Use the editor efficiently

Navigate a research project, use language-aware help, inspect diagnostics, and apply broad edits safely.

The CorTeX editor keeps Markdown and LaTeX source as editable project files while providing navigation, completion, diagnostics, and preview links for both formats. Use these tools to move through a manuscript without losing the source structure that a coauthor or venue will receive.

Move between files and structure#

Use the Files sidebar for the project tree and open-document tabs for current work. Press Cmd/Ctrl+P for Quick open, type part of a file name, then press Enter. In a writable workspace, the same menu can start Create new file. In Files, expand the active Markdown or LaTeX file's row to jump through its outline. Fold a long section with the chevron in the editor gutter; reopen it from the same position. Sticky headings keep the current section at the top. To turn them off, open Project actions → Editor and clear Sticky section context.

LaTeX section, environment, label, citation, command, and included-file symbols support language-aware navigation when CorTeX can resolve them. Markdown headings, project paths, and supported slide frontmatter receive their own completion and navigation. If an item cannot be resolved, check the current paper's root and the project path before assuming the editor index is wrong. In a multi-paper project, that paper may differ from the project's opening default.

Use completion while preserving intent#

Place the caret after a partial command, environment, reference, citation, project file, package option, or Markdown path and press Ctrl+Space to open completion. Use the arrow keys to inspect candidates, Enter or Tab to accept, and Escape to close without changing source. Suggestions are scoped to the active file type and current project. Read the proposed command and required arguments before accepting it; completion can insert syntax but cannot decide which method, citation, or claim the paper needs.

For academic prose, use the phrase palette or Writing review only when its claim strength and evidence conditions match your result. Formula meaning may explain source-linked notation, but an unknown or ambiguous expression remains unexplained instead of being guessed.

Navigate and rename a label safely#

Suppose main.tex contains Figure~\ref{fig:calibration} and sections/results.tex contains \label{fig:calibration}.

1. Put the caret on either label and press F12, or right-click and choose Go to Definition. CorTeX should open the defining file and select the label.
2. Press Shift+F12, or choose Go to References, to inspect every resolved use across project files. This is safer than searching for a common label as plain text.
3. Press F2, or choose Rename Symbol, enter fig:calibration-main, and review the proposed edits by file before applying them.
4. Compile the paper containing the label. The figure reference must resolve and Problems must not report an undefined reference.

Language-aware actions are offered only where CorTeX can resolve a symbol. A custom macro that constructs a label, code example, or ordinary prose mention may need a separate manual edit. Cancel the rename if the preview omits an intended use.

For terminology rather than a language symbol, use project search and replace, exclude matches that mean something else, and save a named version before Replace All.

Treat Problems as current evidence#

Open Problems from the sidebar and select the first error; CorTeX reveals its source location. Later diagnostics are often consequences. When the editor shows a lightbulb or the context menu offers Quick Fix…, open it, read the exact edit, and apply it only if it preserves the manuscript's meaning. Not every diagnostic has a quick fix. A LaTeX preview may keep the last successful PDF after current source fails, so confirm PDF updated before reviewing its content.

Editor actions and accepted assistant patches use the same collaborative source path and remain undoable when the feature supports it. For a project-wide or destructive change, use Version history rather than relying only on editor Undo. Practice reaching a source definition, reviewing a proposed change before applying it, and confirming that the preview reflects the current revision. For a reviewed terminology change rather than a symbol rename, continue with Search and replace across a project.