Tables and canvas

Lists

In MindLake a table with typed columns is called a list: rows and columns, saved as a CSV file in your vault. Choose File ▸ New List… (⇧⌘T) or type /list in ⌘K, pick how many rows (up to 100) and columns (up to 26), and start typing. Like a note, a list has a title, a folder and tags, plus an optional emoji icon and a Notes section for writing under the grid.

Lists live in folders beside the notes about the same thing. There is no separate Lists section: lists and canvases appear in All Notes with your notes, and the type filter there shows only lists or only canvases. To find a list, or a row inside one, use /sl and some words in ⌘K or the command bar.

Making a list from a table in a note

1. Click a cell of a Markdown table in a note.
2. Open the cell’s ⋮ menu and choose Convert to List.

The list takes its name from the heading above the table, or from the note, and gets a type for each column as a CSV import would. A [[link]] to the list takes the table’s place; clicking it opens the list, and ⌘Z brings the table back. Any [[link]] to a list opens it.

Columns

Click a column’s header to rename it, change its type, sort or filter by it, insert or move columns, duplicate it or delete it. The types are Text, Number, Rating, Select, Multi-select, Date, Checkbox, URL, Email, Phone, Person and Icon. Select options have colours; type a new one into a cell to create it. Drag a header’s right edge to resize the column, or use the fit button above the grid to fit every column to the window.

A Rating column draws Stars, Hearts, Dots or Flames, out of 3, 5 (the default), 7 or 10, chosen from its header’s Rating style and Out of. The file stores a plain number, so a spreadsheet can sort and average it. Its footer can show counts, the average, the lowest or the highest.

Rows, sorting and totals

• New row adds a row at the end. Hover a row for a + that adds one below it and a handle to drag it into place (not while a sort is on). Right-click a row to insert, duplicate or delete.
• Click the thin strip along the bottom or right edge to add a row or column; drag it to add several.
• Sort and Filter above the grid each take several rules, saved with the list. Search narrows the rows. Filter suggests ready-made filters for each column, each with how many rows it would leave, and typing in its search field finds filters that match; Custom filter… at the bottom builds a rule by hand.
• The row under the grid counts values, or gives a sum, average, minimum or maximum for numbers.
• Drag across cells to select a block, then ⌘C to copy it for a spreadsheet, or Delete to clear it.

CSV in and out

Drop a CSV file onto the notes list and it becomes a list, with a type chosen for each column. The list’s actions menu copies or exports it as CSV, reveals it in Finder, duplicates it or deletes it. On disk a list is a folder holding data.csv, a schema.json with the column types and rules, and notes.md for its Notes section. In Finder a list looks like any other folder.

Canvas

A canvas is a diagram on an endless dotted grid, built for system diagrams and specs. Choose File ▸ New Canvas (⇧⌘D), or type /canvas in ⌘K. Each canvas is a .canvas file in your vault, in the open JSON Canvas format that other tools read too.

Boxes and connectors

• Double-click empty space to add a box and type its text, or use the + button on the style bar for a rectangle, rounded box, ellipse, diamond or datastore.
• Hover a box to show its connection points and drag from one to another box. Let go in empty space instead and MindLake asks what to put at the end: Box, Note…, Image… or Webpage…. Right-click a connector to add a label, change its line, weight and arrowheads, or animate its direction. Arrows ▸ After the label adds a small arrow just past the label, pointing the way the line runs, as well as or instead of the ends.
• Connectors can be elbow, rounded elbow, curve or straight; elbows route around boxes in the way. Double-click a line to add a bend, and double-click a bend to remove it. Drag a straight middle stretch of an elbow to slide it across; the pointer shows which way it moves.
• Boxes snap to the grid; hold ⌘ while dragging to place one freely. The arrow keys nudge the selection by a grid square, or by a single point with ⌥.

Arranging and exporting

⌘G wraps the selection in a titled frame that carries its contents when you move it. The style bar sets colour, border and shape, and its arrange menu aligns, distributes and orders boxes, and can animate every connector at once (or stop them). The bar also has Make the same size, which matches the selected boxes to the largest; Snap to the grid, which lines up boxes that sit off the grid; and Lock, which keeps boxes from being moved or resized. ⌘D duplicates, ⌘A selects everything and ⌘0 fits the diagram to the window. Click the canvas’s name in its header to rename it. Pasting a Mermaid flowchart draws it as boxes, and the export menu saves PNG or SVG or copies the diagram as Mermaid.

Canvases and notes

⌘L puts a note from your vault on the canvas as a card; double-click the card to open the note. Right-click a box and choose Convert to note to turn its text into a new note. To show a canvas inside a note, write ![[Name.canvas]]: the note shows a picture of the diagram, and you open the canvas itself to change it. With a canvas open, the AI panel can explain or edit it.

Lists and canvases on iPhone

• Lists open as a grid where you can edit cells, tick checkboxes and pick select options.
• Canvases open as the diagram. Tap the pencil to edit: drag boxes to move them, and tap a text box to change its text.
• Building columns, connectors and frames is for the Mac.