Script Studio

Smart Enter + Tab: element-type auto-switching

5 min read

Smart Enter / Tab is the "soul" of Slima's script editor — pressing Enter / Tab auto-switches to the next sensible script element type. No need to manually specify "next line is dialogue" every time.

Slima Script Studio Plan view as a visual reference; Smart Enter operates inside Write view

Smart Enter: typical sequence

The most common script sequence:

Scene Heading
→ Description
→ Character
→ Dialogue
→ Character (the other one speaks back)
→ Dialogue
→ Description / Transition

Smart Enter knows this sequence and switches automatically:

Current element After Enter
Scene Heading Description
Description Description (new paragraph) or Character (depending on content)
Character Dialogue (most common)
Dialogue Character (next speaker) or Description
Parenthetical Dialogue
Transition Scene Heading (new scene)

Tab: force element switch

If Smart Enter doesn't guess what you want — press Tab to force-cycle to the next element type (rotates through the 7).

For example:

  • You're on Description, want to add a Character → Enter goes to Description → press Tab to convert to Character
  • Reverse: Shift + Tab to cycle backwards

Onboarding tour hint

The first-time tour explicitly states: "Pressing Enter on a blank line returns to Description; pressing Enter on a transition creates a new scene. Character-name prediction (Highland-style) auto-suggests based on recent dialogue." — i18n confirmed.

Character autocomplete (Highland-style)

When typing a Character element, Slima auto-suggests from recent dialogue (the last N character appearances):

  • Previous block was J. Doe speaking → next Character auto-suggests A. Smith (dialogue handoff)
  • Last 3 blocks rotated J. Doe / A. Smith → predicts which comes next

See: Dialogue + character autocomplete

Cross-scene: Enter on a transition

If you press Enter on a Transition line (FADE TO / CUT TO) → Slima auto-creates a new Scene Heading (previous scene ends, new one starts).

Different from Split scene — this is "naturally write into a new scene" vs "split mid-scene".

Keyboard escape

When you don't want Slima to guess:

  • Toolbar has an element-type dropdown — click to set directly
  • Command palette (Cmd/Ctrl K) → "change element type"

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