The Editor

The editor is where you write. It is built around a clean, distraction-free writing surface with everything you need tucked into panels on either side. You can open what you need, close what you don't, and focus on the page.

The main views

The view menu at the top of the editor switches between six ways to work with your script.

ScratchPad is a plain notes view saved with your document. Paste a treatment, sketch ideas, or keep a running list of things to remember, then use Import to outline to turn those notes into an outline board.
Outline is a visual story board where you map out your story's structure. You add a card for each scene, group the scenes under sequences and acts, and sketch the shape of the narrative before writing a single line of dialogue.
Characters is a dedicated view for building and managing your cast of characters, their arcs, and relationships.
Write is the main writing surface. This is where you spend most of your time. Each line in your script is a screenplay element (scene heading, action, dialogue, and so on), and the editor formats it in real time as you type.
Script Cards is a corkboard of the scenes already written into your script, great for rearranging them at a glance. The Outline board plans in scene cards; this one shows the scenes on the page.
Preview shows a paginated, read-only view of your script exactly as it will look on the printed page. It includes auto-scroll at reading pace so you can sit back and read through your work at roughly one page per minute, the same speed your script will play on screen.

The toolbar

The toolbar sits at the top of the editor. It gives you quick access to:

Project title can be clicked to rename the project.
View menu switches between the views described above.
Undo / Redo buttons (in Write view) to step backward and forward through your recent changes.
Suggesting mode toggle (in Write view) switches between editing directly and making suggested edits that collaborators can review, accept, or reject.
Panel buttons show or hide the left panel, the right panel, and comments, and turn on focus mode.
More menu holds Project Properties (the title page editor), Revisions (revision colors, which track which draft a change belongs to, following the standard production color system), Import, and Publish to The Lot, plus coverage when AI features are on.
Export saves your script as a PDF, Final Draft, Fountain, or plain-text file.
Settings (the gear icon) lets you switch between Film (Single Camera), TV (Single Camera), and TV (Multi Camera) formatting, and set CONTINUED marks, theme, page color, and AI options.

In Write view, an element type selector runs under the toolbar. Click a type to change the current line (scene heading, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition, or act break), or press <kbd>Tab</kbd> to cycle through them as you write. Bold, italic, and underline use their keyboard shortcuts or the command palette, and scene numbers are turned on from the command palette (Number scenes).

Left panel

The left panel has four tabs to help you navigate your script:

Scenes shows every scene in your script as a clickable list. Click any scene to jump straight to it. The panel also shows a scene count at the top so you always know how many scenes you are working with.
Characters lists all the characters in your script.
Continuity is the character continuity tracker. It helps you track character appearances across scenes and spot continuity gaps, so you never lose track of who is where and when.
Boards holds storyboard frames for each scene.

You can toggle the left panel open or closed using the panel button in the toolbar.

Right panel

The right panel has six tabs (Assistant and Generation appear when AI features are turned on):

Assistant is the AI writing assistant. Ask it questions about your script, get feedback on a scene, or request help with a tricky passage. The quick-action buttons above the message box adapt to what you are doing: select some dialogue and they offer dialogue punch-ups, run coverage and they surface your top development note. The floating Write/Rewrite button in the editor turns the same message box into a Write or Rewrite composer. See the AI Assistant guide for more.
Generation shows live progress when the AI is generating or rewriting script content.
Comments lets you and your collaborators leave notes on specific passages. Comments appear as highlighted text in the editor, and you can resolve them when they are addressed. See Comments for details.
Suggestions shows all pending suggested edits in your script. You can review, accept, or reject each one. See Suggested Edits for details.
Versions is version history. You can view and restore earlier snapshots of your script. See Version History for more.
Stats shows live length and progress figures for your script.

The writing surface

The writing surface is the large central area where your script lives. Each line is a single screenplay element: a scene heading, a line of action, a character name, a line of dialogue, and so on.

As you type, the editor formats everything automatically. Character names are uppercased. Scene headings snap to the right format. Dialogue is indented. You don't have to think about formatting at all.

Press <kbd>Tab</kbd> to cycle the current line through element types (scene heading, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition, act break).
Press <kbd>Enter</kbd> to start a new line. The editor automatically picks the next logical element type. For example, after a character name, the next line becomes dialogue. After dialogue, it goes back to action.
Press <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Tab</kbd> to cycle backward through element types.

Tip

You don't need to memorize the cycle order. Just press Tab until you get the element type you want, or use the element type selector under the toolbar or in the status bar.

The minimap

Once your script is longer than one screen, a minimap appears beside the scrollbar: a miniature outline of every line on the page, like the code minimap in a programmer's editor. Pending suggested edits show up as colored markers (green for additions, red for deletions, amber for replacements), so you can see where the tracked changes are at a glance. Click anywhere on the minimap to jump there, or drag to scrub through the script. The highlighted window shows the part of the script you are currently looking at.

The command palette

Press <kbd>Cmd</kbd>+<kbd>K</kbd> (or <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>K</kbd> on Windows) to open the command palette. It is a quick-access search bar that lets you find and run any editor action: toggling panels, changing format settings, numbering scenes, managing revisions, exporting your script, and more.

Type to filter, use the arrow keys to navigate, and press <kbd>Enter</kbd> to run a command. See the Command Palette guide for a full list of what you can do.

The status bar

At the very bottom of the editor you will find the status bar. It shows at a glance:

Current element type of the line your cursor is on (with a dropdown to change it)
Scene count for the whole script
Element count for the whole script
Word count
Page count that matches the printed output exactly (and your target page count, if you have set one)
Estimated screen time based on the industry rule of thumb that one page equals roughly one minute of screen time
Format profile if you are using a TV format rather than the default film format
Locked pages indicator if pages have been locked for production

Tip

The page count in the status bar is a live paginator. It calculates page breaks using the same rules as the printed and exported PDF, so the number you see is the number you will get.