Help

Kasivra is a writing tool for authors. You write in Markdown, and the app keeps track of everything around the text: folders, tags, people and notes about each chapter.

Getting started

1. Open kasivra in Chrome or Edge on a computer. Other browsers cannot open folders on your computer yet.
2. Click Open folder and choose the folder with your manuscript, or an empty folder for a new project.
3. Allow kasivra to read and save in the folder.

Kasivra remembers the folder. Next time you open the app, click Continue to give access again.

Switching projects

Kasivra remembers the eight most recently opened projects. Click the folder button at the top of the library to see them: the open project has a check mark, and clicking another one switches to it. The open file is saved first. Choose Open another folder… for a project that is not in the list. When no project is open, the five most recent ones are shown on the start screen.

The browser may forget its access to a folder between visits. It then asks again when you choose the project. If the folder is no longer where it was, the project is removed from the list.

Your project is an ordinary folder

Kasivra reads and saves the .md files directly in the folder on your computer. There is no database and no file format of its own. So you can open the same files in Typora or another Markdown editor, back them up as usual and keep them in git.

Folders and subfolders become the structure of the project, for example chapters/ and people/. Settings for a folder, such as its color, icon and order, are saved in a small file called .kasivra.json in the folder.

The workspace

The workspace is a sheet of paper lying on a desk. Beneath the paper are the panels:

• The library on the left shows the project's folders and all tags.
• The file list shows the files in the selected folder, or all files with the selected tag, with the title, the beginning of the text, tags and word count.
• The info panel on the right shows tags and notes about the open file.

The button in the left corner of the paper steps between library and file list, only the file list and only the text. The button in the right corner shows and hides the info panel. Kasivra remembers how you left the workspace.

Favorite folders: click ⋯ next to a folder in the library and choose Pin as favorite to pin it to the top, under Favorites. The pin in the file list's heading does the same. Choose Remove from favorites in the favorite's menu to remove it. Favorites are saved in the project folder and follow the folder if it is renamed.

Drag the edge of the library or the file list to make it wider or narrower, for example if long names are cut off. You can also select the edge with Tab and move it with the left and right arrow keys. Double-click the edge to go back to the default width.

Give a folder a color and an icon with the palette button at the top of the file list.

Creating and renaming

• New file: the button at the top of the file list creates a file in the selected folder and opens it. If a tag is selected, the file gets the tag.
• New folder: the button at the top of the library creates a folder in the selected folder.
• Rename: hover over a file in the file list and click the pencil, or click ⋯ next to a folder in the library and choose Rename. The open file can also be renamed from the info panel.

Files get the .md extension automatically. Links from other files are not updated when a file or folder is renamed, so check them afterwards.

The command palette

Press ⌘ P or click the magnifying glass at the top of the paper to open the command palette. Type a few letters of what you are looking for. The letters do not have to be next to each other, so “chap2” finds “Chapter 2”. The palette finds:

• Files, by title, folder and tags.
• Folders and tags, which are shown in the library and the file list.
• Projects you have opened before.
• Commands, such as new file, rename, switch layout and the pages of the settings, and everything in the toolbar such as bold, headings and lists (including Heading 4–6, which have no buttons).
• Text in the files, from three letters. The group In the text shows an excerpt around the first match and how many matches the file has. Choose it to open the file with the match selected.

Move with the arrow keys and choose with Enter, or click. Esc closes it. With an empty search field, the recently opened files and all commands are shown. ⌘ ⇧ P, or > first in the search field, shows only the commands.

Writing

The text is shown formatted: headings, bold, italic, quotes, lists and links look the way they should. The Markdown characters only show on the line with the cursor, so that you can change them. If you want to see and write plain Markdown, switch to the source with the button at the top right or with ⌘ /.

The toolbar (the tools button at the top right) has buttons for headings, bold, italic, lists, quotes, links and more. It belongs to the Formatting extension, which is on from the start.

The text is saved automatically a second after you stop typing. The status is shown at the top of the paper.

Tags and notes

In the info panel you add tags to the file and remove them with the cross. Tags that already exist in the project are suggested as you type, and all tags are gathered in the library. Click the dot in front of a tag in the library to change its color. The three-dot menu next to the tag renames or deletes the tag, in every file at once. When a tag is selected, you can also remove it from a file right in the file list.

The project can also have fields: things you fill in for each file, such as the people in it, where it takes place and when. Create a field with Add field in the info panel. Give the field a name and choose a type: text, a date, a choice between options or Files. You can have as many fields as you like, and you order, change and remove them under Settings → Fields or with the button next to the field's heading in the info panel.

A field of the type Files takes files from a folder you choose. To note which people are in a chapter, for example, make a field called People and choose the folder the people are in. Places work the same way with a folder of places. Then open the chapter and choose the people one at a time from the field's list. The files are shown by their heading (or first line), with the file name in grey. The ones you choose are listed below, and clicking a name opens the file. The cross removes it from the field. Under Linked from you see which files link to the open file, for example every chapter a person is in.

Tags and fields are saved at the top of the file as so-called frontmatter, so they stay with the file outside kasivra too.

Keyboard shortcuts

On Windows, Ctrl is used instead of ⌘.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘ P	Command palette: find files, folders and commands
⌘ ⇧ P	Command palette with only commands
⌘ S	Save now
⌘ B	Bold
⌘ I	Italic
⌘ K	Link
⌘ E	Code
⌘ ⇧ E	Code block (the Software Developer layout)
⌘ /	Switch between formatted text and Markdown source
⌘ ,	Open the settings
Esc	Close the settings

Settings

Open the settings at the bottom of the library or with ⌘ ,. The settings are divided into pages, which you choose in the menu on the left:

• Appearance: language, light or dark theme, how thick the strokes of the icons are and which desk lies beneath the paper.
• Editor: the project's layout and the size of the manuscript text.
• Extensions: which extra features the project uses.
• Project: the open folder, with buttons to reload it or open another one.
• About kasivra: version, release notes and help.

Language, theme, desk and text size apply to the computer you are using.

Language: kasivra is available in Swedish and English. System follows your browser's language, and Svenska or English chooses one of them. The language only applies to the app, not to the text in your files. The layout and the extensions apply to the project and travel with the project folder.

Layouts

The layout decides how the text looks and how you write it. Choose it under Settings → Editor → Layout. The choice applies to the open project and is saved in the project folder. The files are plain Markdown whatever the layout.

• Novel: running prose in a serif typeface, with headings. The default layout.
• Screenplay: a script page in Fountain syntax, an open format that many screenwriting tools read. A scene heading starts with INT. or EXT., a character name is written in capitals on a line of its own and the dialogue goes on the line below. A parenthesis on a line of its own in the dialogue becomes a parenthetical, and a line in capitals ending in a colon (CUT TO:) becomes a transition. The toolbar has buttons for scene heading, character, parenthetical and transition, and the info panel shows roughly how many pages the file will be.
• Stage play: a play in a serif typeface, with the same Fountain syntax as screenplays. Write acts as # ACT I and scenes as ## Scene 1, the character name in capitals on a line of its own and the speech below. An ordinary line is a stage direction and is shown in italics. The toolbar has buttons for act, scene, character and parenthetical, and the info panel shows the number of speeches.
• Game script: dialogue for games. A line is written NAME: text. A choice is a list item with a target, for example - Tell the truth -> truth, and -> node on a line of its own moves the story on. Conditions and effects are written in braces, for example {if: trust > 2}. A line in parentheses is a direction, and a line starting with // is a comment. Headings (## The tavern) mark the nodes. The toolbar has buttons for line, direction, choice, branch and condition, and the info panel shows the number of lines and choices.
• Software Developer: technical writing such as design documents, user guides and READMEs, in sans-serif. Code (like this) and code blocks stand on a faintly tinted background, tables are shown in a fixed-width typeface so the columns line up, and GitHub's callouts (> [!NOTE], > [!WARNING]) and checklists (- [ ]) are shown as boxes and checkboxes. ⌘ E turns the selected text into code and ⌘ ⇧ E turns the selected lines into a code block. The toolbar has buttons for code block, table, note, warning and checklist, and the info panel shows the approximate reading time.

Extensions

Extensions are extra features that you turn on when you need them. Open Settings → Extensions and choose On or Off for the open project. The choice is saved in the project folder, so it applies on every computer.

• Formatting: the toolbar and the shortcuts for bold, italic and link. On from the start.
• Word goal: the number of words in the file and the project in the info panel, and a progress bar towards a goal you set yourself.
• Focus mode: fades everything except the paragraph you are writing and keeps the line in the middle of the page.

Installing as an app

Kasivra can be installed and opened in a window of its own, without the browser's tabs and address bar. The app then starts without an internet connection too.

• Chrome and Edge: choose Install kasivra in the address bar or in the browser's menu.
• Safari on iPhone and iPad: tap Share and then Add to Home Screen.

Project folders cannot be opened on phones yet.

What's new

When kasivra has been updated, the app shows what is new since you were last there. All changes are in the release notes.