Editing and navigation

This page gives one direct route for each everyday operation. Shortcuts show the macOS key first; use Ctrl for Cmd and Alt for Option elsewhere. Keyboard Shortcuts lists them all.

Move around the canvas

To	Do this
Zoom	Scroll, or pinch on a trackpad
Pan	Scroll with two fingers on a trackpad, or drag with the middle mouse button
Fit the whole patch	Option+Shift+Home
Zoom to the selection	Option+Shift+F

The Pan tool (Option+Shift+H) turns every drag into a pan; press Q to return to Select.

Add a node

1. Click Add node (+, top left).
2. Type part of the node's name, or choose a category tab.
3. Click the node in the list. It follows the pointer.
4. Click the canvas where you want it.

Two faster routes add a node already connected:

• From a socket: drag from a socket to empty canvas and release. Choose from the nodes that fit.
• Into a cable: zoom in until a + appears at the middle of a cable, click it and choose a node to insert.

Some nodes arrive with helpers. Adding a sequencer or arpeggiator also connects a Clock, and adding a quantizer connects a Scale node. Entries such as Delay (1/4 synced) add a small, already-connected group of nodes.

Connect and disconnect

• Connect: drag from an output socket (right side) to an input socket (left side).
• Disconnect: click the cable and press Option+Shift+Delete, or drag across it with the Cut tool (B).

See Connections and sockets for what each cable carries and why a connection might be refused.

Select

• Click a node's title bar to select it. Shift-click to add or remove nodes.
• Drag across empty canvas with the Select tool to select every node in the rectangle.
• Press Cmd+A to select every node on the current canvas.

Move and arrange

• Drag a node by its title bar. Dragging inside the node's body changes its controls instead.
• Press Option+Arrow to nudge the selection one step.
• Press Option+Shift+T to tidy the whole patch into a left-to-right layout. It is one undo step.

Change a value

• Drag a slider, or click a button or menu option.
• Type a value: click the number at the right end of a slider, type and press Return. Pitch controls also accept note names such as C5.
• Hold Option and drag to pan over a node's display without changing it.

A control driven by a cable or a Macro shows the incoming value and does not respond to dragging.

Duplicate, bypass and delete

To	Press
Duplicate the selected node	Option+Shift+D
Bypass or mute the selected node	M
Delete the selection	Option+Shift+Delete
Delete a node and reconnect the chain around it	Cmd+X

Delete and reconnect works when the node has one compatible input cable and one compatible output cable. Otherwise the node is deleted without reconnecting, and a message explains why.

Audio Output cannot be deleted: every patch keeps one.

Undo

Press Cmd+Z to undo and Cmd+Shift+Z to redo. Compound actions, such as inserting a node with its Clock or creating a Zone, undo in one step.

Structure a larger patch

Frames, Groups and Zones each have their own shortcuts and menus. See Frames, Groups and Zones.