Keyboard shortcuts

Use this page to find the keys and typing shortcuts each extension adds, send keys to the engine yourself, and add your own.

How keys are written

canvist writes keys the way ProseMirror and TipTap do: modifiers, then the key, joined by -.

• Mod is Cmd on macOS and iOS, and Ctrl everywhere else. Use it for shortcuts that should feel native on both.
• The other modifiers are Shift, Alt (Option on a Mac), and Ctrl.
• Keys use their KeyboardEvent.key names: Enter, Backspace, Tab, ArrowLeft, b.

So Mod-Shift-z is Cmd+Shift+Z on a Mac, and Ctrl+Shift+Z on Windows.

Shortcuts by extension

Block typing shortcuts fire when you type a space after them at the start of a line: ## then space makes a heading. Mark shortcuts fire when you type the closing characters.

Every engine also has the standard editing keys: arrows with Shift, Alt, and Mod to move and select by character, word, and line; Mod-a; Backspace and Delete by character, word (Alt), and line (Mod); and the Emacs keys macOS users expect (Ctrl-a, Ctrl-e, Ctrl-k, Ctrl-h, Ctrl-d).

Pressing Backspace right after a typing shortcut undoes it, and puts back what you typed.

Send keys yourself

The editor hosts send keys for you. On a server or in a test, send them with press and type with typeText, which runs typing shortcuts as it goes:

import { createEngine } from "@canvist/headless";

const engine = await createEngine();
const doc = engine.create();

doc.typeText("Plan");
doc.press("Mod-Alt-1");
doc.press("Enter");
doc.typeText("- one");
doc.press("Enter");
doc.typeText("two");
doc.press("Tab");

console.log(doc.export("markdown"));
// # Plan
//
// - one
//   - two

press returns false when no shortcut handled the key, so a host can let the platform handle it instead. An unknown key name fails with the code invalidKey.

Show shortcuts in your UI

Put the shortcut in each button’s tooltip, rendered for the user’s platform:

/** `Mod-Shift-z` as the user's platform shows it: `⌘⇧Z` on a Mac, `Ctrl+Shift+Z` elsewhere. */
function shortcutLabel(key: string, mac: boolean): string {
	const parts = key.split("-");
	const name = parts.pop()!.toUpperCase();
	const symbols: Record<string, [string, string]> = {
		Mod: ["⌘", "Ctrl"],
		Shift: ["⇧", "Shift"],
		Alt: ["⌥", "Alt"],
		Ctrl: ["⌃", "Ctrl"],
	};
	const modifiers = parts.map((part) => symbols[part]?.[mac ? 0 : 1] ?? part);
	return mac ? [...modifiers, name].join("") : [...modifiers, name].join("+");
}

console.log(shortcutLabel("Mod-Shift-z", true));
// ⌘⇧Z
console.log(shortcutLabel("Mod-Shift-z", false));
// Ctrl+Shift+Z

Add your own shortcut

Shortcuts belong to extensions. To add one, write an extension in Rust with a keymap. Build your own editor has a complete example that binds Mod-Alt-s.