Every document opens read-only; you switch to editing on purpose, so opening a file never changes its bytes.
How to reach it
- The pencil icon in the document header.
- File → Edit File, which reads Stop Editing while you're already editing.
- Click-to-edit: click any text in reading mode. A small Edit pill appears at the pointer; click it to enter editing with the cursor placed at that exact character, whether it's in a paragraph, a table cell, or next to a diagram.
Making a drag selection instead of a single click never raises the pill. Pressing Esc, clicking elsewhere, scrolling, resizing the window, or a dialog opening all dismiss it.
A newly created file is the one exception: it opens directly in editing mode, cursor placed, since there's nothing to read yet.
The desktop editor shows four small tips once on each computer: how to start writing, where earlier versions are kept while changes save automatically, how the eye toggles change highlighting, and how selecting text in reading mode copies it. The versions and eye tips wait until history is available; a collapsed versions panel opens for these tips and then returns to its previous state. Focus mode pauses the versions and eye tips until you leave focus mode. Selecting text while another tip is visible or paused leaves the selection tip for later. Entering editing completes the pencil tip. × dismisses all remaining tips; Escape does the same when no dialog, find bar or other control has handled that key.
Reading mode
Reading mode renders the Markdown, lets you select and copy text, and supports find in document — with no formatting toolbar. Selecting text with the mouse copies it to the clipboard immediately and shows a "copied N chars" confirmation; this is always on and not configurable.
Opening a file to read it can never write to it. The document only becomes writable the moment you
type your first character after entering editing mode — the one exception is a task checkbox: click
one and it ticks or unticks in place and saves immediately, without leaving reading mode or touching
anything else in the file. This works for a task inside a blockquote and for both -/*/+ and
numbered markers, including one nested one line inside another (for example a bullet directly after
a numbered marker on the same line). A checkbox shown while viewing an earlier version stays inert,
since that view is never the live file.
Two shapes don't toggle from a click in reading mode: a task whose own text wraps onto a second physical line in the source, and a task whose own text contains a further sub-list (checked or not) — its own children stay clickable normally. Clicking either opens editing instead of toggling it, the same as clicking any other text. Every other task in the same document ticks and unticks normally, including one inside a blockquote and one that is part of a "loose" list (its items separated by blank lines).
Saving
Press ⌘S to save immediately, or keep typing — the app saves automatically shortly after you pause. Closing the window saves too; there's no Discard/Cancel prompt. If a save fails, the window stays open and shows the error instead of closing silently.
When the file changes outside the app
If another program, a script, or an AI agent edits the file while you're viewing it, Context Raven reloads the new content and keeps your scroll position. If images or Mermaid diagrams below your current position are still loading in, it keeps re-adjusting the scroll to compensate until you interact with the document yourself.
Moving around
- ⌘[ and ⌘] move back and forward through recently opened documents, matching the arrow buttons to the left of the breadcrumb. The buttons can disappear on a narrow window (header width under roughly 440 px); the shortcuts keep working regardless.
- The breadcrumb shows the file's path from its tracked folder's root. On a narrow window it collapses progressively, and the full path is available on hover. Clicking a folder in the breadcrumb highlights it in the sidebar; clicking the crumb for a standalone (untracked) file opens it in Finder instead.
Renaming
Rename from the pencil next to the title, the file's row menu in the sidebar, or File →
Rename…. The file extension is fixed. Pressing Esc or clicking away cancels without saving the
new name. Renaming a note also renames its <name>.assets/ folder and rewrites every image
reference inside the document in the same operation.
Limits
.yamland.jsonfiles open in a separate read-only viewer with no editing mode — see Data files.- Renaming isn't available for
.yaml/.jsonfiles. - Move to Trash from the top bar works on any file; File → Move to Trash only works on a standalone file that isn't inside a tracked folder.