Captures from your BYOK

Type simple :: commands while you write on your BYOK and they arrive in Studio as cards, wiki entries, outline rows, notes, tasks and comments. Triage them in the inbox or let Studio file them for you.

Works inWebDesktopMobile

Captures turn your BYOK into a capture tool. Write a line that starts with :: in any text file on the device, and when it syncs, Studio turns what follows into the right thing: a card, a wiki entry, a branch of your outline, a note, a task or a comment. They wait in the Scratch Pad's Captures inbox until you file them, or go straight where they belong if you set up routing.

The commands

Put the command on a line by itself, then the content on the lines below. A blank line ends the capture and your writing carries on.

Command	Becomes
`::card`	A card. An optional first line, `title: The title` (or `[The title]`), sets its title.
`::wiki`	A wiki entry. Name it the same way, with `title: Name` (or `[Name]`) as the first line.
`::outline`	Outline rows. Use `^` for a header, `^^` for a subheader and `---` for a detail.
`::note`	A note in the Scratch Pad.
`::idea`	An idea, kept in the Scratch Pad with your notes.
`::task`	A checklist in the Scratch Pad. Lines starting with `-` become tasks.
`[words] ::comment note`	A comment on the bracketed words. A bare `::comment` line comments on the paragraph above.
`::meta`	Not an item: sets the file's `folder:`, `tags:` or `description:` as it syncs.
`::as outline`	On a file's first line: the whole file becomes an outline file.

::card @plot
title: The ferry timetable
The ferry stops running at the Long Ebb. Who stopped it?

::wiki @characters
title: Brother Callum
The youngest of the Ebbsworn.

::outline
^ Epilogue
^^ Tam on the flats
--- The gull comes back

The word after a command, like @plot, is an optional handle that tells Studio where to send it (see Routing). Commands are not case-sensitive. Every rule, edge case and example is in the full capture syntax reference.

The Captures inbox

Open the Scratch Pad (the inbox in the header, or Cmd+Shift+J) and choose Captures. On mobile it's the Inbox in the Pad tab.

Inbox, Cards, Wiki, Outlines and Needs review filter what you see; the search box looks through the text.
Each capture shows a preview shaped like what it will become. Cards that arrived together are grouped, with one Promote for all of them.
Edit fixes a typo before you file it; the trash button deletes it.
Hover a capture for a from link to the file it came from.
Shift- or Cmd-click to select several and promote or delete them together.

File a capture

Click Promote, pick the destination file, then the section (for cards) or category (for wiki entries), and confirm. Or drag a capture straight onto a card stack, outline, text file or wiki entry that's open.

The Promote dialog for two cards, choosing a card stack and a section — Promote: choose where the captures go.

Routing

Set up routing once and captures file themselves. Open the Scratch Pad, choose Captures and click the gear (Capture settings). Each project has its own settings.

Setting	What it does
Default destinations	The card stack, wiki and outline that captures without a handle go to, and the folder for new text files from the device.
Auto-route structured captures	When on, cards, wiki entries and outline rows that have somewhere to go skip the inbox. When off (the default), everything waits for you.
Handle mappings	Bind a handle to a destination: `@characters` to the Characters category of your Story Bible, `@plot` to the Plot section of a card stack.
Tag handles	Bind a handle to an existing tag, so `tags: @t-mara` in a `::meta` block uses your Mara tag.
Custom commands	Your own commands: map `::character` to a wiki capture with the handle `@characters`.
Source-file cleanup	Leave (the default) keeps the `::` lines in your file as typed. Strip processed syntax removes the processed lines and leaves your prose; the cleaned file syncs back to the BYOK. Comments and `::meta` blocks are always taken out.

With auto-routing on, a card, wiki entry or outline capture goes to its handle's mapping if there is one, then to the project's default for that kind, and otherwise waits in the inbox. Notes, tasks and ideas always go to the Scratch Pad.

File-level commands

A ::meta block applies details to the file it's in, and is removed from the text as it syncs:

::meta
folder: drafts
tags: @worldbuilding, @act-one
description: Scene draft for chapter 4.

A file whose first line is ::as outline becomes a whole outline file in Studio, named from a title: line or the file's name. Syncing the same file again updates that outline; if you've edited the outline in Studio meanwhile, Studio makes a second outline rather than overwrite your changes.

Still stuck?

Send us a note from Contact Support, or choose Report Bug in Studio’s account menu so your app version comes along with it. For the device itself, see the BYOK device manual.