LaTeX

Status: Draft Owner: Yaacov Created: 2026-08-14 Last updated: 2026-11-10 Purpose: Explain creating, editing, compiling and reviewing LaTeX documents in Scient Desktop. Doc type: Operational procedure

Use Scient’s LaTeX workspace to write, compile and review a paper, report or thesis. Visual lets you edit supported document content on a page-like canvas; Source edits the .tex file directly; PDF shows TeX’s compiled output. Split puts Source beside PDF or Visual. The saved LaTeX remains the document source, and the compiled PDF determines final typesetting.

You can write in Source or Visual before installing TeX. To produce a PDF, install a compatible toolchain and the packages your document uses. See Build and review and Install LaTeX tools.

Start a document

Open a new side-panel tab with +, then choose LaTeX from the format button on the Document card, or use the side panel’s Documents menu. You can also choose the Files bar’s New document button (file-plus icon) then LaTeX, or New document here → LaTeX from a folder’s context menu. A single-file template starts as untitled.tex; a folder template such as Thesis starts at main.tex inside its own folder. The document opens in Visual, using your default template and placing the cursor in its title. Type the title and keep writing. For Markdown, see Writing Markdown. Once the title is saved and you move on, the file takes its name from it once, for example spectral-bounds.tex; later title changes leave the file name alone. Templates without a title, such as a letter or a CV, ask for a document name instead. Existing files are never overwritten, and a name that is taken gets a number. The document is created in the selected folder when you start from Files, or the active thread’s workspace root from the Document card. The Thesis template creates its own folder there. Creation or automatic naming can stop if a save, permission or recovery decision needs attention. Resolve the notice before trying again.

Until you write in the body, the templates and the document language (English or Hebrew) sit above the page: choosing another one switches the empty document in place and keeps your title. The first few templates are on the page; the rest are under More. The Thesis template is a folder of its own, with chapters and a bibliography beside main.tex. Right-click a template to make it the default, move it between the page and More, or hide it, and drag to reorder. More > New template… saves a copy of the chosen template as your own, which you can then edit, rename, or delete.

Hover over a template name to preview its first page. Click the preview to open a larger view with zoom and scrolling; Escape closes it. Opening a preview does not select the template. Click the template’s name to use it. Available previews work offline, including personal templates with a captured first page.

For later filename changes, use the file header’s Rename action. If a chapter is included by another file, update the including path in Source after renaming; Scient does not rewrite that include for you. Finish pending edits, recovery decisions and builds before retrying a blocked rename. A document with existing build output may reopen at its new name rather than keep every local editor state.

Settings > Documents keeps these choices in one place:

• LaTeX: a LaTeX tools readiness summary, an optional compiler-bundle install, and compiler versions, paths, and availability under Technical details. Templates includes the default and the full list to arrange, hide, show again, rename, or delete your own. Language, default compiler, and opening view are separate choices.
• Markdown: whether Markdown files open Rich or as Source.
• Word: the Pandoc converter that Word export uses, and its install.

Template, language, default-compiler and view choices stay on this device. Tool installations belong to the server shown at the top of Settings; when that server is offline, their status reads Offline. The opening view follows the last choice made in Settings or the editor.

PDF generation requires an installed TeX toolchain and the packages used by your document. Install those packages before working offline; no hosted compiler or AI service is required for the writing workflow.

Save and manage personal templates

Open the document’s main .tex file, then choose Document > Save as template… in Visual, or More > Save as template… in the other views. Enter a name and choose Save. If that name already exists, the action becomes Replace. The saved template clears its supported title field for the next document. When this file is associated with a personal template, Update “name” replaces that template with the file’s current contents. Arrange, rename, edit or delete personal templates in Settings > Documents > LaTeX > Templates.

Templates capture the selected source and some literal included .tex files. Save from the main file: a chapter can show the assembled document in Visual yet still save only that chapter as the template. Images and bibliography entries are not bundled; copy those resources separately. New bibliography companions may be empty and need their entries restored. A template picture is optional; a missing picture does not prevent saving.

Template capture currently follows a limited set of literal includes. Multiple includes on one line, unbraced inputs, the import family and nested files with their own relative paths may be omitted or collected incorrectly. A successful save does not establish that every dependency was captured. For those projects, copy the project files instead. Keep the intended Visual pane as the only visible LaTeX pane while taking a template picture; capture can otherwise use another visible document. Wait for a save or update to finish before starting the next.

For an ordinary single-file template, create a new document from the saved copy and check its source and resources before reusing it. Personal templates are stored in this device’s local application/browser storage; they are not shared with other devices or packaged as portable project backups.

Choose a view and navigate

Opening a .tex file offers Source, Split, Visual and PDF. Split places Source on the left and the last chosen PDF or Visual view on the right; PDF is the initial choice. Use the PDF/Visual selector in the header to change the right pane, and drag the divider to resize it. Choosing a view also updates the device preference used when opening other LaTeX files. Newly created LaTeX documents open in Visual.

PDF, Visual and Split share one header row: build status and search, the view switch, sidebar/page/zoom controls, then Rebuild and More. Split also offers its PDF/Visual selector. In narrow panes some controls move into More. Source keeps the view switch in the same position.

The sidebar’s Outline navigates document headings. Visual’s page controls use its current browser layout; PDF’s controls use the compiled PDF. Clicking a Contents entry navigates to its heading. Clicking a generated Contents heading keeps your existing caret, and clicking a statement heading places the caret in its editable body.

Visual tries to reopen at your reading position during the current session. The initial screen loads first, and the rest of the document loads around it in steps. Editing and the writing toolbar become available after the complete projection is loaded. Large or complex documents can take longer; loading speed is not guaranteed by a particular page count. Formulas render in the background, visible ones first; a formula that cannot render shows its LaTeX. Visual adjusts scrolling to retain the reading line as formulas, images and edited content change size. Complex layout and delayed restoration can still move the view.

Use the minus and plus controls for five-percentage-point zoom steps between 25% and 500%. Click the percentage to fit the page to the pane width; the fit follows pane resizing. Zoom affects only the screen, not LaTeX paper dimensions.

In Visual, pinch a trackpad or hold Ctrl while scrolling to zoom around the pointer. Ordinary two-finger scrolling moves through the document. Formula previews and offscreen content may still need painting or measurement when revisited. Formula previews are cached within a fixed memory budget, so some may render again.

Where supported, the document’s More → Open in new window action opens its side-panel tab in another window. See Multiple windows for window behavior; another window does not create an independent copy of the project file.

Write and format text

The writing toolbar contains Undo/Redo, Text, Insert, Math, Lists and Document. It stays on one row; less-used groups move into More when space is tight. Math keeps its word label. Type / on an empty paragraph or press Ctrl/Cmd+/ to open Insert, then use the arrow keys and Enter to choose an item.

Use Text > Formatting for bold, italic and inline code. The default inline-code shortcut is Ctrl/Cmd+E. Text > Paragraph style contains Paragraph, the heading levels, Quote and Long quotation, plus Part and Chapter where supported. Text > Alignment contains Left-aligned text and Right-aligned text. Quote is unavailable inside a list item.

Numbered headings, below the heading levels, changes numbering for the current heading or the next heading selected from ordinary text. Changing heading level retains that choice; Paragraph and Quote are unaffected. Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+0 selects Paragraph, and Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+1, 2 or 3 selects the first three heading levels.

Use Document > Keyboard shortcuts to open All writing shortcuts. Search or filter its Write, Math and Tables areas to see the effective bindings. The same dialog owns shortcut editing, custom math actions and the printable reference. See also Keyboard shortcuts.

Lists

Lists offers Bullet list, Numbered list and No list. Existing description lists remain editable. The current type is highlighted, and each row shows its shortcut: Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+8 for a bullet list, Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+7 for a numbered list. Where a list cannot start, such as on a selected figure, the menu says so. Choose a type on an empty paragraph to start writing, or select paragraphs to turn them into items. With a caret inside a list, changing type affects that list at its current nesting level; selecting particular items changes only those items. Choosing the active type leaves it unchanged. No list keeps the content, including supported equations and description terms.

In bulleted and numbered lists, Enter creates an item; Enter on an empty item leaves that level. Tab and Shift+Tab indent and outdent. Description lists have editable term and body fields: Enter in a term moves to its body, Enter in the body starts another item, and Enter in an empty item returns to ordinary text. There is no description-list creation item in the current Lists menu; add a new description environment in Source. Custom source-only lists also remain editable there.

Nested bulleted and numbered lists remain editable with ordinary enumitem labels such as label=\alph*), including bold or italic item text. Supported decimal, alphabetic and Roman labels, start and resume options keep their source spelling during content edits. Custom label macros retain exact-source fallback. The list footer has a Numbering menu for the format, starting number and continuing a previous list. Description lists have an Items menu for inserting or deleting the current item. Common enumitem layout such as style=nextline and literal leftmargin settings is reflected in the canvas.

Title, authors, date and abstract

Document > Title & authors offers Edit title, Edit authors and Edit date when a title block exists. Each item focuses its field on the page. When no title is shown, Add a title is offered where the source supports it; a title block is never added silently. There is no separate title footer.

Standard \title, \author and \date metadata appears at \maketitle. Edit it directly on paper; fields grow with their text. Clear the author field to remove its text. The date can be automatic, custom or hidden. Typing in an automatic date makes it custom; an omitted declaration follows LaTeX’s current-date default, and \date{} hides it. Placeholders appear only while the block is active. Standard report metadata declared inside document is also supported.

Abstracts support ordinary paragraphs and inline or display math. Insert > Document blocks > Abstract visits an existing abstract in the open file before creating another.

Hebrew, language and paragraph direction

Visual reads the existing English/Hebrew language and font declarations from Babel or Polyglossia in the document root. Hebrew documents use right-to-left flow; formulas and source fields retain left-to-right entry. Supported English, Hebrew, LTR and RTL environments and inline language switches remain editable, including \textenglish, \texthebrew, \LR, \RL and \foreignlanguage. Existing language wrappers survive supported edits. In Visual, Text > Direction offers compact LTR and RTL controls for the current paragraph or selected paragraphs. They save explicit LTR/RTL environments, preserving inline formatting and math, and support Undo. Existing language blocks retain their language and font when a paragraph’s direction is overridden. If the root has no bidi support, the first direction action adds bidi and selects XeLaTeX, or adds luabidi when LuaLaTeX is already selected. The document’s language and fonts are retained. Controls are disabled in object fields and unsupported paragraph containers; a separate root must be editable when its setup needs updating. Document fonts and standard abstract, contents and caption labels follow the root’s language setup. Custom or unsupported setups remain accessible in Source; the compiled PDF is authoritative. Document > Document settings > Language changes the main language between English and Hebrew in supported simple setups, including after you have written in the body. Apply preserves the body and explicit language passages, updates the root preamble, and can be undone with the document’s Undo command. Existing Hebrew fonts are retained; first enabling Hebrew uses Times New Roman and selects a Unicode compiler when needed. Babel and custom language setups show their current language but stay controlled in Source. Compiler and font configuration can also be edited there. Changing a document’s language does not change the language default for new documents. Use Document > Compiler in Visual, or More > Compiler in the other views, for this document’s compiler.

Find and replace

Click the header search field or press Ctrl/Cmd+F. Type a query to show the match count and navigation arrows; Enter advances and Escape clears the search. Visual’s Document > Find and replace opens the full bar under the writing toolbar, with Replace and Replace all.

Visual search covers text in the main document editor. It does not search every visible field: titles, captions, table cells and other nested object fields are excluded. Use Source search when you need to locate commands or text in those fields, and check included files separately.

Replace all works backward through one text block at a time, with each block as its own undo step. It stops if you type, undo, begin composition, close the bar, receive changed source or reach an edit that cannot be written back. A long document can take time, and earlier replacements remain applied if the operation stops. Review the result before continuing.

The footer and object controls

The footer follows the current editing context. It shows object controls on the left and your position and estimated word count on the right, for example “Table · row 3, column 2”, “1,284 words” or “12 of 1,284 words”. Math, code, comments, commands and reference keys are excluded from the count.

Click inside an object to edit its content on paper and use its footer controls. Common controls include Rows & columns, Appearance and Edit LaTeX. Other properties open in a compact panel above the footer. Clicking anywhere in the footer, including its empty space and word count, retains the active object and its open options. Click elsewhere, use Close or press Escape to close the options; closing does not discard unfinished fields. Opening a submenu or symbol picker retains the object.

Referenceable objects show a compact label field or Add label. Enter or blur commits a valid unique key; invalid or duplicate keys remain drafts, and Escape cancels unfinished input. A recognized unique label can be renamed with its recognized references in a single-file document. Renaming across included files requires coordinated Source edits. Clearing a heading label removes it; heading numbering stays under Text > Paragraph style. Part headings also retain their numbering and label controls. Quotes have no separate footer.

Write mathematics

Click a rendered formula to activate its math editor, then wait for the editing caret before typing, pasting or using an input method. Simple keypresses can be buffered during preparation, but paste, drop and composition input are not retained reliably before admission. A stalled editor keeps the readable formula and offers Retry.

Once active, click a symbol to place the caret or drag to select an expression. Inline and display math share the top Math menu and contextual footer. New formulas start empty and focus the math cursor. Alt+= inserts inline math; Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+M or Alt+Shift+= inserts display math. Outside command entry, plain Enter or Escape returns to text. A paragraph is added after a display only when needed. Tab and arrows navigate structural slots and return to text at a boundary. Backspace or Delete in a completely empty equation removes it. Clicking outside math dismisses its controls. MathLive’s separate menu and virtual keyboard are hidden.

Insert or change a math structure

Use the Math menu to insert or change a structure:

The current inline/display placement has a checkmark. Placement changes retain existing math; converting inline math to display math retains the surrounding text as paragraphs. Matrix and symbol pickers change nothing until an item is inserted. Symbols opens above the footer at the same corner whether opened from Math or the footer, with no centered dialog. Drag its Symbols header to move it within the editor. Its position is retained while this editor stays open. With the header focused, arrow keys move it and Home restores the footer position. Inside math, insertion uses the current math selection/caret. Outside math, matrices and cases start display math; brackets and symbols start inline math. Brackets opens a compact submenu. Match starts on: choosing the left bracket sets its complementary right bracket, whose dropdown is disabled. Switch Match off to choose each side independently, including None for an invisible side. Size offers Auto, Normal, \big, \Big, \bigg, and \Bigg. Changing these choices does not edit the formula. Insert wraps the current math selection or creates an empty pair at its cursor. Cross-cell selections must be narrowed to one expression or expanded to the complete matrix. Inside math, Text > Formatting offers bold, italic and monospace; these apply to selected math or the next characters typed at the caret. Use the same configured bold, italic and inline-code shortcuts (inline code becomes monospace). Paragraph styles and alignment remain unavailable in a formula. Math has no right-click menu; use Text, Math and the contextual footer. Toolbar Undo/Redo uses the formula’s editing history.

Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on macOS) splits math at the caret: the preceding content stays on the current row and the following content moves to a new row below. The caret starts that new row. A single-line formula becomes a two-row gathered layout. In matrices, cases and aligned equations, column positions are retained; cells to the right of the split also move to the new row. Inside a fraction, root or other nested body, the split stays within that body. Start/end splits leave an empty row ready for typing. Imported row labels/tags remain protected.

You can also type a complete matrix, bmatrix, pmatrix, vmatrix, Vmatrix, cases, or aligned environment on an otherwise empty visual paragraph; Scient converts it only after the matching \end{...} is complete. Unsupported or malformed environments remain ordinary text or protected source rather than being partially rewritten.

Formula source, numbering and labels

Inline math shows Edit LaTeX directly in the compact footer. When the caret is inside a matrix, cases or aligned cell, Rows & columns appears beside it. The top Math menu provides placement, brackets, matrices, cases and Symbols.

Display math and equations share a compact footer with Edit LaTeX and a Numbered toggle. Label appears only when numbering is on; its small field commits on Enter or blur and rejects invalid or duplicate labels. Turning numbering on converts an ordinary display into an equation; turning it off retains any existing outer label for later reuse. Existing align/gather blocks keep their row numbering scope. Rows & columns opens its small menu only when the caret is in a matrix, cases or aligned cell. Fixed column counts, minimum sizes and imported row metadata restrict its actions. The source editor opens above the footer. Symbols, brackets and insertion actions stay in the top Math menu. Wide formulas pan with horizontal trackpad gestures or Shift-wheel after clicking into them, without a scroll bar. Moving the caret follows the part being edited. Selection highlights stay attached to their contents during vertical and horizontal scrolling.

Supported numbered equations show their number at the right edge. A reference such as \eqref{eq:sum} shows the matching number in parentheses; \ref omits the parentheses. Click a resolved reference to jump to the equation and briefly highlight it. Its target remains editable in the existing footer. Unnumbered displays stay unnumbered, and explicit tags and suppressed row numbers are respected. Standard article/book/report numbering and ordinary \numberwithin{equation}{section} or {chapter} update locally as equations change. Unresolved labels and unsupported custom numbering use a label fallback; the compiled PDF remains authoritative. Table references also show the derived caption number and navigate to their labelled table. The label must exist in the document; an unlabelled nonfloating table does not create a reference target.

Choose Edit LaTeX to edit the formula body above the footer. Supported edits update the equation and document as you type; there are no Apply or Cancel buttons. Escape or Ctrl/Cmd+Enter returns to the formula. The body editor preserves outer wrappers and metadata, including protected \label, \tag, \notag and \nonumber commands in imported rows. Row count, placement and row metadata for such imported structures remain Source operations. Edits crossing an interior numbering command, nested numbering or commented equations can be refused. Unknown commands remain literal source; the compiler determines whether they are defined. A single outer reference label remains editable and survives numbering changes; it does not prevent editing a nested matrix’s rows or columns.

Symbols and command completion

Symbols groups Common, Structures, Labels, Greek, Operators, Sets, Relations, Arrows, Calculus, Accents, Brackets, Functions, Alphabets, Spacing and More. Open it from Math → Symbols or press Alt+I, then S. Returning to an equation leaves a dismissed Symbols panel closed. The Macros category appears when the document declares supported math macros. Search accepts names, LaTeX commands, Unicode and common descriptions. Tiles are equal squares with minimal mathematical previews; layout-only commands use small diagrams, and package symbols can use bundled TeX glyph outlines. Hover or focus a tile to see its command and your effective keyboard shortcuts. Arrow keys browse the grid; Enter inserts, and Escape returns to the formula. Recent symbols and starred favorites are saved locally on this device. A fraction, root, accent, or paired delimiter wraps the selected math; without a selection, entry slots are blank.

For an annotated brace, select an expression and choose Underbrace with label or Overbrace with label in Common or Labels. Fill the empty slots using Tab to move between them. Choose Text in math inside a label to type ordinary words, such as “terms.” This group also offers annotations above or below an expression and arrows with labels on both sides. Boxed expression is in Common. Templates insert empty slots, with no sample text to erase. When extending a selection out of an inner math slot, its enclosing structure is included first. For example, dragging from an underbrace label into the surrounding equation selects the brace, expression, and label together. Dragging within the label selects its text; an ordinary click places the caret.

Plain typing is not expanded into commands. Start a command with \. Autocomplete in Source and Visual shows the insertion template, including required braces: for example, \frac{}{}, \mathcal{} or \textcolor{color}{text}. Argument names in previews are hints, not inserted text. Up/Down chooses an entry; Tab, Enter or a click accepts it. Escape dismisses the list. The caret starts in the first argument. Source completion includes text, math, document commands and environments, plus supported macros defined in that file’s preamble. Tab moves through the empty arguments of an accepted source template.

Completion also works in ordinary Visual paragraphs and editable table text. Choosing a text format starts typing with that style; choosing a math command creates inline math at that caret. Heading commands work on an otherwise empty paragraph. Reference, link and footnote templates keep their arguments available for typing; Tab moves to the next empty argument, and Tab, Enter or the final closing brace finishes a supported inline command. Commands requiring a source layout remain available in Source.

Inside a color argument, completion lists standard colors and literal colors defined in the document preamble. Xcolor mixtures also offer percentages and the next color, as in red!50!blue. Choosing a color for empty Visual colored text starts writing in that color. All these lists follow the existing command completion setting; they do not open Symbols. Inside Visual math, argument braces are paired while typing a command. Accepting an argument command such as \text, \textbf, \textit, \mathbf, \mathbb or \mathcal with Tab or Enter supplies braces and enters an empty editable slot. Choosing a suggestion does the same. Choosing these formatting commands in Symbols wraps selected content, or creates an empty slot when nothing is selected. Typing in \text{} uses text mode; \mathbb{} and \mathcal{} use math mode. Formatting arguments keep their own editing scope: insertion places a caret inside, typing retains the chosen font, and arrow movement can cross its boundary. Enter formatting also enters an adjacent math formatting argument; Leave parent before/after returns to the surrounding formula. Repeated Ctrl+A includes each nested formatting argument before its containing structure. Existing empty formatting arguments regain their slots when reopened; placeholder markers never enter saved LaTeX. Type \begin{bmat to choose bmatrix; Up/Down select and Tab or Enter accepts. The matching end and editable cells are inserted together. Existing argument text is preserved. These completions follow the Math command completion setting.

Type \ followed by a command name directly in a formula to see local command suggestions with symbol previews. Up/Down changes the suggestion; Enter or Tab inserts it and moves into its editable slot when applicable. In-progress command suggestions remain local until accepted, so ghost completions are not saved into the document. Clicking a suggestion keeps you inside the formula.

The formula field keeps bare words and punctuation literal. In the formula-code editor, starting a known command such as \fra or an inner environment such as \begin{bmat shows bounded completions; Up/Down chooses an entry and Tab or Enter accepts it. Unknown commands remain literal source; the TeX compiler determines whether their definitions are available.

Packages and document macros

The symbol palette is bundled locally and needs no network. Inserting a supported tool can add its known package requirements in a same-file source edit. If editing a chapter would also require changing the root preamble, add the requested declaration in the root’s Source view first, then retry. This also applies to math environments, table styles, equation references, custom shortcuts and formula-code edits. Color/highlighting adds xcolor, cancellation adds cancel, and AMS structures add their math packages. Menu color names not provided by xcolor receive a definition when used. The root’s active usepackage and RequirePackage declarations are checked, including comma-separated package lists and known package dependencies. Commented declarations do not count. Existing declarations and their options are retained; the packages must be available in the local TeX installation. Bundled TeX outlines cover many package symbols that the browser math renderer cannot draw. Other unsupported commands retain a source fallback; the compiled PDF renders them through their package. A preview never substitutes a different symbol into document source.

Macro definitions belong in Source. Visual reads literal \DeclareMathOperator declarations from the root preamble, including the starred form, so \DeclareMathOperator{\rank}{rank} makes \rank render as an upright operator without changing the command in source. Simple \newcommand, \renewcommand, \providecommand, \DeclareRobustCommand, and undelimited \def/\gdef math definitions support required arguments. Macro calls generally remain single units in the formula. One-argument delimiter wrappers such as \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\left\lVert #1\right\rVert} allow editing inside the delimiters directly; argument edits retain \norm{...} in source. Changing the delimiters expands that occurrence into ordinary math. Use Edit LaTeX for arguments of other macro shapes. Preamble changes update the shared math setup without adding definitions to each included file. Optional/default arguments, conditional or recursive definitions, paired-delimiter declarations and commands requiring TeX execution remain controlled in Source and PDF.

Insert and edit document objects

The Insert menu keeps the same choices while you work. Math-only insertion belongs in Math; finish editing a formula before inserting document elements.

Pickers retain the captured insertion point. Cancel inserts nothing. If the document changes while a picker is open, choose the position again; an image already imported at that point remains a project asset. New headings, cells, captions and math structures start without example text to erase. Existing text and explicitly chosen templates retain their content.

Tables

Common tabular, tabularx, tabulary and longtable structures have visual editors. Click a cell, including its blank space, to edit it. Clicking existing text keeps normal caret placement and selection. Type directly in cells and use Tab to move through the grid. At the last cell, Tab adds a row when structural editing is available; otherwise it leaves the table. The footer offers Rows & columns, Cells, Appearance, and Caption directly. Rows & columns inserts, deletes and moves rows or columns; Cells merges or splits cells, retaining supported cell content. Appearance uses standard menus for rules, widths, headers, column settings, borders and layout. Dimensions and longtable continuation use compact forms in submenus. Existing source colors are preserved; change color declarations in Source. Caption adds a caption or focuses the existing caption on the paper. Floating tables and longtables support caption and label edits independently of grid restrictions, preserving merged cells, rules and continuation bands. Captioned tables also show a compact Label field, committed on Enter or blur, with invalid and duplicate keys rejected. Selection stays active while using the menus. Imported structures retain their edit protections. Clearing a caption removes its command, table number and reference label. You can add a caption again, and label fields remain editable after committing. The footer follows the active cell without changing the table’s appearance or the footer’s height. The writing toolbar’s Insert > Table picker inserts the chosen size with full grid borders and puts the caret in the first cell. Every cell edge shows either the table’s real border or a faint dashed editing guide where a border is missing. Guides stay thin with short dashes at every zoom level. Real borders keep their appearance. Editing guides are absent from the source and PDF.

Imported captions appear above or below the table in source order and show their derived table number when supported. Enabling Header row makes the first row bold in Visual as well as the saved LaTeX. An imported header rule alone does not make text bold; explicit cell formatting is retained. In mixed-width tabularx tables, ordinary columns fit their contents while flexible X columns take the remaining width and wrap their text. Visual approximates table and caption spacing; custom package styles and float placement remain authoritative in PDF.

Imported longtables can separate their initial header, repeated header, page footer, and final footer using \endfirsthead, \endhead, \endfoot, and \endlastfoot. Visual repeats the continuation header and footer when the data rows cross its page boundaries. The caption, initial header, and data cells are editable on the page; continuation definitions remain editable in Source. For standard document counters, the caption includes Table 1: and continuation text using \thetable shares that number. Cell edits retain the existing page gaps while the updated layout settles. Simple literal row templates declared in the preamble, such as \newcommand{\testrow}[1]{#1 & Synthetic record #1 & Pending\\}, render as ordinary cells. Untouched calls remain intact. Editing a generated cell writes that one call as an explicit row, preserving the template definition and other calls. Structural changes to these imported tables remain in Source. Exact break positions and more complex template expansion require the compiled PDF.

Ordinary supported cell, caption and label edits target their corresponding source ranges. Structural operations deliberately normalize only the supported table’s tabular region so that its dimensions, column specification, and rules remain consistent; surrounding source outside the supported operation is retained. Imported tabular tables with simple l, c, and r columns can also edit plain cell contents inside literal \multicolumn and positive \multirow{n}{*} spans. Basic named row colors such as \rowcolor{blue!10}, vertical rules, \hline and \cline are shown and preserved. Supported span, rule and grid changes are available in the footer. Unsupported combinations are disabled; edit table colors and custom structure in Source. Tab skips covered cells. Selection expands to include complete merged cells. Unsupported merged-cell splits remain protected; inspect PDF for final multipage layout. New tables use a package-free grid style. Nonfloating tables stay nonfloating and unnumbered. Column width and wrapping are separate from alignment. Supported literal grids retain colors during row/column changes, but color controls are not exposed; change those declarations in Source. Operations that cannot preserve spans or custom column modifiers are disabled or report why they are unavailable.

Table placement controls move a caption above or below and convert a supported ordinary table to a nonfloating multipage table. Longtables offer repeated header rows and continuation text. Applying a repeated header copies the chosen first header rows; apply it again after changing their text to refresh the continuation header. Custom or macro-generated table structures retain their existing editing limits.

Formatted prose and inline math can share a cell. Place the cell caret and choose Math > Inline math; Text formatting and writing shortcuts also apply there. Cell edits share document undo, and mixed prose/math cells support the same rectangle clear and copy actions as ordinary cells. Paragraph or display-math cells and unsupported nested commands remain Source operations. Actions incompatible with an imported grid are disabled; edit its custom structure in Source.

Select, copy and clear cells

Drag across table cells, Shift+click another cell, or use Shift+Arrow at a cell boundary to select a rectangular area. Delete or Backspace clears all selected cells; the table structure stays in place. Ctrl/Cmd+C copies the selected cells as a LaTeX table fragment, and Ctrl/Cmd+X copies and clears them.

Clicking a table border focuses the active cell. Use the table’s keyboard selection to select the whole table. Ctrl/Cmd+A inside a cell first selects its text; pressing it again selects the table. Copy then includes the full table with its caption and settings. Delete, Backspace or Cut removes a selected whole table. Escape returns to editing a cell.

Cell selections highlight complete cells. Whole-table selections highlight the table block and its caption together. Dragging from a cell out into surrounding text switches to document selection: Delete removes the table and any selected text. Dragging across a table from surrounding text also selects it as a complete block. Selecting the table does not move the caret into its first cell.

Figures and panels

Figures use real figure and \includegraphics source and add graphicx when needed. Imports are saved only after choosing Insert (PNG/JPEG, up to 20 MB). An empty caption does not add a caption or reference label. PDF images can be selected but do not have a raster preview in the picker. Deleting a figure does not delete its image file. Standard image figures show Replace, Appearance, Caption, and a compact Label field for captioned figures directly in the footer. Replace chooses a project image or imports a PNG/JPEG while preserving the caption and settings. Appearance groups width, alignment, caption position and page placement. Caption adds or focuses its text on paper; clearing it removes the caption command, figure number and label, and both can be added again. Labels commit on Enter or blur and reject invalid or duplicate keys. Backspace or Delete in an already-empty caption closes its editing area and returns focus to the figure; the same behavior returns to a table from its caption.

Imported figures can also display editable framed text, literal rotations, and side-by-side subfigure panels. A one-argument preamble command wrapping a centered, fixed-height parbox in \fbox is recognized from its definition; editing its text keeps the original command call. Panel and figure captions are editable on paper. Panel selects which panel the compact footer controls; clicking or focusing a panel also chooses it. Replace chooses a project image, Caption / Panel caption focus existing printed captions, and compact Label fields validate reference keys. Widths, rotation angles, framing and macro definitions remain in Source. Unsupported artwork stays available as exact source.

For standard figure counters, captions show their number and subcaptions show their panel letter. \ref navigates to labelled figures or panels; \subref navigates to a panel and displays its letter. Custom counter or caption setup can prevent Visual from deriving a reliable number; the PDF remains authoritative.

TikZ and pgfplots previews

TikZ pictures and pgfplots can render as read-only drawings in Visual using the document’s LaTeX preamble, including packages, libraries and style definitions. Preview is off by default: opening Visual or changing source does not execute it. Choose Run this drawing preview only for source you trust. The drawing and preamble run with host TeX/Lua’s filesystem authority in the document’s environment; this is not a sandbox. Admission applies only to this preview’s current source, preamble and document/environment identity. Changing them requires another action; resizing can rerender the same admitted text. Run drawing preview again retries that admitted text.

Figure captions remain editable on paper, and Source stays editable without running a preview. Drawing labels, coordinates and plot settings have no Visual editing controls; change them in Source. Rendering needs a working LaTeX toolchain. Preview never installs packages, and Tectonic previews use only already-cached bundle files. If packages are missing, use Rebuild PDF to resolve them before retrying. A drawing that fails to compile shows a diagnostic instead of silently disappearing, and its original source is preserved. Artwork previews are not published document PDFs and do not establish whether the saved document’s PDF is current.

Theorems, proofs and custom environments

Block insertion preserves the surrounding text. Selecting ordinary prose before choosing a theorem wraps that selection; with a caret inside an existing theorem, a new theorem is inserted after it. Unsupported selections ask you to use ordinary text or Source. Edit statement prose, math and references on paper, with title and structural options in the footer. Missing standard statement declarations are added using the existing source adapter; custom definitions remain in Source.

Theorem bodies use the same root macro setup, including commands such as \R and \norm{x}. Literal \newtheorem declarations supply statement names, shared counters and section/chapter numbering. The standard plain, definition and remark theorem styles control prose and heading styling. Statement labels stay out of printed prose. The compact statement footer shows its type, Title, and Label. Type uses definitions already present in the document. Label supports adding, changing and removing a key; recognized references are updated when renaming a unique label in a single-file document. Resolved \ref links show the statement number and navigate to it. Statement and proof headings share the first line with their prose. Default amsthm proofs show the end-of-proof square at the line’s logical end (right in LTR, left in RTL); it is display-only and is never added to your source. Custom proof/QED definitions remain source-owned. The optional proof title replaces “Proof”, while optional theorem titles appear in parentheses. Spacing and quote indentation follow the standard layout. Title activates editing at the beginning of that printed heading on the paper. Clicking the printed title instead places the caret where you click. The footer keeps the statement context when returning from another app or removing its title. Clearing its text removes the optional title; another Backspace or Delete in an empty title returns the caret to the statement body. Proofs show only Title in their footer. Simple zero-argument \newenvironment quote wrappers, such as a note containing \begin{quote}\textbf{Note.} and ending with \end{quote}, render editable content while preserving the custom environment name. More complex definitions retain exact-source editing and compiler rendering in PDF.

Grouped legacy math-font commands such as K_{\rm LQR} remain usable in supported statement bodies. References in proof headings can navigate to their targets. Some rich objects whose content depends on root-only declarations can display correctly yet refuse a contextual operation. Use Source when that operation cannot preserve the object’s setup.

Code and literal text

Inline \verb text and verbatim blocks are editable directly on the page. Their contents remain literal: commands, percent signs and braces are printed, without creating headings, equations or comments. Code edits preserve the surrounding LaTeX delimiters.

lstlisting code and plain captions are also editable on the page. Visual reads supported root-preamble \lstset settings and local listing options for language, font size, syntax colors, frames, wrapping and line numbers. Captions appear as Listing 1: … above or below the code according to captionpos. Highlighting uses the editor’s existing language parsers; no external highlighter is launched. Unsupported listing styles retain exact-source fallback. Visual approximates the listing layout; the compiled PDF remains authoritative.

The code footer shows Language, Appearance, Caption, and a compact Label for captioned listings. Language has search and retains the imported language. Appearance groups frames, wrapping, font size, tab width, line numbering and caption position. Its switches match heading numbering. Caption adds or focuses editing on paper; clearing it removes the listing number and label, and another Backspace/Delete in the empty caption returns to the code. Labels use the shared duplicate checks and single-file reference renaming; references navigate to the listing. Literal verbatim blocks remain editable without listing controls.

Algorithms

Standard algorithm / algpseudocode blocks show their caption, line numbers, indentation, keywords and comments. Edit prose, formulas, comments and captions directly on paper. Press Enter in a step, or use Steps → Insert in the footer, to add a step, return, input/output, condition or loop. Insert creates new content; Wrap encloses existing steps. Steps also groups comments, branches, movement and Delete step; opening and closing lines stay paired. Backspace or Delete on an empty opening or closing line removes its wrapper while retaining the contents, including conditions and comments. Appearance contains a Line numbers toggle and placement. Turning line numbers on numbers every line. Caption focuses its text on paper; clearing it removes the algorithm number and reference label, and another delete in the empty field returns the caret to the body. Captioned floats show a compact Label field with duplicate checking and single-file reference renaming. Existing algorithm references navigate to the numbered float. Standalone algorithmic blocks show Steps and Appearance with line-number settings, without float placement, captions or labels. Unsupported pseudocode remains available in Source.

Algorithms can retain a size declaration such as \small before their steps.

Colored text and boxes

Colored text and inline color boxes are editable on paper, including literal custom colors and percentage mixtures. Supported tcolorbox blocks show their colored title, frame and background with editable prose, math, lists and tables inside. Plain \fbox phrases, local \fboxsep/\fboxrule groups and framed paragraph boxes are also editable. Literal styles include square or rounded corners, shadows, dashed frames, a left accent strip, and separate upper/lower regions. Framed tcblisting blocks using listings show editable code with syntax colors and line numbers. Visual approximates these decorations; the compiled PDF remains authoritative. Visual approximates breaks inside supported breakable boxes. The compiler decides the final breaks and continuation borders shown in PDF.

The box footer shows Appearance and Title. Appearance groups background, border color and thickness, square/rounded corners, padding and Allow page breaks. Corners and Padding use choice lists; Custom opens their exact dimension fields. Title adds or focuses the title on paper. Clearing the title removes its source option; another Backspace/Delete in the empty field returns to the box body. Click an existing title to edit at that position. Imported title and color settings stay intact when changing another property.

Columns and minipages

multicols regions render editable text in the requested columns, including explicit \columnbreak commands; their footnotes appear beneath the region. Supported minipage widths and top/center/bottom alignment are reflected on the page; adjacent minipages joined by \hfill, literal \hspace, or ordinary spaces stay side by side. Comment joins preserve zero spacing, and blank lines start a separate row. Nested panels use the available local width. Literal fixed heights and their independent inner alignment are supported. Edits retain these environments, dimensions and separators. Root-preamble \columnsep and \columnseprule settings control the column gaps and dividers. Headings inside panels and columns share the document’s numbering and heading styles. An inline \columnbreak keeps the surrounding text in one paragraph and breaks after its rendered line, without adding a new paragraph indentation. To start the next paragraph at the top of the next column, end the preceding paragraph before the command, using \par\columnbreak or a blank line before \columnbreak. A single source newline does not end a LaTeX paragraph. Visual preserves that distinction, including the equivalent forced form \columnbreak[4]; it does not insert paragraph breaks to change PDF behavior. Full-width prose resumes after a column region. \noindent, \par and the three standard skip commands affect layout without printing their source.

Columns have a Columns count menu. Individual minipages expose Appearance with Dimensions, Alignment and Content alignment; fixed height enables content alignment. Side-by-side panel rows expose Layout with width ratios and spacing. Spacing edits preserve panel widths; width edits preserve their original gaps. Imported mixed width units stay editable per panel instead of guessing ratios.

Repeated document content

Visual can display a simple document-level counter loop with up to 100 iterations, including literal paragraph macros, generated headings and equations. Explicit page breaks and contents links behave like ordinary document content.

Opening the file keeps its loop and macro definitions unchanged. Editing generated content expands the loop into ordinary LaTeX so each occurrence can be edited independently. More complex TeX programs remain available in Source.

For a supported document-level loop, the footer reports when an edit converts it to ordinary LaTeX. Color-box loops use a separate conversion path: the notice can be absent, and editing a generated occurrence can remove a counter declaration that later source still uses. Keep those loops in Source when the counter or loop is used elsewhere, or explicitly expand them there before editing. Check the changed source and rebuild after converting generated content.

Citations, references and footnotes

Insert citations and manage bibliography entries

Citation search reads literal title, author, year and key fields from linked local .bib files, plus inline \bibitem entries. It does not resolve BibTeX string macros. Parenthetical and in-sentence forms are offered when natbib or biblatex is configured. A known citation key or reference label can also be entered directly. The compiler determines final citation text and reference numbers.

For a standard manual thebibliography, Visual displays a References heading and bracketed entry labels, preserving supported emphasis and punctuation. Ordinary \cite commands display linked labels, including multiple keys and a plain optional note. Click a citation number to visit its entry. Citation keys remain editable through the footer’s References menu; search to add entries, reorder them, or remove a key from a multi-entry citation. Form offers styles supported by the document’s packages; Note edits a plain prefix/page note. Cross-references have a searchable Target menu. Package-specific citation styles remain compiler-owned. Bibliographies have no separate footer. Open Document > References to search, add, edit and remove entries in a side panel. It reads the first 24 explicitly linked .bib files and existing \bibitem lists; use Source for bibliography files beyond that panel limit. These files remain part of the compiler’s project when its bibliography setup includes them. Choose a destination when the document uses more than one. The panel preserves the document’s bibliography packages, resources, style and printed-list commands. BibTeX entries offer title, author, year and additional fields, plus Entry source for expressions and custom fields. Manual entries offer their formatted LaTeX text and optional custom label. Existing bibliography entry keys stay fixed to preserve citations; new entries let you choose a unique key. Save applies the entry, while Cancel discards its form draft. Close hides the panel and retains the draft during the app session; reopen References to resume it. A save already in progress continues while the panel is closed. Switching entries asks you to finish a dirty draft first. Removal asks for confirmation because existing citations keep their keys and become unresolved. The last manual entry can be removed without changing the document’s bibliography approach.

Clicking a citation exposes its known entry details and Edit reference (or Find reference) in the contextual footer. Manage references in a citation’s References menu opens the same panel. The bibliography itself has no footer controls; its paper view keeps formatted entries without code or editing controls. Insert > References > Citation still inserts a citation at the captured caret; Insert > References > Cross-reference chooses a labelled object and uses \ref or \eqref by default. Bibliography management does not insert a citation.

Reference saves preserve unrelated entries, unknown fields and literal TeX formatting. Unrelated document edits can be merged while the entry itself remains unchanged; conflicting edits retain the form draft instead of overwriting it. An entry draft stays bound to the bibliography where it was opened. If that destination is removed from the document, restore it or cancel the retained draft; saving cannot redirect the entry to another file. Duplicate copies of the entry’s citation key must be repaired in Source before saving that entry. Linked .bib files use the same per-file session and revision checks whether edited in References or in their own Source tab. The entry form clears only after the owning file session reports the submitted entry (with the same key and text, allowing different line endings) or confirms its removal. This includes manual \bibitem edits. Failed, refused or superseded saves keep the form draft and show the save notice; keep the document open and resolve the save there. Read-only or truncated files remain read-only. Entry form drafts survive moving between file views during the app session. Linked .bib source and reference form drafts have no recovery offer after an app restart.

Insert > Document blocks > Bibliography finds an existing bibliography, uses linked biblatex resources, or asks you to choose a BibTeX file/style or manual entries. It preserves an existing bibliography style. File paths are relative to the root document; file/style availability and the final bibliography are resolved during compilation. Abstract and Table of contents select an existing block in the open file instead of adding another one.

For BibTeX documents, a successful PDF build supplies the printed bibliography and citation numbers in Visual. Use Document > References to edit the original .bib entries, then rebuild the PDF to refresh the bibliography. No generated .bbl file needs to be copied into the project. Older builds need one rebuild to supply this presentation data. Visual does not run BibTeX itself.

Scient Sources is a separate project-source library; adding a source there does not by itself create a manuscript citation or synchronize an existing .bib file. Use the document’s References panel or edit its bibliography source for this workflow. See Sources.

Links and document references

Links use \href and the document’s hyperlink setup. Click an existing link to edit its plain label on paper. Text activates the same editor, and Address opens a compact field with Apply; incomplete addresses remain local drafts. Formatted labels keep their LaTeX and are edited in Source. Imported \hyperref[label]{text} and \hyperlink{name}{text} navigate to a labelled section or other supported target, including a literal \hypertarget{name}{text}. Section references display their number, and \pageref displays the target’s page in the last matching PDF build, or the label in brackets without one. These commands retain their source syntax during supported edits. Links read as ordinary document text.

Footnotes

Standard footnotes show a numbered superscript, and Visual places their notes beneath a short rule at the foot of the containing page or column. Click the superscript to navigate to its note; click the note to return to its marker. Either action makes Edit text available in the footer. It opens an editor beside the marker for supported prose, formatting, inline math and references without shifting the paragraph. Enter or Escape finishes editing and returns to surrounding text. Unsupported note bodies remain editable in Source. Prose formatting such as emphasis is shown in the note. Custom counters and unsupported note bodies remain approximate or show source fallback; PDF pagination remains authoritative.

Visual does not split an oversized note across pages like TeX. For long notes, minipage-specific notes or custom counters, inspect the compiled PDF and edit the source when the Visual layout cannot represent it.

Document settings and page layout

Choose Document > Document settings for document type, text size, paper, language, orientation, margins and paragraph style. Margins offer Narrow, Normal, Wide or Custom values for each side. Layout groups also expose columns, line/paragraph spacing, custom paper dimensions, binding and mirrored margins, supported fonts and engine, heading/title defaults and simple running headers and footers. Custom executable definitions stay in Source.

Each setting starts from the document’s current setup. Apply writes only changed settings; Cancel discards the draft. Blank custom margin fields retain the current source. Existing package options are retained and packages are never removed automatically. Custom classes retain their declarations. Open in Source opens the root setup. If source changes while the settings are open, close and reopen the card before applying. In an included file, settings update the root; finish that save before building or exporting.

Visual uses browser layout and bundled math fonts. It reads supported class, paper, base-font, geometry, paragraph indentation/spacing and line-spacing settings, including common \geometry{...} overrides, landscape paper and setspace commands. The sheets approximate paper size and margins. They do not reproduce arbitrary class/package execution, TeX’s line breaking or float placement. Check an orientation change in PDF if the existing Visual pane does not reflect it immediately.

The canvas presents standard twocolumn flow, full-width titles, separate balanced multicols regions, explicit breaks, page footnotes and longtable continuation bands. Simple running headers/footers can show supported page and heading fields. Root-level \vfill stretches remaining Visual page space before the next authored break. None of these page decorations changes saved source or adds page markup to undo history.

\newpage and \clearpage both appear as Visual breaks, although TeX distinguishes them, particularly around floats and columns. Changes between one and two columns, large notes and content taller than a page may not fit the browser layout like TeX. After deleting content, a heading can also stay on an extra Visual page until repagination. Use PDF for final page/column breaks, balancing and continuation borders.

Visual derives standard heading, equation, figure, table and statement numbers from source. Article/book/report classes, ordinary section/chapter resets and lettered appendix chapters have supported presentations. Custom counter code and some class/package definitions cannot be reconciled fully. Treat these numbers as writing aids; the compiled PDF remains authoritative.

\tableofcontents, lists of figures/tables and supported \addcontentsline entries provide clickable navigation. Their titles update with edits, and their page numbers follow Visual’s own pages. A plain \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{...} adds an unnumbered Contents entry without printing its command or creating a heading. PDF-based \pageref needs matching build evidence and falls back to its label without it.

Edit Source and work with unsupported content

Source and the left side of Split use the same file editor as other source files in Scient. Edit the .tex file directly there. Its contents are shared with Visual; selecting another view does not create another document. In Split with PDF selected, double-click a source line to locate it in the compiled PDF.

Supported edits try to retain the original commands, include boundaries and unchanged source. Custom heading macros, formatting groups, paragraph boxes and supported float contents can retain their wrappers. This is a bounded LaTeX editor, not a complete interpreter or a guarantee of byte-for-byte preservation for every operation. Editing a range containing comments can move the comments within that range; deleting whitespace after an unknown control word can also change its TeX meaning. Check Source after edits around custom commands, comments or generated material.

Visual can keep unsupported nested content as source while leaving separable surrounding text editable. Unsupported structures appear as protected source blocks. A document selection cannot delete across a protected preview/source block or an included-file boundary; use the owning Source file for that change. Protection applies to those specific regions, not every possible unsupported TeX program.

Click a source-only block to edit its source in place. Apply LaTeX and Cancel appear inside it; Ctrl/Cmd+Enter applies and Escape cancels. Apply checks whether the document changed underneath the draft. Delete in the block header explicitly removes the block and any open draft, with document undo. Resize its field down to one line when needed; longer text remains scrollable. Source opens the owning file. These blocks have no object footer.

Edits that cannot be written back remain local and are marked unsaved. Resolve that state before building, exporting or leaving the document. Block insertion and deletion normalize edited separators toward a single blank source line; this does not establish exact restoration of source trivia through every typing and undo sequence.

Save and recover writing

Source and Visual use the same per-file document session and save queue, including a chapter also open in another tab. Source updates from object/math fields are coalesced while typing and finished when leaving the field. Ctrl/Cmd+S requests an immediate save and, according to the compilation preference, a PDF build. Changing views does not create a separate saved document. Accepted source edits autosave. A failed save retries automatically; choosing Save requests another attempt without waiting for the retry delay. You can continue writing while an ordinary save retries. Visible text is not proof that it has reached the file.

The shared save notice explains a lasting failure and offers Save a copy. It copies the accepted source; preserve any refused or unfinished field text separately. Use it while the original save problem is unresolved. File status in the file toolbar points you to that notice for its options. The file’s version menu opens file history: saves keep copies of replaced content, and a rename carries that history along. History is not every keystroke or an independent backup; review a version before relying on it.

If the file changes outside Scient while you have unsaved edits, Scient’s ordinary save keeps your current accepted text and preserves the displaced version in file history. A document with no unsaved edits adopts the new file. Use the other version offers the displaced alternative. LaTeX does not use Markdown’s automatic block merge. This automatic choice is separate from Overleaf sync, where conflicts stop for an explicit decision.

If the current file was deleted while the editor held unsaved text, the notice can offer Save it again to recreate it. Check the intended folder before choosing that action. A failed recreation leaves the text in the editor.

If a Visual edit cannot synchronize to LaTeX, its notice can offer Open Source, Keep draft and Discard draft. Try correcting the edit or Undo while the input remains available. Keep draft leaves the local writing in place; it does not replace or save the file. Discard draft removes that unresolved Visual work, returns to the accepted source snapshot and resets the affected Visual history. Copy any text you need before discarding. These choices are separate from the startup recovery actions below. Continuing to type during a disk-save failure does not make unconverted or refused Visual input valid LaTeX. Pending fields, recovery decisions and unavailable recovery storage can still prevent complete source preparation for a build or export. Read-only and truncated files cannot be edited or used to establish a complete current document.

Recovery is a second copy of some unfinished work, not a replacement for a successful file save or a project backup. Journaled LaTeX source and Visual input can be offered in the footer when reopening a document. Compare shows the recovered copy beside the file; Use recovered replaces it only after that comparison. Discard removes the recovered copy. In a narrow footer, use the unsaved-work button to open the same comparison. When the recovered source can be parked safely, you can keep writing while the offer remains. Other recovery states pause editing until you use or discard it.

For a document assembled from several files, recovery offers comparison and Copy; it cannot apply the recovered assembled document to all files automatically. Source and Split provide recovery for the individual file being edited. Linked .bib source and References form drafts have no ordinary recovery offer after an app restart.

If a recovered copy cannot be stored safely, keep the document open and use Copy before deciding what to use or discard. Closing can lose that unstored copy. Unapplied source-block text is recovered separately, including incomplete LaTeX: View and Copy retrieve it without replacing a whole document. Cancel removes only unapplied text from that interaction. After Apply accepts a block edit, its recovery copy is retained until the accepted source has a journal checkpoint. If that checkpoint fails, the source field becomes read-only; Apply, Cancel or Escape retries the checkpoint without applying the edit twice.

Quitting the desktop app does not wait for these document-saving checks. Finish save and recovery notices, wait for pending field input to be accepted, and preserve unresolved work before quitting. The newest text may not yet have a committed recovery copy. File/view departure guards do not guarantee that every app exit finishes saving.

Work with a multi-file document

Choose the root

When you open or edit a .tex file that belongs to a larger document, Scient looks for the document that includes it and builds that document, not the fragment on its own. A single, unambiguous static dependency is enough; common \input, \include, \subfile, \import, and \subimport references are followed.

If the source belongs to more than one document, or Scient cannot safely infer the root (for example, because an input is computed by a TeX macro or uses an unsupported inclusion command), choose the document in the LaTeX toolbar. Scient will not guess between possible roots. You can also state the root explicitly near the top of the included file:

% !TEX root = ../main.tex

The path is relative to the file containing the comment. Scient compiles main.tex when you request Rebuild PDF. If no root can be found, open the main document or add the comment; Scient leaves the fragment unbuilt rather than compiling the wrong file.

Edit included chapters

Visual shows the assembled document from the same resolved root as PDF, even when Source is showing a chapter. Literal \input, \include, \subfile, \import and \subimport references are expanded in order, including nested files. Literal top-level \includeonly is supported and \include retains its page breaks. Edits save back to the file that owns the content; the original include commands stay intact.

Visual uses the selected root document for page settings and image paths. If a supported insertion would need to change both a chapter and the root preamble, Scient asks you to add the missing package or theorem declaration in Source first, then retry; neither file is changed by the refused insertion. Each file has its own revision check; save conflicts are reported, and build/export wait for pending file saves. Switching views keeps those saves active. A selection spanning multiple source files must be edited one file at a time.

Detected missing files, cycles and unsupported includes can block Visual with an explanation. Arbitrary custom macros and packages loaded through external class/style files are not expanded by the visual editor.

Visual’s include scanner is independent from TeX execution. Some inactive \includeonly, document-ending commands inside conditionals and commands inside filecontents bodies can be misread: content may be omitted from Visual or a literal file-writing example can be mistaken for a dependency. The saved source is not necessarily truncated when the canvas is. For these projects, use Source and inspect the compiled PDF; do not infer that content is absent from the file because it is absent from Visual. The same scanner participates in save/build/export preparation, so a spurious dependency can also prevent those actions. Inspect the literal content in Source; simplifying that construct or compiling outside this workflow may be necessary. Very deeply nested groups can also prevent Visual from opening even in a small file.

Select text, structures and document content

While editing a description list or other structured block, empty fields show small, faint gray corner markers. Math slots show the same corner markers within the nearest structure being edited, including nested cases and matrices. An empty slot keeps the same marker size and position when you enter it; the math caret appears in its center. Selected empty matrix cells retain their markers, with the highlight inside each marker. Selecting the enclosing environment uses the whole expression’s highlight. Ordinary table cells show dashed guides for missing borders, alongside any existing printed rules. Slot markers appear only for math inside a cell. Markers disappear when editing leaves the environment; opening a menu retains them, and hovering alone does not show them. Only the innermost occupied slot is marked; ordinary empty paragraphs have no guide boxes. Click a blank cell or use the existing keyboard navigation to enter content. Click targets and document layout stay the same when guides appear or disappear.

These guides are editor decorations. They are not added to LaTeX, copied content, or the compiled PDF, and do not alter printed table borders. Caption areas stay available for editing without adding a caption command until you enter text.

Gray corner marks show only the innermost editing slot. Occupied-slot marks disappear when content is selected; empty math markers remain visible during cell selection. The caret follows the local text color and size; inside accent bodies such as \hat{...} it is slightly shorter, without moving the expression. Empty markers are centered on the caret’s insertion point; clicking the marker enters that exact slot without shifting the caret to a separate box position. Text, math and selected cells use the same blue highlight. Only the active editing surface paints selection; whole-table selection highlights its cells and caption without a blue band across the page or a darker second layer over its cells. Selection stays visible with a muted fill while you use menus and submenus. Menu commands apply to the retained selection. The editing caret pauses during menu use. Escape from the root menu returns to the original editor.

In math, whole-cell and partial selections follow content bounds, including brackets, scripts and annotations. Selecting equation rows highlights each row’s expression and leaves the spacing between rows clear; a trailing comma does not switch to a different kind of highlight. Double-click selects a grid cell, and a third click selects its enclosing grid. Shift-click extends the current selection. Shift+Arrow uses the same math selection rules as dragging. You can continue a drag with Shift+Arrow, or continue keyboard selection with Shift-click and drag, without changing its original anchor. Reversing direction shrinks the same range; menus retain it and its continuation point.

Arrow keys move through text. In math, Tab and Shift+Tab visit structural slots, including empty matrix cells. Repeated Up/Down movements retain the cursor’s horizontal position. Drag within a slot to select characters, or across matrix/table cells to select a rectangle, including empty cells.

Use Cmd instead of Ctrl on macOS. The bindings are configurable in Keyboard shortcuts. Leaving a formatting scope changes subsequent typing without changing existing characters; surrounding styles stay active. At either end of colored or formatted text, Ctrl+Alt+Down enters that span without moving the caret, so typing extends it. Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right leaves before/after the active scope, so typing uses the surrounding style. At a boundary shared by two spans, entering returns to the span just left; otherwise it prefers the following span. Repeated entry visits nested formatting from outer to inner. Menu use retains the chosen typing style as well as the selection.

Repeated Ctrl+A starts with the innermost scope and climbs through every parent. For \underbrace{1+\cdots+1}_{n\ \textbf{times}}, this selects bold text, the label, the whole underbrace, then the equation and enclosing content. Opening menus preserves both the selection and this sequence. Clicking, moving the caret or typing starts again from the current scope.

At the outermost scope, Ctrl+A selects the entire document, including formulas, tables, figures and captions, title fields, code and source-only blocks. Repeating Ctrl+A keeps that selection. Selection across different blocks uses the same highlight in editing and reading previews; page gaps remain clear. Dragging into a block includes it, and dragging from a figure or source block into surrounding text continues as a document selection. Open source fields also expand through their block to the document. Menus retain the complete range.

Selecting across the closing bracket and exponent of \left(x\right)^2 includes the complete (x)^2. Extending selection out of its base into surrounding math also includes the exponent; bases and their superscripts/subscripts share one outer selection boundary. Selection inside the body or exponent stays precise. Selecting a complete norm such as \left\lVert y\right\rVert^2 highlights and edits the exponent too. Selecting only y inside the norm leaves its exponent outside the selection. A complete underbrace has one connected blue selection across its body, brace and label. Selecting only the label or its bold text highlights just that part.

In math, Delete or Backspace clears every cell in a rectangular selection without removing rows or columns. In an empty cell, deleting removes the nearest math wrapper and keeps its other contents; matrix contents continue in row order.

Ask in chat about selected content

Select supported text, math or table-cell content in Visual, then choose Ask in chat. Scient adds a quotation chip to the message you are composing; review it, add your question and send when ready. Use a shorter passage if a large selection cannot be quoted. This action does not send a message or save the document by itself. It is separate from a bibliography citation, Scient Sources and a persistent document annotation.

A Visual quote records the owning source file and document root, with context from the current accepted source. Accepted work that is not yet saved can be quoted as a draft. Finish pending field input first: an unpublished field, composition, stale projection or selection spanning different source files cannot supply the same verified capture. Quote each file separately, and select again if the source or selection changes. A nested math or cell quote retains its selected content while anchoring to the containing source block.

In the same workspace, clicking a Visual quote chip reopens Split and tries to verify the passage before highlighting it. If it cannot verify the anchor, it falls back to the recorded source line with a notice. A Source quote captures the selected LaTeX syntax and reopens Source, retaining the root context for an included file. If the thread has moved to a different workspace, Scient instead opens the captured original file read-only with a notice; it does not select a similarly named file in the new workspace. Selecting text in the compiled PDF uses the PDF quotation workflow and its page anchor; see Ask in chat about a PDF passage. A PDF quote refers to that PDF’s content, even when newer source needs rebuilding.

Spelling suggestions

Editable Visual prose can use the host’s spelling suggestions. On desktop, right-click a marked word for available corrections. Suggestions depend on the platform, installed dictionaries and field; technical source fields and formulas do not have the same spelling behavior. These suggestions do not check grammar, mathematical meaning or scientific accuracy. Browser spelling also depends on the browser. See Content direction for mixed-language writing and Keyboard shortcuts for focused-field shortcuts.

Overleaf

A LaTeX document in a folder linked to Overleaf shows an Overleaf chip beside its save status. Sync now brings collaborators’ changes in and sends yours. Sync first asks the open editors in the linked folder to commit supported input and save. Active composition, unconverted input or a failed save can stop that preparation. Overleaf conflicts require a decision; ordinary local-save conflict handling does not authorize sync to overwrite a collaborator’s changes.

While this file has Overleaf conflict marks, the build status explains how many conflicts need settling. See Overleaf for linking, syncing and conflict resolution.

Build and review

Choose Rebuild PDF to build after the current source has been saved. When a build can be cancelled, that header action becomes Cancel. It requests cancellation; it does not delete the last successful PDF or promise an immediate stop. Settings → Documents → LaTeX → PDF compilation offers Auto-compile, On save, and Manual. Auto-compile waits two seconds after source changes settle, including edits in included files, and waits for a running build to finish before requesting the latest source. On save is the default: Ctrl/Cmd+S saves and rebuilds from any view, and opening a stale PDF requests a build. Manual saves without compiling until you choose Rebuild. These preferences are remembered on this device. Before building, Scient asks open document fields to finish and waits for the root and included files to save, even if you have only used Source. Unresolved field input, save errors or conflicts must be resolved first. Preparation refuses while linked bibliography changes are unsaved; save them in References or their Source tab before continuing. Preparation does not save those bibliography files. The last successful PDF stays readable while building. A failed unchanged revision is not retried automatically; change the source or choose Rebuild. Compile errors leave the last successful PDF readable.

Open build errors and warnings from their counts in the header, or from Build failed · View details; each one shows the file and line it came from when the compiler reported one. Click a message that names a project file to open that file at the reported line.

You can also ask an agent to create or edit a project LaTeX document and build it as a PDF. When the connected provider supports Scient’s document tools, the agent can use the server’s LaTeX toolchain, save the requested PDF inside the project, and open the compiled document in Split view. Save pending editor work first: an agent build reads saved files and cannot finish input in your editor. A successful build proves that the PDF compiled; ask the agent to inspect the rendered pages when visual quality matters.

Visual and PDF preview keep build messages closed until you select the warning or error badge in the header. This includes the shell-escape-disabled notice. The messages open as a card over the document and do not move it. Select the badge again, press Escape, or click anywhere else to close the card.

Build status and freshness checks use recorded dependency evidence. They have limits: an outside rewrite that retains both size and modification time can escape a warm check, and a truncated dependency record cannot establish that all child files are unchanged. If another program changes project files or freshness is uncertain, request Rebuild PDF explicitly before reviewing or sharing the output. A successful build establishes compilation of the files that were read, not visual identity between PDF and Visual.

Save a PDF copy

Choose Document > Export > PDF in Visual or More > Export > PDF in the other views. The file-header download action offers the same export. Export first finishes pending document input and saves, then rechecks the build; update the PDF if the action is unavailable or asks for a rebuild. Export does not turn an old PDF into a current one.

Check that the intended destination contains the copied PDF before sharing it. Some copy failures returned by the destination layer do not currently produce a LaTeX export error, so a closed export action alone is not proof of delivery.

Export to Word

Save the source, choose the document root in the LaTeX toolbar if Scient has not found one, then select Document > Export > Word in Visual, or More > Export > Word in the other views. Word export waits for the same document saves and field completion as Rebuild PDF. Scient converts the selected LaTeX document to a .docx file; the first export offers to install Pandoc if it is not yet available. The export follows literal \input, \include, \subfile and \subfileinclude references from the root. Word resolves these paths from the root file’s folder, and they may point anywhere inside the same project: for example, paper/main.tex can include ../shared/methods.tex. Projects relying on subfile-relative paths may need adjustment for this conversion. Local bibliography files and common image formats are included the same way; supported figure width and height settings are carried into the conversion.

Files outside the project folder, including links that lead outside it, are excluded from this conversion. Omitted includes and figures use visible placeholders marked “outside the project folder”; omitted bibliographies produce conversion notes. If Scient detects that source changed during preparation, export stops and asks you to try again. These checks do not establish one atomic snapshot against every possible outside edit; avoid concurrent edits during export. On Windows, Word export is currently limited to a single-file document open in the editor, without includes, figures or bibliographies; Scient explains when a document needs more. Missing or computed includes and figures also become visible placeholders. PDF and EPS figures are not rasterized for Word. Equation numbering, references, layout commands, and some custom macros may change during conversion; review the saved Word document before sharing it.

Export has resource limits. The LaTeX source budget is 20 MB, with at most 256 source files and 16 levels of include nesting. Bibliography capture is limited to 16 files and 4 MB in total; figures over 25 MB are omitted. An omitted include or image is replaced where supported by a visible placeholder, while bibliography omissions appear in conversion notes. Review those notes as well as the Word content. Word conversion has a different include reader from Visual; a project that opens visually is not proof that every construct converts.

Move between Source, Visual and PDF

While Split is showing the PDF, double-click a word in Source to reveal its compiled PDF position. Double-click a word in the PDF to reveal the corresponding source line. Both gestures keep normal word selection; Source-only and PDF-only views do not switch layout automatically. Visual double-clicks in Split also keep normal selection while revealing source; a standalone Visual view stays open. Scient briefly marks the destination. In Split, each pane keeps its own cursor and selection. Visual selects the mapped source characters for prose or an equation cell; PDF selects a matching word on its mapped source line when that word can be verified, otherwise the line. The source highlight stays until you interact with Source. Clicking back into Visual or PDF keeps your source selection. Source interaction also cancels a pending jump so a late result cannot replace your new cursor. PDF/source navigation needs a successful current build with a navigation index and the exact source revision compiled into that PDF. Saving changed source does not make the old PDF’s coordinates current: rebuild before navigating. An included file that has changed or is waiting for save or recovery is not revealed at an obsolete line. If no mapping is available, the PDF remains usable and the status explains why the jump could not be completed. PDF navigation uses the compiler’s navigation index: some complex or RTL lines contain only a line-level location, so those lines can land near the typeset line instead of on the exact word. Visual/source navigation uses the displayed document’s source mapping and does not require a PDF build.

The PDF keeps your place across rebuilds: your page, zoom, scroll position, and search query stay put while a new version comes in. The LaTeX header shows Rebuild required when the source is newer than the compiled PDF, and Previous PDF while a rebuild is running. If the replacement cannot be authorized or loaded, the previous PDF stays readable and Try again retries the update without discarding your place.

Choose a LaTeX engine

Document > Compiler in Visual, or More > Compiler in the other views, offers Automatic, Tectonic, pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX (recommended for Hebrew), and LuaLaTeX. Choosing an engine first saves pending document edits, updates the root’s portable compiler directive, saves it, and rebuilds:

% !TEX program = lualatex

Use tectonic to require the Tectonic driver, or xelatex or pdflatex to select those engines instead. Tectonic declarations use its embedded XeTeX engine; they never fall back to latexmk when Tectonic is missing. Selecting Tectonic does not install it or change the default driver for other documents. TeXShop’s TS-program spelling is also recognized. A root directive takes precedence over directives in included preambles. The selected engine must be supported by the TeX toolchain used by Scient. Only complete supported engine names select a compiler; other declarations remain visible as source declarations. Compiler changes preserve the source’s line endings.

Automatic removes root compiler directives rather than storing a device-only override. Included files display the root’s choice and offer Open root; they never receive their own compiler directive through this control. Resolve recovery or save conflicts, and finish an active rename, before changing the compiler.

Not checked beside a compiler option means its availability is not known; it does not mean a compiler is missing. A latexmk availability report alone does not establish whether Tectonic is also installed; a Tectonic build checks it separately.

Settings > Documents > LaTeX > Default compiler for new documents only affects new documents. A template’s compiler declaration takes precedence over the device preference. New Hebrew documents use XeLaTeX unless LuaLaTeX is selected; a pdfLaTeX preference cannot put a new Hebrew document onto an incompatible engine. Existing documents are not rewritten.

Compiler availability comes from the selected server and its verified system or Scient-managed installations, not the browser’s operating system. Missing compilers are unavailable in the document menu; failed availability checks read Not checked, disconnected servers read Offline, and source saves remain separate from compiler availability.

With latexmk, Automatic uses pdfLaTeX unless unguarded fontspec or unicode-math requires XeLaTeX. An explicit pdfLaTeX directive with those packages instead produces compatibility guidance. Tectonic remains a separate XeTeX-compatible fallback: it can build XeLaTeX-style Hebrew documents without a standalone XeLaTeX installation. Tectonic itself cannot satisfy explicit LuaLaTeX or pdfLaTeX requests; an already-installed TinyTeX addition can provide those compilers without replacing Tectonic as the default. The availability display distinguishes compatibility from an installed compiler binary. Package declarations can span multiple lines; commented-out loads do not select an engine.

Engine-aware documents that load packages only in the appropriate conditional branch are allowed to build normally.

Install LaTeX tools

Settings > Documents > LaTeX offers an optional TinyTeX installation, including when Tectonic already builds PDFs. One bundle provides pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, and LuaLaTeX; these are not three separate downloads. Settings shows the base archive size for the selected server. TinyTeX lives with Scient, needs no administrator access, and does not modify a system TeX installation. Compiler versions, executable paths, and detailed availability are under Technical details. The LaTeX panel separates Tools (installation and technical details) from Document preferences (templates, new-document language and compiler, and the opening view), each using standard settings cards.

Opening Settings or choosing Default compiler for new documents never downloads tools. Automatic chooses a compiler for the document; it is not permission to install software. Installing additional compilers does not replace a working default: Scient keeps system latexmk, or Tectonic when latexmk is absent. It uses an installed TinyTeX addition only when the document needs a compiler the default cannot provide. When no system driver is available, TinyTeX supplies the default.

When an open document declares a compiler its current toolchain cannot run, Scient names that compiler and offers Install LaTeX tools. Nothing downloads until you choose Install. After installation and a successful compiler check, Scient saves and rebuilds that document if it is still unchanged and needs no recovery decision. Its compiler directive stays intact: Scient does not silently substitute another engine. If you edit it during installation, review your work and choose Rebuild PDF yourself. Installing from Settings does not authorize a document build.

Setup also downloads recommended LaTeX packages. Other missing packages can install on first use with Scient-managed TinyTeX; a system installation instead reports the package to install. Setup and the first build may therefore take a few minutes. Scient names the packages while it waits. Package installation needs a network connection; if offline or a package cannot be found, the build stops with an explanation.

The managed bundle is available on Windows (x64), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), and Linux (x64). On other architectures, install TeX Live, MiKTeX, or Tectonic yourself. A working system latexmk installation keeps precedence unless the explicitly installed TinyTeX bundle adds a missing compiler without losing any available system compiler. Tectonic remains a fallback rather than a standalone installation of all three compilers. If you install tools yourself, choose Rebuild PDF to refresh discovery without reopening the file or restarting Scient.

If you have more than one distribution, Scient uses the first latexmk that runs: it tries the next one on PATH, and on Windows the folders MiKTeX and TeX Live install into, before reporting that LaTeX is missing. MiKTeX’s latexmk, for example, needs Perl, so without Perl Scient builds with TeX Live’s instead. When it finds a latexmk that will not run, the message names it and quotes what it said. If the TinyTeX installation fails, the card says which step failed and shows the installer’s own message under Details.

On Windows, accented or Hebrew characters in the state-folder path can prevent TeX Live from finding its runtime files. Scient attempts to put TinyTeX and build files in a private folder under %ProgramData% (usually C:\ProgramData), with access for your account, SYSTEM and administrators. If that setup fails, it retains the original state-folder path. Uninstalling Scient leaves the relocated folder; you can delete it, named scient-latex- followed by 16 letters and digits, yourself.

Scient directs normal build output, logs and auxiliary files to its private build folder. This is not a filesystem sandbox for TeX code in the document.

Some older LaTeX distributions emit an explicitly ignored “Infinite glue shrinkage found in box being split” message for longtables. Scient shows this known upstream issue as one warning per source location, without the engine’s page and font output. Updating the LaTeX distribution’s longtable package addresses the underlying issue. Table-width warnings from intermediate passes are omitted only when latexmk completes a later pass and reports settled output; warnings that remain in the final pass are still shown.

For standalone PDF search, navigation and reading tools, see Reading PDFs. For implementation support boundaries and maintainer details, see LaTeX Visual internals.