Snippets

How snippets work

A snippet is a shortcut and the text it stands for. Type the shortcut in a note and it becomes the full text the instant you type its last character: no key to press, no menu. If that was not what you wanted, press ⌘Z straight away to get back exactly what you typed. Expand snippets as you type is on from the start; you can turn it off in Settings ▸ Snippets.

Making a snippet

1. Open Snippets in the sidebar (⌃8) and click + in the header.
2. Type the shortcut. New shortcuts start with a colon, as in :addr, which keeps them from going off in the middle of ordinary words.
3. Add a description if you like, choose a category, and write the text. It is Markdown and can run over several lines.
4. Put $|$ where the cursor should land after the snippet expands, then click Save.

MindLake warns you if the shortcut already exists, or if it is the start of another shortcut: the shorter one would always fire first, so the longer one could never be reached.

From any app, the command bar makes one too: /newsnippet ;sig Kind regards and ↩ saves it on the spot, and ⌘↩ opens it in Snippets instead.

Sorting and categories

The Snippets page works like All Notes, with the list on the left and a preview on the right. The sort button orders the list by Shortcut, Type, Category, Newest First or Oldest First; sorting by type or category puts a heading over each group. Each snippet shows when it was made; one made before MindLake kept creation dates says “before” and a date.

Categories are yours. Type one straight into a snippet: the categories you have are suggested as you type, and ⇥ completes one. You can also set it from a snippet’s right-click menu, which also has Edit, Duplicate and Delete, or from the preview header. The category button in the header shows one category at a time and renames categories. It can also offer to file every uncategorised snippet by its kind, showing you the counts before anything moves.

Kinds and colours

Each snippet’s icon shows its kind, which MindLake reads from the text: a command, code, a link, an email address, a phone number, a postal address, a number, a list or plain text. Kinds are worked out, never stored. Settings ▸ Theme ▸ Colour snippet types individually gives each kind its own colour.

Pasting from the command bar

Snippets show up when you search in ⌘K or the command bar, and /snippet lists them all. ↩ pastes the text into the app you were typing in, which works even where snippets do not expand. It needs Accessibility access; without it the text is copied for you to paste with ⌘V.

Expanding in other apps

Snippets can expand in every app, not just in MindLake. Turn on Expand in every app, not just MindLake, in Settings ▸ Snippets, and allow Accessibility access when macOS asks: MindLake needs it to see what you type. It is off until you turn it on.

• MindLake pastes the text in and puts your clipboard back a moment later.
• Nothing is watched or expanded in password fields.
• MindLake has to be running. Outside MindLake, $|$ is ignored and the cursor lands after the text.

Importing and syncing

Your snippets live in snippets.json at the top of your vault, so they travel with your notes. To bring in a library you already have, click the import button in the Snippets header. The window lists the snippet libraries it finds on this Mac (espanso, Alfred, TextExpander and macOS Text Replacements), each with how many snippets it holds and how many are new, and imports one with a click.

• Raycast and Typinator keep their snippets to themselves: export them from the app (Raycast: Export Snippets; Typinator: export a set as CSV) and drop the file on the window.
• You can also drop or choose an export from aText or any of the apps above, or a CSV or TSV file of shortcuts and text. Dropping works on the Snippets page itself too, not only on the import window. Settings ▸ Snippets ▸ Import from another app ▸ Choose file… does the same.
• Dropped text that is not a library becomes a new snippet.
• MindLake works out the format itself, never overwrites a shortcut you already have, and turns TextExpander groups into categories.
• If you used espanso on this Mac, a vault with no snippets yet brings its snippets in by itself.