Select steps, convert them to a process

What it is

Long flows want splitting. Extract lifts a run of lines out of the current document, creates a new process from them, and leaves .do <name> at the original indent. The diagram shows one Do card where a dozen boxes were, and the new process is one click away.

How it works

When your selection touches two or more lines, or one whole line, a bar appears above the block (below it when there is no room): “Convert to process” and a line count. Click it and the bar becomes a “New process” name field, pre-filled from the first meaningful line (up to six words). Enter or Extract confirms; Esc cancels. A taken name gets a “ 2” suffix.

Before anything moves, the range grows until it can stand alone: a .then or .end inside it drags its owning .if in, and every selected line brings its indented children. The two rules feed each other, so the expansion runs to a fixed point. The bar reports it as “+3 to keep the block whole”, and the pulled-in lines are shaded lighter than the ones you chose.

The extracted body is dedented to column zero. Signed in, Runic creates the process on the server first and rewrites the document only after that succeeds, so a failed create can never swallow text. The new .do line flashes green.

Why it matters

By hand this is cut, paste, create, name, and retype the call site, with a real chance of splitting a decision. Extract does it in one gesture and the result always parses. The reference index sees the new process at once: it nests under its caller in the sidebar with a reference badge.

Limits

Process documents only, not while folded, not on view-only team docs. With billing configured, the free plan holds 10 processes; past that the create fails with an upgrade prompt and the document is untouched. The bar’s other two actions, “AI edit” and “Copy to chat”, need an account; “Convert to process” works everywhere the editor does.

How to use it

1. 1
   Select the lines

   Drag across two or more lines in the editor, or drag a box over their cards in the diagram. The lines get a violet band; pulled-in lines are shaded lighter.
2. 2
   Read the bar

   It shows “Convert to process · N lines”, plus “+N to keep the block whole” if the selection grew.
3. 3
   Click “Convert to process”

   The bar becomes a “New process” field pre-filled with a name guessed from the first line.
4. 4
   Press Enter or click Extract

   The block leaves the document, .do <name> replaces it at the same indent, and the new process appears in the sidebar under this one.
5. 5
   Open the new process

   Click the Do card, ⌘-click the .do line, or pick it in the sidebar.

Commands & shortcuts

Tips

• Select from the .if line downward when splitting a decision; if you start inside a branch, Runic pulls the .if in for you and says so.
• Rubber-band the cards in the diagram instead of the text when the block is easier to see than to read.
• The suggested name is the first six words of the block. Give it a verb phrase like “Verify payment” so the Do card reads well.
• ⌘Z after an extract restores the lines in the original document; the new process stays until you delete it.

Questions