Ingrid docs

Use the grid, then add structure as you need it. This guide covers the web app at ingrid.tanji.systems/app/. Ingrid Desktop is in private testing.

Start here

Open Ingrid. No account is needed for local work.
Type in the current tile. Press Enter to add the next row and keep typing.
Press Shift + Enter when a tile needs a child grid.
Choose Open to switch grids or New to start another.

Find a control

Task	Where
Open, create, import or export a grid	Top-left; under File on narrow screens
Change a tile’s type or appearance	Type / Style / Render; Props opens the independent Tile Properties sidebar with the same settings
Arrange tiles	Insert / Move / Trans (Transform) / Del (Delete)
Collapse or focus a branch	Fold / Focus
Rename or set grid defaults	Current Grid, bottom-left
Find, Undo, Redo or check status	Bottom bar: Find / Undo / Redo / State / Sync / Mode
Settings, theme, Minimap or Help	Ingrid → Opts / Dark / Map / Help; Talk and About are here too. Account is beside Ingrid.

Select tiles for their actions, or select words for text formatting. F6 focuses the visible action bar; Esc returns to the grid. Working panels stay open for repeated actions.

Toolbar labels: Ingrid → Opts → Workspace → Toolbars → Show toolbar labels. Labels start on; this device remembers the setting for both bars.

Grids and tiles

A grid holds rows and columns of tiles. Any tile can contain a child grid, adding another level.

Navigate: No text caret. Arrows move between tiles; structural commands act on the current tile or selection.
Edit: A caret appears. Typing changes the text; arrows stay within it.
Mode: The footer shows Navigate or Edit. Click it to enter or finish text editing.

Mode indicators: Ingrid → Opts → Workspace controls the footer status and optional inline indicator. The inline indicator starts off; preferences stay on this device.

Select tiles or words

Tiles: drag from a tile that is not being edited, or use Shift + arrows. Alt/Option-drag selects tiles even when starting in text.
Words: drag inside the active text editor. Crossing into another tile changes to tile selection.
Selection highlight: Grid outlines the rectangle; Bubble marks each selected tile.

The With selection bar offers Copy, Cut, Wrap and Delete. Copy and Cut use Markdown; their arrows offer other formats.

Search Help for Select Row / Select Column / Select Grid / Extend / Clear to reveal those controls. They finish text editing and return to Navigate; copy shortcuts work while they have focus.

Navigate and edit

Opening or reloading a grid starts at its overview and first tile. Content, folds and grid settings stay saved.

Enter and finish text editing

Action	Result
Type, including `Space`	Start editing and append at the end of the current tile
`Enter` or `F2` in Navigate	Edit the current tile
`Arrows` in Edit	Move within text, including at the first and last lines
`Enter` in Edit	Add a row south and keep writing
`Esc` or `F2` in Edit	Keep the edit and return to Navigate
`Tab`	Commit and move to the next tile
Click another tile	Commit the edit

Undo reverses edits; its tooltip names the next operation. Delete removes tiles in Navigate. Backspace deletes text only.

Open a tile’s editor

Text, Header, Todo or Link: click the content or padding to edit inline.
Code, Math or Diagram: one click selects the preview. Double-click, choose Edit or press Mod + E to open the editor from either mode.
Checkboxes, links and media: their toggles, destinations, playback and resize controls keep their own actions.

Tile actions appear on hover or tile focus and stay available on touch devices. A current-tile marker alone does not keep them visible after focus moves to the toolbar.

Change the tile type

Type in the top bar groups choices into Text, Code & Diagrams, and Media. Props shows a full-name Type dropdown and, where applicable, a label with the language or diagram engine.

Choose a type. Choosing Code, Math or Diagram does not open its editor.
For Header or Todo options, hover the dropdown row or click its arrow. With keyboard focus, Enter sets the type and Right Arrow opens options.
Choose Heading 1, 2 or 3, or Toggle Complete. Choosing the same type again keeps the current level or completion.

The Type menu stays available. Open Edit when you are ready to write; empty and unavailable diagrams show a compact message above their controls.

Right-click: Web uses the browser’s menu in both modes. Desktop also has a tile menu through right-click or Shift + F10 in Navigate.

Build structure

Fold a branch: click Fold or press Mod + .. Hold Alt/Option while clicking Fold, or press Alt/Option + ., to include all descendants.
Add a child grid: press Shift + Enter.
Focus on a tile: choose Focus or press Mod + Shift + Enter. Focus becomes highlighted while the view is inside a tile. Esc steps back; ROOT returns to the overview.
Add a row or column: choose Insert → New, or press Alt/Option + Enter for a row south and Mod + Enter for a column east.
Select a block: drag a non-editing tile or use Shift + arrows in Navigate. Alt/Option-drag selects tiles explicitly, including from text.
Indent or outdent: press Mod + ] or Mod + [.
Wrap a selection: press Mod + G.

Trans opens Transform, with Row, Column, Children and Levels groups. Show explanations adds a companion that explains the hovered or focused command; inspecting it does not apply the command. Undo reverses structural edits.

Del opens Delete. Delete Row North/South removes the current row and chooses which neighboring row receives focus; Delete Col West/East does the same for the current column. The direction does not select a different row or column to delete.

Mod means Command on macOS and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.

Paste text, tiles and images

Insert → New creates blank tiles. Insert → Paste inserts clipboard content north, south, west, east or as children. Opening the panel does not read the clipboard; choosing a Paste direction does.

What gets pasted

One line of text: Mod + V inserts it at the caret.
Multiline text: becomes rows of tiles.
Copied Ingrid tiles: use Insert → Paste to preserve their structure. Tile data takes precedence over an image representation of the same clipboard content.
An image: creates an Image tile below a text tile, or attaches to an existing Image tile. Paste is one operation with Undo and Redo.

Image limit: 1 MiB. Use an image link for larger files. If reading or saving fails, Ingrid reports the failure without inserting an empty tile or old clipboard content.

Style and grid defaults

Style the current tile or selection

Style applies font, size, alignment, text color, fill, border and Emphasis immediately. Whole-tile bold, italic, underline and strikethrough also affect newly typed text. The Text action bar formats selected words independently.

Color: the button shows the chosen color; stripes mean mixed values.
Border: Width and Color share a menu.
More: opens the full palette and custom colors. Closing a color menu leaves Style open.

Arrange a tile’s children

Render controls each tile’s children. Props has the same Style and Render controls in the sidebar.

Horiz / Vert: Place children beside / below the parent content.
Grid / Bub: Join cells / separate them into bubbles.

Mixed selections have no pressed choice. New blank tiles copy the parent’s explicit Render choices; pasted and moved tiles keep their own settings.

Copy, transfer or clear settings

Style and Render each have a floating Preview and these actions. Each change is one Undo.

Edit → Copy / Paste: copy and paste that category’s settings.
Edit → Transfer To: apply the current tile’s settings to related tiles. No prior Copy is needed.
Clear: reset that category. Its arrow offers related scopes.

Rename a grid or change its defaults

Choose Current Grid at bottom-left, or click the grid name.
Edit Meta Data (Name and Description) or Grid Settings (Render and Text defaults). The previews sit beside the controls; Clear resets that section’s draft.
Choose Apply to commit the draft. Cancel, Escape or the close button discards it. Clicking outside a changed draft asks whether to apply or discard.

Scope: defaults affect tiles without their own overrides. Styling a parent’s text does not restyle its children.

Undo and export: Undo reverses default-style changes together, but not Name or Description. Export uses the committed grid; apply a Current Grid draft first.

Save and Sync

Check local saving

Edits save automatically to browser storage. State, at bottom-right, reports local saving and opens save details or conflict recovery.

Ingrid requests persistent storage when supported, but the browser controls that storage. Keep a separate backup.

Set up optional Sync

Choose Sync at bottom-right and enter your email.
Enter the one-time code Ingrid sends you. The same flow creates an account or signs in to an existing one.
Sign in on another device to sync your grids there.

Import, export, and backup

Move one grid

Choose Import or Export in the top bar; open File first on a narrow screen. Export includes committed edits and does not apply a Current Grid draft.

Ingrid JSON: preserves Ingrid structure and supported embedded media.
TreeSheets XML: exchanges compatible structured grids with TreeSheets.

Back up every grid

Choose Ingrid → Opts → Data → Backup → Full Export.
Keep the downloaded backup, which includes all grids and their media, outside this browser’s storage.
To restore it, choose Import backup. Ingrid validates the complete file before writing, preserves existing grids, and adds new grids or copies where needed.

Automatic backup reminders are currently off.

Keyboard reference

Open Help for a short cheat sheet. Common shortcuts appear immediately; All shortcuts expands the full local reference. Choose Documentation for this longer guide in a separate tab.

Find an unfamiliar command

Search Help for a task such as “bigger text”, “group tiles” or “backup”.
Choose Show to close Help and reveal the control without applying it. Hidden tile types lead to Settings.
Reopen Help to continue: your search and position stay until the app reloads. Help also works offline.

Common shortcuts

Arrow keys move the tile cursor in Navigate and stay within text while editing. Escape closes Help when Help has focus; when the grid has focus, Escape keeps its normal editing and navigation behavior.

Keys	Action
`Arrows`	Move the tile cursor
`Shift` + `Arrows`	Grow or shrink the tile selection
`Enter` or `F2`	Edit the current tile
`F2`	Enter Edit, or keep an edit and return to Navigate
`Esc`	Keep an edit; in Navigate, clear the selection or step back toward the overview
`Mod` + `V`	Paste text, tiles or an image
`Esc`, `Mod` + `S` or `Mod` + `Enter`	Save and close an open Code, Math or Diagram editor
`Shift` + `Enter`	Create or enter a child grid
`Alt` + `Enter`	Insert a row south
`Mod` + `Enter`	Insert a column east
`Mod` + `F`	Find in the current grid or focused branch
`Mod` + `O`	Open the grid picker
`Mod` + `/`	Open or close Help
`Mod` + `Z`	Undo
`Mod` + `Shift` + `Z`	Redo

Data safety

Export backups regularly, especially before clearing browser data or changing browsers.
Do not assume browser storage is the same as a file on disk. Private browsing and storage cleanup can remove it.
If Sync reports a conflict, Keep both is the safe default. Ingrid keeps local edits until you choose. Close the message to decide later; State reopens it.
Before signing out, use Export my grids first when Ingrid offers it.

Desktop and native files

Ingrid Desktop is in private testing, with no public signed download yet. Use the web app for current production work.

Native .ingrid files: Editable SQLite files containing the grid and embedded media. Image paste stores its bytes in the file; validation and conflict checks protect writes.
Export for Web / Import Web Grid: Exchange compatible JSON with the web app.
Import Legacy Ingrid ZIP: Convert older archives to the native editable format.