Help

How to use Waxcap™.

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Get in touch at support@terriblemushroom.com.

Contents

Getting Started

Creating your first project

Projects are created from the Project Library (Cmd+Shift+L). The New Project window offers three ways to begin:

  • Start a new project creates an empty project with a single untitled document, ready to write in.
  • Explore a Sample Novel opens a complete copy of Pride and Prejudice so you can look around a finished project. You can also add the sample later, at any time, with Help ▸ Restore Sample Project…
  • New Project from Template creates a project pre-structured as a Simple Novel, Chapter Only, Three-Act Structure, or Non-Fiction book, with a chapter count of your choosing.

Templates are only a starting point. You can change a project's structure at any time by adding, moving, renaming and nesting folders and documents in the sidebar.

Creating your first project starts the 14-day free trial. Waxcap asks first. You can use the sample novel without starting the trial. See Trial & Purchase.

Bringing in an existing draft

To bring in a draft from another app, create a project first, then import your files into it. See Importing.

The first-launch walkthrough

The first time you open the app, a short walkthrough introduces the project structure and lets you set your daily writing target. At the end, you can open the sample novel or start your own project. It runs once. The target can be changed at any time in Settings ▸ General.

Where your work lives

Each project is a folder of plain text files on your Mac: manuscript, notes, cut material, and version history. Your writing can be opened in any text editor, on any computer, with or without Waxcap. You don't need to create an account. If you use more than one Mac, projects can follow you through iCloud. See iCloud Sync.

Studio note: Why plain markdown? (the thinking behind the file format)

Importing

Waxcap imports three kinds of file:

  • Markdown (.md), with its formatting.
  • Plain text (.txt).
  • Word documents (.docx), keeping italics and bold.

A Word document keeps its words, italics and bold. They arrive as markdown, so text that was bold in Word, a chapter title for example, arrives bold. Other formatting, such as fonts, colours and Word's heading styles, is left out. If the app you're moving from can save your draft as markdown, import that instead and the rest of its formatting comes with it. Pasting is different: pasted text arrives without its formatting.

How to import

  1. Open the project, then open a document in the Manuscript. Imported files go just below the document you have open, in the same section. If no document is open, they go at the end of the Manuscript.
  2. Choose File ▸ Import File… and select one or more files.

You can also drag files from Finder onto the sidebar. Drop them between two items to put them where the line shows, on a folder to add them to the end of it, or on a section heading to add them to the end of that section. Files dropped at the top level of Reference Material go into General.

Each file becomes one document, named after the file. When you export, document names are used as chapter headings unless you turn that off, so it's worth renaming anything like "ch07 draft3" first.

Several files imported at once go in by name, in the order Finder lists them, so chapters named "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2" and so on arrive in order. The sidebar order is the export order, and you can drag documents to rearrange them. If one file in a batch can't be read, the rest still import and an alert lists the failures.

A draft in one long file

A file comes in as a single document, however long it is. Nothing splits it into chapters. If your draft is one long file, it's usually easier to save each chapter as a separate file before you import. Otherwise, after importing, create a document for each chapter and cut and paste the text across.

Imported words and your statistics

Imported words aren't counted as writing. Words imported into the Manuscript add to the project's total, but they don't count toward today's target, your streak or your records.

Opening a markdown file from Finder

Double-clicking a .md file in Finder (or dropping one on the Dock icon) opens it in a read-only viewer. Its Import button adds the file to the end of the Manuscript in any of your projects, or creates a new project named after the file.

To bring in a whole project saved from Waxcap as a .waxcap archive, use File ▸ Import Project… instead. See Importing an archive.

Writing

The editor uses markdown: type symbols like **bold** and *italic* and the text is styled for you. As you move off a line, the symbols fade and the line reads as styled prose; move the cursor back and they reappear for editing. (If you choose SF Mono as your editor font, symbols stay visible at all times.)

Formatting

The editor supports bold (Cmd+B), italic (Cmd+I), strikethrough (Cmd+Shift+X), highlight (Cmd+Shift+H), inline code, headings (Cmd+1 / 2 / 3), bulleted and numbered lists, blockquotes, links (Cmd+K), horizontal rules, and footnotes. That's the full set: there are no tables or images. Every formatting action has a keyboard shortcut, so you never have to type a symbol yourself.

In lists, Return continues the list (bullets continue, numbers increment), Return on an empty item ends the list, and Shift+Return adds a line break inside the same item.

Studio note: Formatting in the editor (what the editor supports, and why)

Annotations

An annotation is a note to yourself inside the prose. It shows in the editor in a different colour on a faint tint. It never appears in previews, or in manuscript, reading copy and ePub exports. Select text (or place the cursor) and press Cmd+Shift+A, or use the editor's right-click menu.

Highlights

A highlight puts a marker-pen background behind a passage you want to come back to. Select text and press Cmd+Shift+H. Highlights never appear in manuscript, reading copy or ePub exports. The highlight colour can be switched between Bright and a softer theme-matched treatment in Settings ▸ Editor.

Studio note: Annotations and highlights (what each is for and when to reach for which)

Auto-save

Documents save automatically about a second and a half after you pause typing. You can also save at any time with Cmd+S.

Focus modes

Three tools in the Focus menu reduce what's competing for your attention. They can be combined.

  • Typewriter Scrolling (Cmd+Control+T) keeps the line you're typing at a fixed position near the middle of the window, so the page scrolls beneath your cursor rather than the cursor travelling down the screen.
  • Focus Mode dims everything except the paragraph or sentence you're writing. Choose Paragraph or Sentence scope from Focus ▸ Focus Mode.
  • Distraction-Free (Cmd+Control+H) hides the sidebar, the panels and the toolbar. In Settings ▸ Focus you can keep the toolbar, or hide the word count as well. Combine with macOS full screen for a bare page.

Studio note: Focus modes and the split editor (which tool suits which kind of session)

The split editor

The split editor shows two documents side by side in the same window: a scene and its character notes, say, or a chapter and its outline. Toggle it with Cmd+Shift+E, or Option-click any document in the sidebar to open it in the second pane. Both panes are fully editable, and each keeps its own cursor and scroll position. A copper strip marks the pane your typing goes to. You can open the same document in both panes; edits appear in both as you type.

Search

Cmd+F finds within the current document; Cmd+Option+F opens Find and Replace; Cmd+G and Cmd+Shift+G step through matches.

Cmd+Shift+F searches the whole project (Manuscript, Reference Material and Cut Material) from three typed characters. Click a result to jump to it; Option-click a result to open it in the second pane instead, leaving your current document in place. Results include text you've typed but not yet saved.

The reading preview

The preview (Cmd+Shift+P) shows the current manuscript document as it will export: annotations stripped, footnotes in place. A toolbar control switches between Reading (a comfortable serif layout) and Manuscript (the double-spaced submission format, with font and spacing controls alongside). The preview refreshes when you pause typing, or on demand via View ▸ Refresh Preview. It's available for manuscript documents only.

The right-click menu

Right-clicking in the editor shows a menu suited to markdown prose. Look Up, Search With, Spelling and Grammar, Substitutions, Speech, and Services are all present; the system Font panel and Layout Orientation are not, and Insert Annotation is added at the bottom. Apple's Writing Tools appear only if you've opted in via Settings ▸ Editor.

Substitutions

On first launch, the Edit ▸ Substitutions toggles are set to suit prose: Smart Quotes on, Text Replacement on, Smart Links off, Data Detectors off, Spelling Correction off (autocorrect rewrites character names too eagerly for fiction). Spell-check underlining is separate and stays on; change it in Settings ▸ Editor. Anything you change in Edit ▸ Substitutions persists. Smart Dashes isn't listed: the editor always keeps your dashes exactly as typed.

Paste

Pasting always inserts plain text. External formatting is removed, and what arrives is exactly the characters. (Cmd+V.)

Toolbar

The main toolbar carries navigation and panel toggles; the formatting toolbar (toggle via View ▸ Show Formatting Toolbar, Cmd+Shift+T) adds Italic, Heading 1, font-size controls, and the Insert (+) dropdown, which groups every insertable element by how exports treat it: elements that reach a manuscript reader (rules, footnotes, lists, strikethrough), elements for ePub (bold, sub-headings, links), and the private drafting aids (annotation, highlight). When the window is narrow, toolbar items collapse into a >> overflow menu; everything stays reachable.

Typing width and justification

The editor column can be set to Full Width, Comfortable, Narrow, or Narrowest from Editor ▸ Typing Width or Settings ▸ Editor. Editor ▸ Justify Text (Cmd+Shift+J) renders body paragraphs flush on both sides; it's display-only and doesn't affect your files or exports. On the narrowest widths, justified text can show uneven word spacing, which is normal for short justified lines.

Organising the Manuscript

Every project has four sections in the sidebar:

  • Manuscript. The book itself. This is what exports and what counts toward your statistics.
  • Reference Material. Characters, locations, research, and other material around the book. See Reference Material.
  • Cut Material. Documents and folders you've taken out of the book but want to keep. Things only go here when you choose Move to Cut Material.
  • Trash. Documents and folders you've deleted. They stay here until you empty the Trash.

Within a section you can create folders, nest them, and reorder everything by dragging. The sidebar order is the export order.

Creating, renaming, moving

Cmd+N creates a document and Cmd+Shift+N a folder, next to your current selection and ready to name. Press Return on any selected item to rename it. Drag to reorder or re-nest; when you drag several items, their order is kept. Cmd+Delete moves items to the Trash, and the right-click menu offers Move to Cut Material, Duplicate, and more.

Edit ▸ Undo (Cmd+Z) also reverses moves in the sidebar, including Move to Trash and Move to Cut Material, and puts the item back exactly where it was. This works until you close the project. If Undo reverses your typing instead, click in the sidebar first.

Selecting several items

Cmd-click or Shift-click to select multiple items, then right-click to move them all at once: to the Manuscript, to Cut Material or to the Trash. Items in Reference Material can only go to the Trash together. Rename, Duplicate and Copy to Project work on one item at a time.

Trash and restore

Deleting a document or folder moves it to the Trash, the last section in the sidebar. Nothing is removed from the Trash until you empty it, and a trashed document keeps its version history. You can click a trashed document to read it.

To restore something:

  1. Right-click it in the Trash.
  2. Choose Restore to and the place it came from, for example Restore to Characters. Manuscript items can go to Cut Material instead.

A restored item goes back into its folder, at the bottom. If it wasn't in a folder, or the folder has gone, it goes to the end of its section. Drag it back into place if the order matters. Restoring a folder brings back everything inside it, in the same order.

To restore several items, select them, right-click and choose the Restore option; each goes back to where it came from. To restore everything, right-click the Trash heading and choose Restore All.

Emptying the Trash

File ▸ Empty Trash, or Empty Trash in the Trash heading's right-click menu, deletes everything in the Trash for good, along with its version history. This can't be undone.

Copying between projects

Select documents in the sidebar, right-click ▸ Copy to Project, and choose the destination. The source project is unchanged; the destination gets its own copy.

Reference Material

Reference Material holds eight template folders: Characters, Locations, Objects, Themes, Timeline, World Rules, Research, and General. A new document in any of them starts with that template's prompts instead of a blank page. Nothing in Reference Material counts toward word targets or appears in manuscript exports.

Customising templates

Edit each template's prompt text per-project in Settings ▸ Reference Material (or its Edit Note Templates… window), and reset any template to the bundled default at any time. Template folders you don't use can be hidden from the sidebar by right-clicking the folder or using the section header menu. Hidden folders keep their documents.

How the folders behave

The eight template folders are fixed: they can't be renamed, moved, or deleted, and documents can't be dragged from one template folder into another, into Manuscript, or into Cut Material. Within a template folder you can create subfolders (for example Protagonists / Supporting under Characters) and move documents freely between them. New documents need a folder: with the Reference Material heading selected, Cmd+N creates into General.

Studio note: Reference Material and Cut Material (what each is for)

Targets & Statistics

The Stats panel tracks today, the week, the month, and lifetime records. Show or hide it with Cmd+Shift+I.

The daily target

Set your daily word target in Settings ▸ General; the default is 500. The Today ring fills as you write and celebrates when you reach the target. The count covers all your projects together.

A day runs from midnight to midnight on your Mac's clock, so anything you write after midnight counts toward the new day.

What you type or paste into the Manuscript counts. Reference Material, Cut Material, formatting symbols, annotations and the web address behind a link don't move the number. Importing, duplicating and moving documents don't either, including moving them to the Trash and back.

Deleting words lowers the count, but deleting older work never takes today below zero. The next words you write count as usual.

If you write on more than one Mac, today's count adds up what you write on each of them, and every Mac shows the same total once iCloud has caught up. Chapters arriving from your other Mac aren't counted again on this one. Writing done on another Mac while this one was asleep or offline goes to the day it was written.

Streaks and rest days

Your streak is the number of days in a row you've met your target. If you miss your target on a day that isn't a rest day, the streak ends: it goes back to zero and starts again the next day you meet your target. Today only counts against you once it's over. Your best streak is kept in Records.

Rest days are days of the week you don't plan to write, such as Saturday and Sunday. Choose them in Settings ▸ General; any of the seven days can be one. A rest day doesn't break your streak, and if you meet your target on one, it adds a day.

Rest days repeat every week. You can't mark a single date as a rest day, or mend a streak after a day has been missed.

Changing your rest days applies from today. Past days keep the rule that was in force at the time, and the calendar shows them as they were. Changing your daily target works the same way.

Milestones are celebrated when your streak reaches 3, 7, 14, 30, 50, 100, 200, and 365 days. A new streak celebrates them again.

Week, month, and records

This Week is a bar graph with your target line drawn across it; a day met under an older, different target shows a hatched bar. This Month is a calendar grid: green for target met, copper tones for partial progress, grey for no writing, a muted tint for an unwritten rest day. Records shows lifetime totals: words, best streak, best day, days written. This Document and Project show the current document's count and the manuscript total.

Hiding the numbers

If you'd rather not see counts while you write, Settings ▸ General ▸ Hide Stats can hide the today/target read-out and the word counts independently. Tracking continues in the background, so nothing is lost while they're hidden.

Studio notes: Why a daily target? and How the Stats panel keeps track

Version History

Waxcap keeps earlier versions of each document in the Manuscript and Reference Material automatically. A version is saved:

  • When you open a document, and when you move to another document or close the project.
  • About every ten minutes while you're writing.
  • When you restore an earlier version.
  • When an edit from another Mac replaces yours. See If two Macs edit the same document.

If nothing has changed since the last version, no new one is saved.

Version History is for documents you still have. If you've deleted a document, look in the Trash first. See Trash and restore.

Viewing and restoring

  1. Right-click the document in the sidebar and choose Version History…, or choose File ▸ Version History… for the document you have open.
  2. Versions are grouped by day. Each shows the time it was saved, its word count, and what saved it: Start of session, While writing, After editing, or Saved from an iCloud conflict.
  3. Select a version to read it.
  4. Click Restore, then confirm.

Restoring first saves your current text as a version of its own, so a restore can always be undone.

If the document had a Content Analysis synopsis when a version was saved, the synopsis is shown with that version.

Where versions live

Version history is stored inside the project, so it moves with the project across Macs, into backups, and into project archives. Older versions are gradually thinned: everything is kept for a week, then one version per day for a month, one per week for six months, and one per month beyond.

Studio note: How version history works

Getting Work Back

Where to look depends on what happened.

  • You deleted a document or folder. It's in the project's Trash, the last section in the sidebar, and stays there until you empty the Trash. See Trash and restore.
  • You moved or deleted something a moment ago. Choose Edit ▸ Undo (Cmd+Z). It puts the item back exactly where it was.
  • Text is missing from a document, or you want an earlier draft. Open the document's version history. See Version History.
  • Another Mac's changes replaced yours. Your version is in the document's version history. See If two Macs edit the same document.
  • You moved something to Cut Material. Right-click it and choose Move to Manuscript.
  • You deleted a whole project. It's in the Bin in the Project Library. See The Bin.

Backups & Archives

A project is an ordinary folder on your Mac, so Time Machine and other backup tools back it up like anything else, with no export step needed.

Project archives

To carry a whole project as a single file, use the Export Wizard's Save a complete project archive intent. It writes a .waxcap file (a standard zip with your plain text inside) containing the manuscript, notes, version history, and settings. The original project is unchanged.

Importing an archive

This is for .waxcap archives saved from Waxcap. To bring in a Word, markdown or text file, see Importing.

File ▸ Import Project… opens an archive and adds it to your library as an independent copy, with documents, folders and version history intact. You can also drag an archive onto the Project Library window. Editing the copy doesn't affect the original project, and both can be kept.

Plain-text backup

The wizard's Back up the full project intent writes your manuscript into one labelled plain-text file, readable anywhere, with your Reference Material alongside it unless you leave it out. Cut Material can be included too.

Duplicate names

Project names must be unique in the Library; creating or importing a project under an existing name prompts you to rename or open the existing one instead.

iCloud Sync

With iCloud Drive on, projects sync across every Mac signed in to the same Apple Account: manuscript, notes, cut material, version history, and writing statistics. Your daily word target, rest days, and week start day follow you between Macs as well. Your daily count adds up the words you write on each Mac, so writing that arrives from another Mac is never counted twice (see Targets & Statistics). There's no separate account or setup in the app. iCloud Drive just needs to be enabled in System Settings ▸ [your name] ▸ iCloud on each Mac. On a single Mac, sync isn't needed and the app works the same without it.

The sync indicator

The bottom-right of the window shows the sync state for this Mac: Up to date in iCloud, Uploading changes to iCloud…, Downloading changes from iCloud…, or Checking iCloud…. Downloading changes shows, with the words Downloading changes… beside the cloud, while changes made on another Mac are still arriving. Wait for it to clear before you carry on with a chapter you changed on the other Mac. If iCloud can't be reached, it reads iCloud unavailable. Keep writing: your work is saved on this Mac and syncs when iCloud is back. A document that hasn't downloaded to this Mac yet shows Downloading from iCloud… in the editor until it arrives.

If two Macs edit the same document

Nothing is thrown away. Waxcap keeps whichever version was saved most recently and puts the other into that document's Version History, labelled Saved from an iCloud conflict.

"Most recently" means when each Mac saved the change, not when it reached iCloud. So if you write all afternoon on a Mac that's offline, then make a small edit on your other Mac later on, the later edit is the one you'll see and the afternoon's work is in the history.

This happens document by document. If you edited three documents on both Macs, each one is sorted out separately.

If it happens to the document you have open, Waxcap tells you. When your own changes were replaced, the notice has a Restore my version button that switches back in one click, and the other version is kept in history in turn. The notice stays until you use it, close it, or open another document.

If you missed the notice, open the document's Version History and restore the version labelled Saved from an iCloud conflict. See Version History.

Deleted items and backups

Sync keeps your Macs the same, including deletions. Anything you move to the Trash on one Mac moves to the Trash on the others, and emptying the Trash deletes it everywhere. That's why sync is no substitute for a backup: use Time Machine or a project archive. See Backups & Archives.

Studio note: How iCloud syncing works

Export

Open the Export Wizard with Cmd+Option+E. It asks what you're doing, then asks only the questions that matter for that job, with a preview alongside and a Review step at the end.

The five export jobs

  • Send to my agent. The manuscript in standard submission format. Asks about file format, title page, font, table of contents, and scope; Save or Print.
  • Share with readers for feedback. A Reading Copy for beta readers. Asks about a DRAFT watermark, font, title page, contents, and scope; Save or Print.
  • Make an ePub. An e-reader file. Asks about the cover and scope.
  • Back up the full project. One plain-text file of the manuscript, with Reference Material and, if you choose, Cut Material.
  • Save a complete project archive. A single .waxcap file of the whole project.

If none of those fits, Custom… in the wizard footer opens the full export sheet with every format and option available at once.

If you haven't started the free trial, saving the sample novel as a PDF, Word document or ePub, or printing it, asks you to start it. Plain-text backups and project archives don't need the trial. See Trial & Purchase.

What exports contain

Exports follow the sidebar order. Manuscript, reading copy and ePub exports always remove annotations and highlights (the plain-text backup and project archive keep them). Bold, italic, headings, lists, blockquotes, links, and footnotes are carried according to the format. Footnotes are collected as endnotes, numbered across the whole book. A title page, copyright page, and end-of-book marker can each be included, drawing on your Book Metadata. A table of contents can be generated from your structure. If a chosen job needs metadata you haven't filled in (an ISBN for ePub, say), the Review step lists what's missing with an Edit metadata… button.

Chapter and section headings

Two toggles, found in Project Settings, the Custom sheet and the wizard alike, control how your sidebar structure appears in the book:

  • Use document names as chapter headings (on by default): each document's name becomes its chapter heading, and headings you've typed inside sit beneath it.
  • Use folder names as section headings (off by default): folders like Part 1 get their own divider page, as published novels do. Off, folders still group entries in the table of contents.

Manuscript format

The submission format looks quite unlike the editor, with Times or Courier, double spacing, indented paragraphs and centred # scene breaks, because that's the layout agents and publishers expect to receive. The Manuscript Compatibility tick tells you in advance whether anything in your prose would change on the way out.

Printing

Cmd+P prints the current document through the standard macOS print dialog.

Studio note: Exporting your book

Book Metadata

The book's publishing details live in Settings ▸ Project: title, subtitle, author, contact details, agent details, copyright statement, cover, ISBN, publication date, and language. They feed the title page, copyright page, ePub details, and the Library card. None are required for writing; changes apply immediately.

Title, byline, and legal name

The title and optional subtitle appear on the title page. The Author field is your byline, the name printed under "by". If you write under a pen name, fill in Author Legal Name too: agent submissions show the legal name in the contact corner, while the byline stays on the title page. The running header on submission exports pairs your surname with the title.

Agent details

With any agent fields filled in, submission exports put the agent's details in the title page's contact corner, as agented submissions expect. With no agent set, your own details are used. Empty fields are simply skipped.

Copyright

The copyright statement defaults to the standard form (© year name. All rights reserved.) using your byline and the current year, and can be edited. An export can override the year without changing the stored statement.

Cover

The cover appears in ePub exports and on the project's Library card. Most image formats work. Aim for about 1600×2400 pixels, the standard 2:3 book shape used across e-book stores; the app tells you at upload if an image is small or unusually shaped, and compresses very large files. Without a cover, ePubs use a neutral placeholder.

ISBN, publication date, and language

ISBN and publication date are used in ePub files only; both can be left blank (for agent submissions, they should be). The language is the language the book is written in. It travels in the ePub so reading apps hyphenate and lay out the text correctly.

Content Analysis

Content Analysis reads your manuscript with Apple Intelligence and shows what's in it: a synopsis, and the characters, locations, objects, themes, and time references you've mentioned. It runs on-device, so your manuscript never leaves your Mac. It doesn't write or rewrite prose. Toggle the panel with Cmd+Shift+Y.

Synopsis

The synopsis card offers two styles via the picker at its top: Short (a few sentences) and Flowing (a longer narrative summary). Each style has an Edit link for rewriting it by hand and a Lock link that keeps it as it is. A locked synopsis shows a closed padlock and isn't replaced by automatic analysis; editing one locks it too. A synopsis that automatic analysis can still update is shown in slightly lighter text, and Unlock lets it update again. Generate All Content Analysis leaves locked synopses alone, and Refresh asks before replacing one. Synopses are captured into Version History alongside the text.

Entities

The panel lists the people, places, objects, themes, and timeframes found in the document. Click an entity to create a Reference Material note for it (using the right template, with the entity's name as its heading) or link it to an existing note. The app recognises likely matches, so M. Walton links to your Margaret Walton note rather than creating a duplicate. Linked entities show a chain icon that opens the note in the second pane, and renaming a note keeps the links it already has. Hovering shows Mentioned In, listing every document that references the entity. Right-click ▸ Hide Entity removes one from the list permanently; the panel's filter can show hidden entities again for unhiding.

When analysis runs

Analysis runs automatically after you save a manuscript document of at least 100 words, when your changes are substantial enough to be worth it; the Refresh button in the panel footer re-analyses on demand at any time. Analysis ▸ Generate All Content Analysis queues every manuscript document and works through them in the background while you write. Very long documents have a word limit for analysis. Past it, the panel shows the current limit and suggests splitting the document into scenes or chapters so each part can be analysed.

When part of the analysis stays empty

Content Analysis uses Apple Intelligence's on-device model. That's how your writing stays on your Mac with nothing extra to pay, but the model comes with content safeguards set by Apple, and Waxcap can't change or switch them off. Now and then they stop it summarising a passage, often one with violence, crime or other strong material, even in ordinary fiction. When that happens, that part of the panel stays empty while the rest still appears, and your document is unaffected. You can write the synopsis yourself with Edit, or try Refresh later, as the same passage is sometimes accepted on another try. In a long document Waxcap skips the declined section and summarises the rest, with a note at the end saying how many sections it left out.

Manuscript Compatibility

The tick at the top of the panel reports whether the document will export to submission format without losing anything. Green: nothing important changes. Amber: the panel lists what would be transformed (bold rendered plain, for example) so you can decide whether it matters. Annotations and highlights never affect the tick, since a submission export always removes them. Analysis ▸ Check Manuscript Compatibility… runs the same check across the whole project.

Availability

Content Analysis needs an Apple Silicon Mac with Apple Intelligence enabled in System Settings; without that, the panel doesn't appear and the rest of the app is unaffected. It can also be turned off in Settings ▸ Editor.

Studio note: Content Analysis

Appearance & Settings

Themes

Eight themes are available in Settings ▸ Themes or Editor ▸ Editor Theme: five light (Light, Paper, Sepia, Soft Grey, Warm Stone) and three dark (Midnight, High Contrast Night, Forest). Pick a light theme and a dark theme; the app shows the right one for the system appearance, or force Light or Dark in View ▸ Appearance. On macOS 26, the sidebar and toolbar take on the system's Liquid Glass look; the page itself stays opaque for readability.

Fonts and text size

Choose the editor typeface from Editor ▸ Font, which offers seven faces suited to long sessions including a monospaced option, and step the editor text size with Cmd+= / Cmd+- (Cmd+0 resets). The interface (sidebar, panels, toolbar) scales separately via Settings ▸ Accessibility ▸ UI Text Size, in five steps up to 1.5×.

The Settings tabs

Cmd+, opens Settings, with seven tabs: General (daily target, week start day, rest days, Hide Stats, how long the Bin keeps deleted projects, Reset All Defaults), Editor (font, size, typing width, text checking, Apple Intelligence, manuscript export typography, highlight colour), Focus (the formatting toolbar, and whether distraction-free mode hides the toolbar and word count), Themes, Accessibility (UI Text Size, Reduce Motion status), Project (the current book's metadata), and Reference Material (note templates and folder visibility).

Reset All Defaults returns app-wide preferences, including the theme, to their starting values; it doesn't touch your UI text size, project metadata, or note templates. The app also respects the system Reduce Motion setting throughout.

Picking up where you left off

On relaunch, the app restores your last project and document, the sidebar's expanded state, the split editor's arrangement, and the window's size and position. The window's subtitle names the open project.

Project Library

The Project Library (Cmd+Shift+L) shows every project as a card with its name, byline, and word count. A copper Current pill marks the open project. Right-click a card to open, rename, duplicate, archive, or delete a project.

The Bin

Deleted projects move to the Bin rather than disappearing. They stay for the period set in Settings ▸ General, from 7 to 90 days, or Forever. The default is 30 days. Right-click a binned project to put it back or delete it permanently.

The Bin holds whole projects only. Documents and folders you delete inside a project go to that project's Trash. See Trash and restore.

Archiving

Archiving hides a finished or paused project from the main grid without deleting anything. Switch to the Archived view in the Library header to see and restore archived projects.

Trial & Purchase

Before the trial

You can use the sample novel, Pride and Prejudice, for as long as you like without starting the trial. Settings and Help are free to use too.

Waxcap asks you to start the 14-day trial when you create, import or open your own project, or save the sample as a PDF, Word document or ePub, or print it. You can also start it at any time with Start Free Trial in the toolbar or in Waxcap ▸ Purchases….

The 14-day trial

The trial is free and includes every feature. When you start it, the App Store asks you to confirm a free item called 14-day Trial. You won't be charged when the trial ends. You need an internet connection to start it.

The trial is linked to your Apple Account, so it covers every Mac you use with that account. Deleting and reinstalling the app doesn't reset it. A badge in the toolbar shows the days left. It turns amber when three days are left and red on the last day.

When the trial ends

Waxcap opens to the Project Library, where you can buy or restore a purchase. Until then, projects (including the sample) won't open in the editor. Nothing in them is changed or deleted.

To save a copy of your writing, double-click a project in the Library, select it and click Save…, or right-click it and choose Save My Writing…. The manuscript, notes and Cut Material are saved as plain text files in a folder you choose.

Buying

Waxcap is a one-time purchase through the Mac App Store. You don't have to start the trial first. Choose Waxcap ▸ Purchases…, click the badge in the toolbar, or click Buy Waxcap when you're asked to start the trial. There's no subscription and nothing else to buy. The purchase covers every Mac signed in to your Apple Account.

Restore Purchase and Family Sharing

If the app shows trial screens on a Mac where you've already bought it, perhaps after a clean install or on a new Mac, Restore Purchase in Waxcap ▸ Purchases… confirms the purchase with the App Store and unlocks at no charge. Family Sharing is supported: one purchase covers your Family group (up to six people), each writing their own projects. A member who later leaves the group loses the unlock but keeps their projects.

Refunds

Refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Starting the trial, buying, getting a refund or reinstalling the app doesn't change or delete your writing.

Keyboard Shortcuts

File

ShortcutAction
Cmd+NNew Document
Cmd+Shift+NNew Folder
Cmd+DDuplicate Document
Cmd+DeleteMove to Trash
Cmd+SSave
Cmd+Option+EExport…
Cmd+PPrint…
Cmd+Shift+LProject Library
Cmd+WClose Window

Edit

ShortcutAction
Cmd+ZUndo
Cmd+Shift+ZRedo
Cmd+XCut
Cmd+CCopy
Cmd+VPaste (plain text)
Cmd+ASelect All
Cmd+FFind
Cmd+Option+FFind and Replace
Cmd+GFind Next
Cmd+Shift+GFind Previous
Cmd+Shift+FFind in Project

View

ShortcutAction
Cmd+Control+SShow Sidebar
Cmd+Shift+IShow Stats Panel
Cmd+Shift+YShow Content Analysis
Cmd+Shift+EShow Split Editor
Cmd+Shift+PShow Preview
Cmd+Shift+TShow Formatting Toolbar

Editor

ShortcutAction
Cmd+Shift+JJustify Text
Cmd+=Increase Font Size
Cmd+-Decrease Font Size
Cmd+0Reset Font Size

Focus

ShortcutAction
Cmd+Control+TTypewriter Scrolling
Cmd+Control+HDistraction-Free Mode

Format

ShortcutAction
Cmd+BBold
Cmd+IItalic
Cmd+Shift+XStrikethrough
Cmd+Shift+HHighlight
Cmd+1 / 2 / 3Heading 1 / 2 / 3

Insert

ShortcutAction
Cmd+KLink
Cmd+Shift+AAnnotation

Sidebar

ShortcutAction
ReturnRename selected item
Option+clickOpen document in second editor pane
EscapeExit search

Window

ShortcutAction
Cmd+,Settings
Cmd+?Help

System Requirements

  • A Mac with Apple silicon.
  • macOS 26 Tahoe or later.
  • Apple Intelligence (optional). Needed for Content Analysis only; everything else works identically without it.
  • iCloud Drive (optional). Needed only to sync projects between Macs.

The app supports VoiceOver, full keyboard navigation, an interface text-size preference (Settings ▸ Accessibility), and the system Reduce Motion setting.

Help & Diagnostics

This help page

Available from Help ▸ Waxcap Help and at terriblemushroom.com/waxcap/help/. It opens in its own panel, so it can stay open beside the editor.

Restore Sample Project

Help ▸ Restore Sample Project… adds a fresh copy of Pride and Prejudice (about 122,000 words, public domain) to your Library. If a sample already exists, it's replaced, with the old copy moved to the Bin in case you'd made edits you want back.

The diagnostic log

If something goes wrong, Help ▸ Export Diagnostic Log… saves the app's activity log as a plain text file for sending to support. The log records app events only. It never contains your writing, your document or project names, your searches, or personal file paths, so it's safe to share when reporting a bug.

About

Waxcap is made by Terrible Mushroom Ltd. Waxcap ▸ About Waxcap shows your version and build, and the acknowledgements for the open-source projects and typefaces the app uses. Feedback and bug reports: support@terriblemushroom.com.