Reference

Every command, key, setting, world, and construct.

Nothing on this page is transcribed by hand. Each table is built from the same roster the running app reads, and a test rebuilds every table on each run and fails if this page differs by a byte.

REFERENCE.md is the same reference as a file in the repository. The guide explains how awl's pieces fit together and is a separate document.

Commands

Every command carries up to two chord slots. Slot 1 is the platform-native binding; slot 2 is an Emacs-style binding. Both fire. A cell showing two chords shows both slots.

The chords below are the defaults; [keys] in config.toml replaces them. An empty macOS or Linux cell means the command has no default chord on that platform and is reached from the command palette, which lists every command by name.

Files

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Open file…	Choose a file with the platform file chooser.	—	—	Native, browser
Open folder…	Choose the active writing folder with the platform folder chooser.	—	—	Native, browser
Version history…	Summon the version timeline — git log if tracked, saved snapshots otherwise.	`⌘⇧H`	`Ctrl+Shift+H`	Native
Compare with version…	Open the read-only prose diff comparing the current buffer against a past version.	—	—	Native
Keep version…	Prompt for a name, then record the buffer text as a pinned history snapshot under it.	—	—	Native
New document	Start a new, empty document in the current project folder.	`⌘N`	`Ctrl+N`	Native, browser
Keep tutorial…	Mark the tutorial to be saved once a folder is chosen, opening the project switcher.	—	—	Native
Move…	Summon the destination browser to move the current file to another folder.	—	—	Native, browser
Rename note…	Open the rename prompt, seeded with the current file's name.	—	—	Native, browser
Duplicate note	Save a copy of the file beside it, deduplicated, and switch to editing the copy.	—	—	Native, browser
Reveal in file manager	Show the current document's file in the platform's file manager (Finder on macOS).	—	—	Native
Copy file path	Copy the current document's absolute file path to the clipboard.	—	—	Native
Finish file	Save the file, notify any daemon `--wait` client, and close it.	`⌘W`	`Ctrl+W`	Native
Download file	Download the buffer's text as a file — the web export, since there is no real disk.	—	—	Browser
Export as Word…	Export as `.docx`; markdown buffers only, folder chosen on native.	—	—	Native, browser
Export as HTML…	Export as `.html`; markdown buffers only, folder chosen on native.	—	—	Native, browser
Export as PDF…	Choose a folder, then export as `.pdf`; markdown buffers only, native builds only.	—	—	Native
Save	Save the buffer to disk.	`⌘S`	`Ctrl+S`	Native, browser
Review the change	Show an unresolved change: differences, your version, disk version. Changes nothing.	—	—	Native
Save your version	Settle an unresolved external change by writing the buffer over the file on disk.	—	—	Native
Use disk version	Settle an unresolved change by replacing the buffer with the disk file, as one edit.	—	—	Native
Quit	Quit the application.	`⌘Q`	`Ctrl+Q`	Native

Navigate

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Command palette…	Summon the command palette, searchable across every catalog command.	`⌘P`	`Ctrl+P`	Native, browser
Go to…	Find files, headings, folders, and recent destinations.	`⌘O`	`Ctrl+O`	Native, browser
Last file	Switch to the previously open file; a no-op with nothing to switch back to.	`⌃Tab`	`Ctrl+Tab`	Native, browser
Follow link	Open the caret's markdown link URL in the default browser, if there is one.	`C-c C-o`	—	Native, browser
Copy link destination	Copy the URL of the markdown link under the caret to the kill buffer.	—	—	Native, browser
Search forward	Open incremental search (prefilled from selection or last query), forward.	`⌘F · C-s`	`Ctrl+F`	Native, browser
Search backward	Open incremental search (prefilled from selection or last query), backward.	`⌘⇧F · C-r`	`Ctrl+Shift+F`	Native, browser
Find and replace…	Open the search panel with its replace row revealed.	`⌘R`	`Ctrl+R`	Native, browser
Forward word	Move the caret forward one word.	`⌥Right`	`Alt+Right`	Native, browser
Backward word	Move the caret backward one word.	`⌥Left`	`Alt+Left`	Native, browser
Line start	Move the caret to the start of the visual line (logical without an oracle).	`⌘Left · C-a`	`Home`	Native, browser
Line end	Move the caret to the end of the visual line (logical line without a layout oracle).	`⌘Right · C-e`	`End`	Native, browser
Document start	Move the caret to the start of the document.	`⌘Up`	`Ctrl+Home`	Native, browser
Document end	Move the caret to the end of the document.	`⌘Down`	`Ctrl+End`	Native, browser
Forward char	Move the caret forward one character.	`C-f`	—	Native, browser
Backward char	Move the caret backward one character.	`C-b`	—	Native, browser
Next line	Move the caret down one visual line, following soft wraps and a sticky goal column.	`C-n`	—	Native, browser
Previous line	Move the caret up one visual line, following soft wraps and a sticky goal column.	`C-p`	—	Native, browser
Delete word forward	Delete the word or punctuation run after the caret; a selection deletes instead.	—	—	Native, browser
Delete word backward	Delete the word or punctuation run before the caret; a selection deletes instead.	—	—	Native, browser

Format

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Align table	Re-pad the GFM table under the caret so its `\|` columns line up.	—	—	Native, browser
Tag document language	Add a `lang:` frontmatter tag naming this document's detected CJK language.	—	—	Native, browser
Insert Date	Insert today's date at the caret, in the configured date format.	`⌘⇧D · C-c .`	`Ctrl+Shift+D`	Native, browser
Blockquote	Toggle a `> ` blockquote prefix on the caret line or each line of the selection.	—	—	Native, browser
Bullet list	Toggle a `- ` bullet marker on the caret line or each line of the selection.	—	—	Native, browser
Numbered list	Toggle a numbered-list marker on the line or selection, renumbering sequentially.	—	—	Native, browser
Task list	Toggle a `- [ ] ` task checkbox on the caret line or each line of the selection.	`⌘⇧L`	`Ctrl+Shift+L`	Native, browser
Heading	Toggle a level-1 `# ` heading marker on the caret line.	—	—	Native, browser
Cycle heading	Cycle the caret line's heading level 1 → 2 → 3 → plain text.	—	—	Native, browser
Code block	Wrap the caret line or selection in a fenced code block, unwrapping if fenced.	—	—	Native, browser
Bold	Toggle `bold` markup around the selection or the word at the caret.	`⌘B`	`Ctrl+B`	Native, browser
Italic	Toggle `italic` markup around the selection or the word at the caret.	`⌘I`	`Ctrl+I`	Native, browser
Inline code	Toggle `` `inline code` `` markup around the selection or the word at the caret.	`⌘E`	`Ctrl+E`	Native, browser
Highlight	Toggle `==highlight==` markup around the selection or the word at the caret.	—	—	Native, browser
Strikethrough	Toggle `~~strikethrough~~` markup around the selection or the word at the caret.	—	—	Native, browser
Insert link…	Summon the URL prompt for a markdown link: wrap, edit, or insert a link at the caret.	`⌘K`	—	Native, browser
Undo	Undo the last edit group.	`⌘Z · C-/`	`Ctrl+Z · C-/`	Native, browser
Redo	Redo the last undone edit group.	`⌘⇧Z`	`Ctrl+Shift+Z`	Native, browser
Copy	Copy the selection to the kill buffer, leaving the text and clearing the mark.	`⌘C`	`Ctrl+C`	Native, browser
Cut	Cut the selection into the kill buffer and remove it from the buffer.	`⌘X · C-w`	`Ctrl+X`	Native, browser
Paste	Insert the OS clipboard's content — an image reference if it holds one, else text.	`⌘V · C-y`	`Ctrl+V · C-y`	Native, browser
Select all	Select the entire buffer.	`⌘A`	`Ctrl+A`	Native, browser

View

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Switch theme…	Summon the theme (world) picker.	`⌘T`	`Ctrl+T`	Native, browser
Toggle page mode	Toggle between the centered writing column and full window width.	—	—	Native, browser
Widen page	Widen the page column by one step.	—	—	Native, browser
Narrow page	Narrow the page column by one step.	—	—	Native, browser
Reset page width	Reset the page column to the buffer's default width, clearing any override.	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle debug	Toggle the debug overlay.	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle outline	Toggle the heading outline panel.	`⌘⇧O`	`Ctrl+Shift+O`	Native, browser
Fold section	Toggle collapse of the section under the caret; view state, not on the undo timeline.	`⌘⇧E · C-c C-f`	`Ctrl+Shift+E`	Native, browser
Collapse other sections	Collapse every markdown section except the one under the caret.	`⌘⇧M · C-c C-t`	`Ctrl+Shift+M`	Native, browser
Toggle typewriter scroll	Toggle keeping the caret vertically centered as you type.	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle menu bar	Toggle the menu bar's visibility.	—	—	Native, browser
Zoom in	Step the editor's zoom level up.	`⌘=`	`Ctrl+=`	Native, browser
Zoom out	Step the editor's zoom level down.	`⌘-`	`Ctrl+-`	Native, browser
Reset zoom	Reset the editor's zoom level to its default.	`⌘0`	`Ctrl+0`	Native, browser

Tools

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Spell suggestions…	Summon spelling suggestions for the misspelled word at the caret.	`⌘;`	`Ctrl+;`	Native, browser
Clean unused assets…	Summon the list of orphaned image files under the project, for moving to the trash.	—	—	Native
About	Show the About panel.	—	—	Native, browser
Credits	Open the bundled Credits document in a read-only viewer.	—	—	Native, browser
Lifetime stats	Open the lifetime writing statistics panel.	—	—	Native
Writing streaks	Open the writing-streaks panel (per-day heatmap and cumulative total).	—	—	Native
Line endings…	Toggle the file's on-disk line ending between LF and CRLF; not on the undo timeline.	—	—	Native, browser
Report a Problem	Compose a `mailto:` bug report, attaching the newest crash log's path if one exists.	—	—	Native, browser
Check for Updates	Record a last-checked marker and open the site's version-check page in the browser.	—	—	Native

Settings

Command	What it does	macOS	Linux	Builds
Caret style…	Summon the caret style picker.	—	—	Native, browser
Dictionary…	Summon the spelling dictionary picker.	—	—	Native, browser
Keymap…	Summon the keymap flavor picker (native/emacs).	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle spellcheck	Flip spellcheck on or off globally, silencing every squiggle when off.	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle caret style	Cycle to the next caret style.	—	—	Native, browser
Toggle writing nits	Toggle the writing-nits style underlines on or off.	—	—	Native, browser
Settings…	Summon the settings picker.	`⌘,`	`Ctrl+,`	Native, browser
Keybindings…	Summon the keybindings rebind menu.	—	—	Native, browser

Chords with no command

This one is matched by the keymap directly and cannot be rebound.

Chord for	macOS	Linux
Held stats HUD	`⌘⌥I`	`Ctrl+Alt+I`

Settings

The Settings overlay edits the rows below. A row with a config.toml key persists to that key on change; a row without one does not persist.

Setting	Group	Control	config.toml key
Caret style	Editor	Opens a picker	—
Page mode	Editor	On/off	`page_mode`
Typewriter scroll	Editor	On/off	`typewriter_scroll`
Reduce motion	Editor	On/off	`reduce_motion`
Page width (prose)	Editor	Numeric rail	`page_width_prose`
Page width (code)	Editor	Numeric rail	`page_width_code`
Zoom	Editor	Numeric rail	`zoom`
Scroll sensitivity	Editor	Numeric rail	`scroll_sensitivity`
Date format	Editor	Opens a picker	—
Theme	Appearance	Opens a picker	—
WYSIWYG	Appearance	On/off	`wysiwyg`
Format popover	Appearance	On/off	`popover`
Inline images	Appearance	On/off	`inline_images`
Code ligatures	Appearance	On/off	`code_ligatures`
Outline	Appearance	On/off	`outline`
Menu bar	Appearance	On/off	`menu_bar`
Spellcheck	Writing	On/off	`spellcheck`
Dictionary	Writing	Opens a picker	—
Writing nits	Writing	On/off	`writing_nits`
Ambiguous CJK reads as	Writing	Opens a picker	—
Default folder	Files	Picks a folder	`default_folder`
Projects folder	Files	Picks a folder	`workspace`
Project root	Files	Picks a folder	—
File visibility	Files	On/off	`file_visibility`
Autosave	Files	On/off	`autosave`
Local history	Files	On/off	`history`
Session restore	Files	On/off	`session_restore`
Keymap	Keybindings	Opens a picker	—
Keybindings	Keybindings	Opens a submenu	—
Report a Problem	Advanced	Runs a command	—
Edit config as text	Advanced	Runs a command	—

Configuration file

The config file is TOML at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/awl/config.toml, or ~/.config/awl/config.toml when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset. awl opens it as ordinary text; saving it reloads it live. Precedence is command-line flag, then file, then default.

Keys

An absent key takes the default below. A command-line flag overrides the file; the file overrides the default.

Key	Value	Default
`default_folder`	path	—
`workspace`	path	—
`theme`	world name	`Saltpan`
`zoom`	percent	`100%`
`scroll_sensitivity`	percent	`100%`
`page_mode`	true \| false	`true`
`page_width_prose`	whole columns	`70`
`page_width_code`	whole columns	`100`
`caret_mode`	block \| morph \| ibeam	`block`
`dictionary`	en_US \| en_GB \| en_AU	`en_US`
`writing_nits`	true \| false	`true`
`spellcheck`	true \| false	`true`
`history`	true \| false	`true`
`autosave`	true \| false	`true`
`wysiwyg`	true \| false	`true`
`popover`	true \| false	`true`
`inline_images`	true \| false	`true`
`code_ligatures`	true \| false	`true`
`cjk_priority`	list of language codes	—
`session_restore`	true \| false	`true`
`outline`	true \| false	`true`
`menu_bar`	true \| false	false on macOS, true elsewhere
`typewriter_scroll`	true \| false	`false`
`file_visibility`	true \| false	`false`
`stats`	true \| false	`true`
`reduce_motion`	true \| false	`false`
`ambient_motion`	true \| false	`true`
`keymap`	native \| emacs	`native`
`date_format`	ddmmyy \| mmddyy \| iso \| yyyymmdd \| dmonthyyyy	`ddmmyy`
`keys`	table of chord lists	—
`linux_keep_emacs`	list of chords	—

Numeric bands

A value outside the band is clamped to it, then snapped to the step.

Key	Minimum	Maximum	Step	Default
`zoom`	`50%`	`300%`	`10%`	`100%`
`scroll_sensitivity`	`25%`	`400%`	`5%`	`100%`
`page_width_prose`	`20`	`200`	`1`	`70`
`page_width_code`	`20`	`200`	`1`	`100`

Rebinding

[keys] maps a command's slug to its chords. A slug is the command's name lowercased, spaces replaced with _, and any trailing ellipsis dropped.

line	effect
`save = ["Cmd-S", "C-x C-s"]`	slot 1 native, slot 2 emacs
`switch_theme = "Cmd-T"`	a single chord binds slot 1 only

A chord is written as Modifier-Key, modifiers joined by -: Cmd, C (control), M (alt), S (shift). A multi-chord sequence is separated by a space. On Linux, Cmd in slot 1 resolves to Ctrl. linux_keep_emacs lists chords that keep their Emacs meaning on Linux where a native binding would otherwise displace them.

Worlds

A world is a complete visual environment: ground, ink ladder, display face, mono face, section-break ornament, and background. THEMES.md states the laws a world must satisfy; WORLDS.md describes each world's flavour.

The default world is Saltpan. `--list-worlds` prints this roster; `--theme <World>` selects one for a single run.

World	Ground	Display face	Mono face
Tawny	Dark	IBM Plex Mono	IBM Plex Mono
Mopoke	Dark	Bitter	IBM Plex Mono
Currawong	Dark	Iosevka	Iosevka
Potoroo	Dark	Monaspace Xenon	Monaspace Xenon
Gumtree	Light	Literata	Monaspace Xenon
Bilby	Light	Newsreader 16pt 16pt	Monaspace Xenon
Saltpan	Light	Fraunces 9pt	Monaspace Xenon
Quokka	Light	Sour Gummy	IBM Plex Mono
Bombora	Dark	EB Garamond	Monaspace Xenon
Bowerbird	Dark	IBM Plex Sans	JetBrains Mono
Mulga	Dark	Zilla Slab	Monaspace Xenon
Mangrove	Dark	JetBrains Mono	JetBrains Mono
Galah	Light	Figtree	IBM Plex Mono
Magpie	Light	Bitter	Monaspace Xenon
Brolga	Light	IBM Plex Sans	IBM Plex Mono
Wagtail	Dark	JetBrains Mono	JetBrains Mono
Firetail	Dark	Monaspace Xenon	Monaspace Xenon
Cassowary	Dark	Iosevka	Iosevka
Paperbark	Light	EB Garamond	Monaspace Xenon
Kite	Light	Fira Sans	JetBrains Mono

Markdown

The file on disk stays plain text. awl renders it live and shows raw markdown on whichever line the caret is on.

Constructs

The file stays plain text. Only the render changes.

Construct	Written as
Heading, levels 1–6	`# Heading`
Bold	`bold`
Italic	`italic`
Bold italic	`*both*`
Inline code and code blocks	`code`
Syntax highlighting in a fenced block	```rust
Blockquote	`> quoted`
List, bulleted or numbered	`- item`
Link	`[text](target)`
Task list	`- [ ] task`
Highlight	`==highlight==`
Strikethrough	`~~struck~~`
Thematic break	`---`
Table	`\| a \| b \|`
Syntax characters of every construct above	# * ` > [ ] \|

What hides off the caret

With `wysiwyg = true`, the markup below hides while the caret and the selection are elsewhere.

Construct	Hidden markup	Revealed by	Reveals in place
Heading	The leading `#` run	The line	Yes
Bold and italic	The `*` or `_` delimiters	The line	Yes
Inline code	The backticks	The line	Yes
Highlight	The `==` delimiters	The line	Yes
Strikethrough	The `~~` delimiters	The line	Yes
Fenced code block	Both fence lines and the info string	The whole block	Yes
Frontmatter	The whole `---` block	The whole block	Yes
Table	The whole source, replaced by a drawn grid	The whole block	No
Image	The whole `![alt](path)` source	The line	Yes
Link	The brackets and the target	The line	Yes
Blockquote	The `>` marker	The line	Yes

Command line

The browser build has no command line; these are the native binary's flags. awl takes a file to open and, for headless verification, a capture mode plus the hooks that compose with it.

Every flag below is one row of the same roster the parser resolves arguments through, so this table and awl --help cannot disagree about a flag's spelling, its arguments, or what it does.

Capture modes

At most one capture mode per run: awl refuses a second rather than silently preferring one.

Flag	Takes	What it does
`--screenshot`	`OUT.png`	caret at rest (rounded square)
`--screenshot-motion`	`OUT.png`	caret mid-glide (centred trailing streak)
`--screenshot-motion-v`	`OUT.png`	caret mid-glide vertical (left-edge bar)
`--screenshot-motion-d`	`OUT.png`	caret mid-glide diagonal (slanted tracer)
`--screenshot-app`	`OUT.png`	drive --keys into a REAL headless App (hermetic) and capture ITS state — the only door that sees a live-App-only transition; sidecar carries driver: "live-app"
`--capture-timeline`	`"0,16,50,150" OUT.png`	deterministic timeline: step the caret glide by injected ms, frame per step (OUT.t<ms>.png)
`--capture-held`	`DIR "0,30,60,90" OUT.png`	deterministic HELD arrow (DIR=left\|right\|up\|down): re-target one char/line per step (held=true), frame per step with trail geometry

Options

Flag	Takes	What it does
`--sel`	`L0:C0-L1:C1`	selection highlight from (l0,c0)..(l1,c1)
`--zoom`	`F`	zoom factor (0.5..3.0)
`--scroll`	`N[:Q]`	scroll to row N plus Q fixed 1/64px units
`--preedit`	`STR`	render STR as an IME preedit at the caret
`--search`	`STR`	open isearch panel for STR + highlight hits
`--search-case`	—	make --search case-sensitive
`--theme`	`NAME`	set the active color theme (Tawny, Mopoke, Currawong, Potoroo, Gumtree, Bilby, Saltpan, Quokka, Bombora, Bowerbird, Mulga, Mangrove, Galah, Magpie, Brolga, Wagtail, Firetail, Cassowary, Paperbark, Kite)
`--list-worlds`	—	print every theme name, one per line, then exit (the roster `--theme` accepts; see scripts/capture-worlds.sh)
`--icon-manifest`	—	print the app-icon export manifest as JSON (per world: icon palette tokens + display face + its logo-cursor; per face: the bundled font files), then exit — run from the repo root; see scripts/icons/
`--ground-audition`	`W`	print the world's A/B/C ground-audition manifest, exit
`--pack-icns`	`[DIR]`	cut every world's rendered tiles (default assets/macos/candidates/tiles) into assets/macos/world/<World>.icns + the canonical assets/macos/Awl.icns, and regenerate src/app_icon/embedded.rs, then exit — run from the repo root AFTER scripts/export-icons.sh
`--export-linux-icon`	`OUT.png`	cut the 256px PNG out of the committed canonical assets/macos/Awl.icns, then exit — run from the repo root; see scripts/package-appimage.sh
`--caret-mode`	`MODE`	caret look: block, morph, ibeam (default: block, on every world)
`--capture-size`	`WxH`	physical canvas size for the capture (default 1200x800)
`--capture-dpi`	`N`	renderer scale factor (default 1.0); WxH at dpi N == (W/N)x(H/N) logical retina window
`--measure`	`N`	page-mode column width in chars (default 70 for prose, 100 for code; implies --page on)
`--page`	`on\|off`	page mode: centered column (on, default) vs edge-to-edge (off)
`--debug`	—	DEBUG: draw the dim top-right dev panel — frametime/zoom/viewport/cursor/theme/md+syn (OFF by default; frametime is a fixed placeholder in a headless capture)
`--hud`	—	summon the HELD stats HUD (live: hold Option-Cmd-I; clock/file-date fields are fixed placeholders in a capture)
`--menu-bar`	—	show the web/Linux MENU BAR (default on web/Linux, off on macOS which has the native bar); --menu-open N drops menu N's dropdown
`--peek`	—	summon the HOLD-⌘ shortcut peek (live: hold the convention's bare arming modifier — ⌘ on Mac, Ctrl on Linux — ~600ms; a capture shows the curated starter six)
`--streaks`	—	summon the WRITING STREAKS card (live: palette "Writing streaks"; a capture shows a fixed synthetic year + streak numbers)
`--whichkey`	—	summon the WHICH-KEY panel: the C-x prefix's follow-up keys (live: press C-x and pause ~500ms)
`--default-folder`	`DIR`	set the fallback active folder for a first launch with nothing remembered
`--config`	`PATH`	load settings from PATH (default ~/.config/awl/config.toml)
`--wait`	—	windowed editor only: single-instance daemon — hand `file` to an already-running awl and block until "Finish file" finishes it (EDITOR=awl --wait for git)
`--keys`	`"SPEC"`	replay emacs chords (e.g. "C-n C-n M->") then capture
`--seed-data`	`DIR`	seed awl's own DATA ROOT (the unresolved-change record, the scratch stash, session.toml, history) into a hermetic scenario sandbox from DIR's files — the only way a --screenshot-app run can START from state awl already had; refused outside a hermetic door
`--seed-tree`	`DIR`	seed a whole fixture PROJECT (DIR's files, recursively, at their own paths) into a hermetic scenario sandbox — the only way a --screenshot-app run can open a SECOND file, since --root alone seeds an empty directory marker; refused outside a hermetic door
`--strict-replay`	—	with --screenshot --keys: abort (naming the offender) on an unbound chord, a live-only effect the replay can't perform, or a missing layout oracle; runs HERMETIC (an in-memory fs seeded from the named file + --config — a replayed save never touches the real file, the user's own config/notes/history are never read or written)
`--storyboard`	`TOML`	run a scenario storyboard (press/type/pause/run_for/expect steps — see scenarios/): strict + hermetic, emitting per-step PNG+JSON, deterministic film frames, a byte-stable trace.json, and (with ffmpeg on PATH) film.webm/film.mp4
`--storyboard-out`	`DIR`	where the storyboard run's artifacts land (default: <storyboard>.run/ beside the .toml)

Unlisted flags

`awl --help` does not print these. They work like any other flag; they are benchmark, diagnostic and verification hooks rather than everyday arguments. Every benchmark opens no window.

Flag	Takes	What it does
`--screenshot-frames`	`N OUT.png`	capture N successive settled frames of the real App scheduling body, stepped --frame-step-ms per frame
`--semantic-json`	—	print the headless App's accessibility tree as JSON instead of a PNG
`--help, -h`	—	print the usage summary above and exit
`--frame-step-ms`	`MS`	milliseconds of virtual clock between --screenshot-frames frames
`--search-replace`	—	open the search panel's labelled replace row — the fresh Cmd-R state
`--menu-open`	`[N]`	show the menu bar and drop menu N's dropdown (0 = the App menu)
`--lifetime`	—	summon the LIFETIME STATS card (live: the palette's "Lifetime stats"; a capture renders fixed placeholders rather than a live store)
`--root`	`DIR`	the active project root: scopes the go-to overlay and fills the sidecar's project block (default: the launch file's parent, else the working directory)
`--workspace`	`DIR`	workspace parent whose child directories are the switch-project candidates
`--live-script`	`"STEPS"`	drive the REAL windowed app through a live-probe step script; refused alongside any capture mode
`--live-shots`	`DIR`	where --live-script writes its shots (default: the system temp directory)
`--bench-typing`	—	time the per-keystroke update path on 100/1000/5000-line documents, whole-buffer reshape against incremental
`--bench-perf`	—	time the traced hot paths over the long fixtures under benches/fixtures
`--bench-frame`	—	per-stage frame profile of the live redraw sequence over the real repo docs
`--bench-theme-burst`	—	profile successive font-changing theme switches — the reshape and the first frame after each — cold and warm
`--bench-a11y`	—	time one keystroke's accessibility projection at 100 to 50 000 lines, the whole-snapshot path against the incremental one
`--bench-zoom-burst`	—	replay a rapid adjacent-level zoom burst: eager reflow against latest-wins coalescing
`--bench-frost`	—	profile the frost field's steady frames and its rebuilds, for both lava worlds
`--bench-caret`	—	record the caret glyph lookup's cost at the document top, middle and tail
`--bench-suite`	—	run the unified bench suite — corpus tiers by interaction scenarios — printing a table and writing bench.json beside the invocation
`--bench-baseline`	`PATH`	diff --bench-suite against a machine-keyed baseline, exiting nonzero on a >20% cell
`--soak-gpu`	—	run the bounded native window/surface robustness probe, isolated from the daemon, session, history and user config
`--soak-gpu-seconds`	`SECONDS`	how long --soak-gpu runs, in seconds (default 900)