MeatPad FAQ

MeatPad 0.31.4, released 13 October 2026. Check About MeatPad for your installed version. Download requirements are shown on the product page.

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Choose New Note for the managed notebook library. Choose Open… for a folder of files you want to edit on disk. Notes autosave; project files use Save.

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Notes autosave after a short pause and flush when closing the editor or leaving the app. Project file tabs use ⌘S. A literally empty note without attachments is discarded when closed.

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Open Trash in All Notes, select it and choose Restore. If you permanently deleted it, restore a backup; the library Trash cannot restore purged notes.

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Check the active folder, clear the search and inspect Trash. Use the library search for notes and Find in Project for files. These are different stores.

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The Open links in notes setting chooses the activation gesture. Open General settings, check that choice, then use the configured gesture rather than an ordinary editing click.

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Archive hides a card from the normal board; Show Archived Cards reveals it and Unarchive Card returns it. Delete Card moves it to Board Trash, which has separate Restore and permanent-delete actions.

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Live cards move to the first remaining column. The deleted column is recoverable in Board Trash, and restoring it moves its cards back. Permanently deleting the column trash entry does not delete those live cards.

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No. It groups selected columns in the All Boards view. Clear removes that view grouping. Cards retain their originating boards.

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Enable Format card text as Markdown in General settings. Cards can display bold, italic and links while keeping their source text.

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Use the card label menu to toggle labels or create a New Label…. The due-date menu offers Today, Tomorrow, Next Week and Custom…. Remove Due Date clears it.

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An attachment is imported as a managed copy. Keep the original until you have checked the import. Include the managed attachment folders in your backup.

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Open Split into Cards and choose Split into Titles, Split into Notes or Split into Notes with Titles. The new cards stay in the same column and inherit labels/color. The original keeps attachments, deadline and note link. Undo reverses the split in one step.

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Right-click the folder and choose Find in Folder…. Review matches and options, enter Replace with and choose Replace All. Clear folder scope returns to project-wide search.

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Type at least two characters. Check the folder scope and Match Case, Regex and Whole Word switches. Whole Word is disabled with Regex; an invalid expression shows an error.

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Press ⌘T in a project window for Quick Open…, type part of its name/path and choose a result.

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Use ⌘D to select a word and repeat to add its next occurrences, or Option-click for additional carets. Type once across the active selections; Escape returns to one.

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Focus its editor and choose Print… (⌘P). Use the macOS print dialog’s PDF destination, inspect the preview and save. This is separate from Export All Data.

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Press Control-Space in a single-caret editor. Local words, project identifiers, keywords and snippet triggers are available alongside optional server results. Use arrows to choose, Tab/Return or click to accept, and Escape to cancel.

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No. MeatPad detects installed programs. Install the appropriate server yourself, ensure it can be found by the login shell, then reopen the project. Highlighting and editing still work without it.

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The released detector covers Swift (SourceKit-LSP), Rust (rust-analyzer), JavaScript/TypeScript/TSX (typescript-language-server) and Python (pyright-langserver). Each server supplies its own supported capabilities.

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Hiding and showing the panel returns to its existing session. Use View → Terminal (Control-`) inside a project window. A new or closed project window has its own lifecycle.

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Run items send Return; Type items only prepare the prompt. Edit each row’s mode in Terminal settings. Review modes before choosing commands that modify a repository or contact a remote.

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Built-ins are read-only. Select Duplicate as editable copy, edit the new user snippet and Save. A matching user trigger/scope can shadow its built-in counterpart.

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They are real shell scripts and start untrusted. Review the script, input/output, timeout and environment. Trust suppresses confirmation; it does not sandbox the script or prevent network/file access.

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Macros replay supported editor events. They do not record arbitrary windows, other applications or terminal sessions. Test a recorded sequence on disposable text first.

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Selection input receives the whole document when no text is selected. Replace Selection output then replaces the whole document. Select disposable text before testing a transformation; only one command runs at a time.

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Built-in themes cannot be edited directly. Duplicate as editable copy, change its colors, then choose Use This Theme to activate it.

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Check Settings → File Tree and enable the action. Target type also affects availability. Reset to Defaults restores the shipped configuration.

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Enable Menu bar only (hide Dock icon) in General settings. The Dock-click setting is disabled in that mode; the activation policy changes after the last window closes.

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Normally in ~/Library/Application Support/MeatPad. Settings → Privacy shows the active location and Reveal in Finder opens it. Relocated libraries can use a different root.

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It copies managed library folders, including Boards and their attachments, automation, themes and session.json. External project folders and every macOS preference are outside that export; back them up separately.

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MeatPad stores its library locally and does not upload it to a hosted account. Relocate changes the storage root; it is not a two-way sync service. Use a deliberate backup routine.

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Update checks use the network. Your terminal commands, Git remotes, opened links and configured scripts may also use it. Local language-server programs run on your Mac and follow their own configuration.

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It moves managed data to macOS Trash and quits after confirmation. Recover it before emptying Trash, or restore a verified backup. It does not erase external project folders.

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Check focus and context: project commands need a project, navigation needs server support, and file-tree bindings work while that menu is open. User command bindings may also clash with standard menu shortcuts.

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