Writing in the editor
The editor looks and types like Word or Notion: headings, lists, tables, equations and diagrams show as what they are, not as symbols. Underneath, every note is an ordinary Markdown file in your folder, which any other editor — and any other AI tool — can read. This guide covers the editor first, then the AI that works inside it.
Before you start
A folder open in MindMax. See opening your first folder.
Everything is a block
Press / on an empty line and pick from the menu. If you already know Markdown, typing #, -,
> or | works too — both end up as the same plain text.
| Group | Blocks |
|---|---|
| Basic | Text, headings, quotes, callouts |
| Lists | Bulleted, numbered and to-do lists |
| Insert | Tables, images, web links, links to other notes, dividers, today's date, emoji |
| Advanced | Code blocks, math blocks, Mermaid diagrams, properties |
| Inline | Bold, italic, highlight, strikethrough, inline code, inline math |
The / menu filters as you type — /tab is enough for a table — and its first group is the AI
(see calling the AI).
Callouts start as a plain note; switch one to info, tip, warning, danger, quote, example or question from the block menu.
Math is written in LaTeX between $ signs, inline or as a block. Mermaid diagrams —
flowcharts, sequence diagrams, quadrant charts — render in place. While you type the source of
either, a live preview sits beside it, so you see whether it worked without leaving the block.
Code blocks are highlighted by language; set or change the language from the block menu.
Properties turns a note's front matter into editable fields — text, lists, numbers, checkboxes, dates — and saves it back as the same YAML other tools read.
Emoji. Type : and a few letters of the name (:rocket) and pick from the list, or use
/emoji to browse. The file stores the emoji itself, not a code.
Tables
Tables are edited as grids and saved as ordinary Markdown pipe tables.
- Drag a column edge to make it wider; Fit table to width and Reset column widths undo it.
- Drag rows and columns to reorder them, and insert, duplicate, clear or delete from a column's or row's menu.
- Sort A → Z or Z → A by a column, and set its alignment.
- Paste a block from Excel or Google Sheets and it lands cell by cell. Copy as CSV takes it back out.
Moving blocks around
Every block has a handle at its left edge.
- Drag it to move the block; select several blocks to drag them together.
- Click it for the block menu: Turn into another type, Duplicate, Move up or
Move down, Copy Markdown, and a few AI actions. Images, code, math and headings add their
own — align or resize an image, copy the LaTeX, copy a link to a heading. Items that have a
shortcut show it on the right, such as
⌥⌘1for Heading 1. - The + beside it adds a block below (
⌥-click adds one above).
Numbered lists can Continue numbering, Restart numbering at 1 or start from any number. Wrapped lines hang under their bullet, long branches fold away, and Enter on an empty item steps out a level.
A blank line is what separates blocks in Markdown. A single newline inside a paragraph is a soft wrap, not a new block — which matters when you are dragging blocks around and wondering why two paragraphs move together.
Links between notes
Type [[ and pick a note. Each note shows what links to it and what it links out to, so structure
comes out of writing rather than out of filing. A link to a note that does not exist yet is shown
faded rather than as an error. ![[Note]] shows another note's content in place.
Pasting
- From a web page or an email — headings, lists, links and tables arrive as clean Markdown. Anything that will not convert cleanly comes in as plain text, never as broken structure.
- From ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant — use its copy button. Equations written between
\(\)and\[\]are converted on the way in, so they show as equations.
Calling the AI
Three ways in, depending on where you are.
With a selection. Select a sentence, a paragraph or a section. The toolbar above it has formatting, Highlight and Comment, then one-click Explain, Polish, Continue and Reflow. AI assistant opens the full menu; Ask AI takes the selection into the chat panel instead.
With nothing selected. Press ⌘J (Ctrl+J), or choose AI assistant at the top of the /
menu, where you want the text to go.
In your own words. The menu has a box at the top: type an instruction and press Send, or type a few letters to find an action. The surrounding document goes with it, so the result fits what comes before and after.
What is in the menu
| Group | Actions |
|---|---|
| Edit selection | Improve wording, Fix spelling & grammar, Simplify language, Change tone › (professional, casual, confident, friendly, academic, straightforward), Shorten, Expand, Translate, Make into › (bullet list, numbered list, task list, sections with headings, table), Reflow format |
| Write | Continue writing, Draft section, Generate outline, Brainstorm, Use a template › (meeting notes, task list, pros and cons, status report) |
| Read this doc | Summarize, Extract action items, Explain |
| Insert | Generate table, Generate diagram › (flowchart, quadrant chart, SVG infographic, or let the AI choose) |
| My skills | Editor skills you wrote or installed — see using and writing skills |
Edit actions appear when something is selected. Diagrams are drawn inside the note as Mermaid or SVG you can keep editing, not as a picture you cannot.
Reviewing what it produces
Suggestions arrive as tracked changes, not as replacements. You see insertions and deletions against what you had, and accept or discard the suggestion as a whole. Instead of replacing your text you can also have it Insert below or Append to end, Retry, compare with View original, or Continue in chat to refine it in conversation.
Nothing is applied to your file until you accept it. If you reject everything, the file is untouched.
Select a whole chapter and ask the cursor AI to rewrite it, and you get one change too large to review properly, which defeats the point. For work across the whole document, revise the whole document instead — it comes back as many small changes, grouped, each with its reason.
Autocomplete
AI autocomplete suggests a continuation in grey when you pause while typing. Tab accepts it,
⌘→ (Ctrl+→) takes just the next word, and Esc dismisses it.
It is off by default. Switch it on in Settings → Editor → AI autocomplete. Even with it off,
press ⌘/ (Ctrl+/) — Suggest Continuation in the menu bar — to ask for one suggestion
where the cursor is.
Revising the whole document
For changes that are not confined to one selection — tighten the argument, make the terminology consistent, act on the twelve comments you left — hand the whole document over instead. The edits come back as groups of tracked changes, each with a title and a reason, and you keep the groups you want. See reviewing and revising with AI.
What it can see
It depends on what you asked for. Rewriting instructions — improve, fix, shorten, reformat, translate — work on the selection and the note around it and nothing else, so your wording is not mixed with material from elsewhere. Generating instructions — continue, expand, explain, outline — also search your knowledge base for relevant material. The Draw on your knowledge base checkbox in the AI menu overrides the default for one run, and you can mention particular documents in the request.
Settings → Knowledge base lists this default for every part of the app.
Common corrections
| You want | Say | Or pick in the AI menu |
|---|---|---|
| A tighter version, same meaning | "shorten this without dropping the caveat" | Shorten |
| To keep your phrasing but fix errors | "fix grammar only" | Fix spelling & grammar |
| Plainer words for a reader outside the field | "rewrite this for a reader new to the topic" | Simplify language |
| A different register | "make this sound more formal" | Change tone › Academic (or another tone) |
| A different structure, same content | "reformat as a table" | Make into › Table, or Reflow format to let it choose |
| To continue your own sentence | Put the cursor at the end and ask it to continue | Continue writing |
A menu item is the same request with nothing to type. Type your own words when the request has a condition the item cannot carry — "shorten, but keep every number", "formal, but keep the first person".
Version history
Your own typing is gathered into a version every few minutes, and every change the AI writes gets a version of its own. File → Browse Version History… compares any of them with the current text and restores it — see history and memory.
Daily notes and quick notes
File → Today's Note opens today's daily note. Inside any note, the quick-note box takes a
thought — typed or spoken — and the AI fixes the wording and files it under the right heading as a
change you accept. Press ⌘Enter instead of Enter and the line is carried out as an instruction
("turn the above into an email"); open the box empty and Tidy whole note reorganises the whole
note. See voice and quick notes.