docs/manual/quickstart.org

 1#+TITLE: Quick start
 2#+DESCRIPTION: From a fresh install to editing, scheduling and seeing your agenda.
 3#+LEDE: Add a folder of org files, open one, and learn the handful of keys you need first.
 4
 5* Add a folder
 6
 7Choose File ▸ Add Folder… (=⇧⌘O=) and pick the folder that holds your org files.
 8It appears in the sidebar, and Orgstar indexes every org file under it for search,
 9the agenda and links. You can add several folders. Nothing is copied or moved.
10
11If you don't have org files yet, add an empty folder and create =notes.org= in it from
12Finder or the sidebar.
13
14* Choose your keys
15
16Open Orgstar ▸ Settings… (=⌘,=) and pick *Keys* under General:
17
18- *Emacs*: Org's own bindings, =C-c C-t= and friends. The default.
19- *Mac*: standard Mac editing keys, with Org commands on =⌃⌘= combinations.
20- *Doom (Vim keys)*: modal editing as in Doom Emacs, with =SPC= as the leader.
21
22[[file:guide/03-keys.org][Keys and commands]] lists every binding in each preset. If you
23already use Emacs, Settings ▸ General ▸ Import from Emacs… reads your configuration:
24TODO keywords, agenda files, capture templates and more (see
25[[file:guide/13-configuration.org][Configuration]]).
26
27* Open a file
28
29=⌘P= (Quick Open) finds a file by name; the sidebar works too. Open files become
30buffers: the tab bar and Switch to Buffer move between them.
31
32* Write an outline
33
34Type a heading and some text:
35
36#+BEGIN_SRC org
37,* Projects
38,** TODO Write the report
39SCHEDULED: <2026-10-09 Fri>
40Draft the summary first.
41,** Reading list
42- [ ] The Org manual
43- [ ] This manual
44#+END_SRC
45
46With the Emacs keys:
47
48| Key | What it does |
49|-----+--------------|
50| =TAB= on a heading | Fold or unfold it (cycles through folded, children, everything). |
51| =S-TAB= | Cycle the whole file the same way. |
52| =M-RET= | New heading (or list item) at the same level. |
53| =M-<left>= / =M-<right>= | Promote or demote the heading. |
54| =C-c C-t= | Cycle the TODO state. |
55| =C-c C-s= / =C-c C-d= | Schedule, or set a deadline, with the date picker. |
56| =C-c C-c= | Context action: toggle a checkbox, align a table, run a code block. |
57
58With the Mac preset, the Org commands are on =⌃⌘= keys (=⌃⌘T= cycles TODO, =⌃⌘S=
59schedules, =⌃⌘X= is the context action); with Doom, they're under =SPC m= (=SPC m t=, =SPC m d s=).
60
61The [[file:guide/02-the-editor.org][editor chapter]] covers how Org markup is shown and
62hidden, and [[file:guide/04-outlines.org][Outlines and structure]] covers headings and lists.
63
64* See your agenda
65
66Window ▸ Agenda (=⇧⌘A=) shows what is scheduled or due across every indexed file,
67day by day, and the TODO list. Select an item to jump to it. See
68[[file:guide/07-agenda.org][The agenda]].
69
70* Capture a thought
71
72=⇧⌘N= opens capture from anywhere in the app. Until you define your own templates
73(in =~/.config/orgstar/capture.toml=, or imported from Emacs), there are two: =t= files a
74TODO and =n= a note, each under an =Inbox= heading in =todo.org= or =notes.org= in your
75first folder. See [[file:guide/08-capture.org][Capture]].
76
77* Search
78
79=⇧⌘F= searches the text of every indexed file. Results open at the matching line.
80
81* Next
82
83- The command palette (=⇧⌘P=) lists every command with its key.
84- The [[file:index.org][chapter list]] goes through every feature.