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Manuscripts
A manuscript is a long piece of work, such as a thesis, a novel or a grant report, written as separate notes and put in order. Each chapter stays an ordinary note. Header keeps the running order in one plan note, assembles the chapters when you preview, and exports the whole thing as a PDF, Word document or web page.
How a manuscript is put together
The plan is a Markdown note whose frontmatter lists the chapter files in order. The chapters themselves can live anywhere in your vault. Reordering doesn't move or rewrite them. Settings such as “leave this chapter out of the export” or “start this chapter on a new page” are stored in the plan too, so the chapter files stay untouched.
| In the plan's frontmatter | What it holds |
|---|---|
header_manuscript: 1 | Marks the note as a manuscript plan |
manuscript_title, manuscript_subtitle, manuscript_author | The title page |
manuscript_chapters | The chapter paths, relative to the vault. Their order is the chapter order. |
manuscript_chapter_options… | Per-chapter export settings, written only when you change them |
manuscript_contents | How deep the contents list goes, when it isn't chapters only |
The body of the plan note is yours. Use it for a synopsis, an outline or research notes. It isn't included when you export. New plans are saved in a Manuscripts folder at the top of your vault.
Because a chapter is a normal note, the same note can belong to two manuscripts. Editing it changes both, and the binder reminds you of this the first time.
Start a manuscript
Click Manuscripts in the sidebar, or choose File → Manuscripts (⌃⌘M). This opens the Manuscripts home, a list of your manuscripts with their chapter and word counts. Click New manuscript, type a title and click Create. If you leave the title blank it becomes “Untitled manuscript”; you can rename it later.
You can also type “Open Manuscripts” in the command palette (⌘K), or use the link header://manuscript. Add ?note= with the plan's vault-relative path or its title to open one manuscript directly; Copy Manuscript Link gives you that link.
The binder
Opening a manuscript shows the binder: the title, a Title page section with Subtitle and Author, and the numbered chapter list. Each row shows the chapter's title, its folder and its word count. A total under the title reads like “Total · 41,200 words · 184 min read” (reading time assumes 225 words a minute). Click a chapter to edit it in the editor next to the list.
- Add chapter… opens a search box (“Find notes to add”) listing notes not already in the manuscript. You can also drag notes onto the list.
- New chapter creates a new note, either a Blank chapter or one based on one of your templates. A blank chapter is named “Chapter 4” and starts with that heading; a template chapter takes the template's name and text. Either way, it lands in the same folder as the selected chapter, right after it.
- While the binder is showing, File → New Note (⌘N) adds a blank chapter instead of a loose note.
Changes to the order save themselves after a moment; the status line says Order saved. If saving is refused, for example because the plan changed on disk, it shows why with a Retry button.
Reorder and adjust chapters
Drag a chapter by its grip to move it; a line shows where it will land. Right-click a chapter for the rest:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Move Up / Move Down | Moves the chapter one place |
| New chapter after | Creates a blank chapter right after this one |
| Exclude from export / Include in export | Keeps the chapter in the binder (dimmed) but leaves it out of the preview and export. Useful for notes-to-self or cut scenes. |
| Display title… | Sets the heading this chapter gets in the export only. The note and its filename don't change. Use chapter title undoes it. |
| Page break before | Starts the chapter on a new page in the export |
| Remove from manuscript | Takes the chapter out of the plan. The note itself stays. An Undo button appears in the status line. |
| Reveal in Library | Shows the note in its folder |
From the keyboard, with the chapter list selected: ↑ and ↓ open the previous or next chapter, ⌃⌘↑ and ⌃⌘↓ move the selected chapter, and ⌫ removes it from the manuscript. File → Move Chapter Up and Move Chapter Down do the same from the menu.
In the export, each chapter's heading is its display title if you set one, otherwise the note's first heading, otherwise the filename. The chapter's other headings are shifted to sit beneath it.
The synopsis page
When you open the plan note itself, and it has nothing written in it yet, Header shows a cover with the title, chapter list and totals, plus Open Manuscript and Write synopsis. Once you've written something, a banner at the top reminds you the page isn't exported, with Open Manuscript. Use ⋯ → Open plan note in the binder to get here.
The assembled preview
Click Preview at the top of the binder. The editor is replaced by the assembled manuscript: title page, contents, then every included chapter. The heading reads “Assembled preview · 12 chapters · 41,200 words”. Click Back to chapter to return to editing.
- Contents sets how deep the contents list goes: Chapters only, Chapters + sections or Chapters + subsections. The choice is saved in the plan.
- The preview rebuilds itself as you work, including edits you haven't saved yet.
- Citations are formatted and a bibliography is added, using your citation style.
- Warnings lists anything to check: a link to a note outside the manuscript, an embedded note (add it as a chapter to include its text), raw HTML, duplicate footnote IDs, unresolved citekeys, or a missing image.
Export
In the preview, click Export…. (The binder's ⋯ → Export… only switches to the preview; click Export… there.) The Export manuscript panel has:
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Preset | Report uses your Contents setting and each chapter's page breaks. Draft lists chapters only and drops all page breaks. Both add page numbers. |
| Format | PDF, HTML, Word (.docx) |
| Theme | Clean, Book, Editorial |
| Paper, Landscape, Margins, Text size, Include contents, Page numbers | Page layout settings. All six apply to PDF only. |
Below the settings, the Export check counts included and excluded chapters and groups any problems under Broken links and assets, Unresolved citations, Missing citation metadata and Other review notes. Click Export report, choose where to save, and Header shows the file in Finder when it's done. You can cancel a long export from its progress indicator.
Exporting a draft with known problems. If the check finds broken links or assets, unresolved citations or missing citation metadata, the button becomes Export draft anyway and stays greyed out until you tick I reviewed these issues and want a Draft export. The suggested filename then ends in “ - Draft”, so a rough copy isn't mistaken for the final one.
Manage your manuscripts
Right-click a manuscript on the Manuscripts home for Open Manuscript, Rename Manuscript, Duplicate Manuscript, Show in Finder, Copy Manuscript Link and Move Manuscript Plan to Trash…. The binder's ⋯ menu has most of the same, plus Reveal plan note and Open plan note.
- A duplicate gets its own plan (“Coastal Erosion Thesis Copy”), but its chapters still point to the same notes. Use it to try a different order, not to fork the text.
- Moving a manuscript to the Trash moves only the plan note. The chapter notes stay where they are.
- If you rename or move a chapter note inside Header, the plan is updated to the new path.