--- description: "A guided tour of the Jotaid window on macOS — what every part of the sidebar, editor, canvas and info panel does, and which feature it opens." --- # macOS Interface Jotaid on Mac is a single window: a **left pane** for navigating, a **main area** for whatever you're working on, and an optional **AI chat panel** on the right. Nothing is hidden behind tabs — the same window changes shape as you move between [the three views](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/canvas). This page is about what each region of that window does. ## The Left Pane The left pane is the navigation column. Top to bottom it has three sections. ### Top toolbar | Control | What it does | |---------|--------------| | Sidebar button | Hides or shows the left pane (⌃⇧S) | | Three view icons | Switch between Note (⌃1), Node (⌃2) and Theme (⌃3) | | **+** | New note (⌘N) | Narrow the window and the group collapses to **+** and a **⋯** menu that keeps the same actions, plus **New Project** (⇧⌘P) and **Import Markdown** (⇧⌘I). ### Projects A horizontal strip of your projects, starting with **Inbox**. Click one to scope everything — list, canvas and graph — to that project. The search icon turns the strip into a **Search notes…** field that searches inside the current scope; the collapse arrow folds the strip down to just the active project's name. ### The list header and the list The header row reads **NOTES**, **THEMES** or **TRASH** with a live count, and it is clickable: in Note view it toggles the Trash, in Theme view it returns you to the theme overview. To its right sit two controls: - **Trash** — switch to deleted notes, where you can restore or permanently delete - **Filter funnel** — one menu with two sections. *Sort* (**By**: Name / Created / Modified, and **Order**) and *Filter* (by tag, by node, by theme). The funnel turns coloured whenever sorting or filtering is off its default, and a small clear button appears next to it to reset the filters in one click. The list below changes with the view: - **Note view** — your notes, with title, preview and metadata. Right-click a row for **Move to…**, **Convert to Theme**, and delete. - **Theme view** — your themes, each with its card count. - **Node view** — your concept nodes, each with a reference count and a **Core / Bridge / Emerging** badge. > **Tip** > > Hide the left pane (⌃⇧S) for a distraction-free editor. It also collapses on its own when the window gets too narrow to seat three columns — push the pointer against the left edge of the window and it slides back out for as long as you need it. ## The Main Area ### Note view — the editor The note editor fills the main area. Its top toolbar carries, left to right: a round **close** button that returns you to the note overview, the **formatting toolbar**, a **Theme Summary** button on project notes, the **AI chat** toggle (⇧⌘B), and a **⋯** menu. The formatting toolbar adapts to the width you give it: | Width | Buttons shown | |-------|---------------| | Any | Headings menu, paragraph, bold, italic, strikethrough, highlight | | Wider | Lists, task list, link, image | | Widest | Superscript, subscript, footnote, quote, inline code, code block, clear formatting | The **⋯** menu holds **Preview / Edit** (⌃⇧P), **Smart Format** (AI formatting, ⇧⌘F), **Show / Hide Toolbar** (⇧⌘T) and **Export as Markdown** (⇧⌘E). Typing `[[` in the body opens node autocomplete — see [Backlinks](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/backlinks). ### Node view — graph, backlinks, matrix With no node selected, the main area is the **overview**: your whole knowledge graph, or the co-occurrence matrix, switched from the tab strip. Select a node in the left pane and the area becomes that node's workspace with three tabs: - **Content** — the node's own note, edited like any other - **Backlinks** — every note that mentions it, sortable and filterable - **Co-occurrence** — which other nodes it keeps appearing alongside ### Theme view — the board An infinite board of note cards. A floating button column sits at the top right: | Button | What it does | |--------|--------------| | Focus | Centres the view on all your cards; click it again to return to 100% zoom | | Tidy Up | Re-flows the board (layout rules in [Interface Views](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/canvas)) | | Sticky note | Adds a new card where you're looking | A capsule at the bottom right counts loose cards, themes and grouped cards. Zooming and panning are trackpad gestures — the buttons only ever recentre the view. ## The Right-Edge Info Panel Rich detail never covers your work: push the pointer against the **right edge** of the window and an information panel slides in. Move away and it slides back out. What it shows follows the view you're in: - **Note** — the note's connections: how many nodes, related notes and potential links it has, the nodes it already links to, the ones it *could* link to (with a one-click **Link** button), and the notes it shares nodes with - **Node** — the hovered node's stats and connections, or the network overview when nothing is selected - **Theme** — the focused theme's concepts, or a project-wide roll-up In Node view you can click a node to pin its panel open instead of relying on hover. ## The AI Chat Panel **⇧⌘B** opens a browser panel on the right side of the window with one-tap presets for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek and Kimi — signed in as you normally would, in tabs, plus a plain web tab. It's for asking something without leaving your note. Drag its edge to resize. Select text in the panel and the toolbar's **Save to Note** button files it as a note along with its source, heading and surrounding context (see [Quick Capture](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/capture)). This panel is separate from Jotaid's own AI features, which run on your own API key ([AI Setup](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/ai-setup)). ## Quick Note **⇧⌘J** summons a small floating capture window over whatever you're doing. It keeps its draft when it loses focus, so you can glance away and come back. See [Quick Capture](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/capture). ## Menu Bar and Settings The menu bar carries everything the toolbar does, plus import/export and backups: **File** (new note / theme / project, Quick Note, import and export Markdown, backup), **Window** (view switching, preview, Smart Format, AI chat), **Help** (website, privacy policy). **Settings** (⌘,) is organised into five tabs: | Tab | Contents | |-----|----------| | General | [Theme and appearance](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/appearance), interface language, node appearance, import & paste behaviour | | AI API | Provider credentials — your own API keys | | Agent | Which AI features are on, and how they behave | | Sync | iCloud sync status and diagnostics | | Storage | Storage usage and database maintenance | ## Next Steps - [iPhone Interface](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/ios-interface) — The same features on a single screen - [Quick Capture](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/capture) — Quick Note, PopClip clipping and templates - [Shortcuts](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/shortcuts-faq) — Every shortcut in one table