It knows your commands and your process names

What it is

The language has ten commands and the editor never makes you remember them. Type . at the start of a line and a menu lists every command with a one-line description; keep typing to filter. The same menu becomes a reference completer when a command needs a target.

How it works

The menu opens when the text before the caret is only a dot-prefix and nothing follows on the line. It lists .if, .then, .go, .do, .input, .wait, .back, .note, .fail and .end. Picking .if inserts a scaffold with .then Yes and .then No and puts the caret after .if . Picking .end inserts the line and opens a fresh one.

After .go or .do the menu lists your other processes, up to eight, prefix matches first, with each one’s line count. Once the target exactly matches a process the menu closes so Enter opens a new line as usual.

After .back it lists the plain steps and .input lines of the current document, deduplicated, captions stripped, the caret’s own line excluded, each marked “line N · above” or “below”, because a return arrow can point either way.

Esc dismisses the menu for the current prefix; it returns when the prefix changes. Any Ctrl, ⌘ or Alt combination closes it and passes through, so ⌘+Down still means end of document.

Why it matters

References match by exact name, so one mistyped character is a broken link. Picking from a list removes that failure mode instead of flagging it later.

Ghost suggestions

Signed in, a second completion appears: after 700ms idle at the end of a line, a gray continuation may show with a TAB chip. Tab accepts it; Esc or any keystroke dismisses it. The “✦ Suggest on/off” chip in the footer turns it off and remembers the choice. Tab prefers a visible ghost over indenting.

How to use it

1. 1
   Open the command menu

   At the start of a line type .. The “Commands” menu lists each command with its description. Keep typing to filter, for example .i leaves .if and .input.
2. 2
   Pick one

   Use ↑ and ↓ to move, then Enter or Tab to insert. The footer reminds you: “↑↓ navigate · ↵ insert · esc dismiss”.
3. 3
   Complete a process name

   Type .do and the menu switches to your processes. Type part of a name to filter; Enter inserts the exact name.
4. 4
   Complete a .back target

   Type .back and the menu lists this document’s steps with their line numbers and whether they sit above or below the caret.
5. 5
   Dismiss

   Press Esc. The menu stays away until you change what you typed, then offers again.

Commands & shortcuts

Tips

• Pressing Enter on a bare . without moving the highlight closes the menu and opens a new line instead of inserting .if; keep typing after the dot when you want a command by hand.
• Pick .if from the menu to get both branches scaffolded. Pressing Enter at the end of a typed .if line does the same.
• The .do list shows how many non-empty lines each process has, so an empty stub reads “0 lines”.
• Sequence diagrams have their own menu with .actor, .alt, .loop and actor-name completion after ->.

Questions