Comments on every file type: what each one anchors to

In one line: what a comment attaches to in each of the six file types, how to leave one, and what happens when you click it.

One panel, the whole book

Open the comments panel from the activity bar, or press Ctrl + Shift + C (⌘ + Shift + C on a Mac).

It is one shared panel and it lists the whole book's comments, not only the file you have open. Narrow it with Current file only. The status filter starts on Open.

Because the right-hand column holds one panel at a time, opening Comments displaces the AI chat, the outline or your notes.

Under each card is a location line: the file name plus what the comment is attached to — something like Relationship Map.map · Node "Shen Yan". Click a card and it opens that file and takes you there.

Six file types, six anchors

File	A comment attaches to	How to add one (desktop)
.md manuscript	a passage of selected text	Select text → right-click → Add Comment
.script screenplay	one element, meaning one line — action, dialogue, a character name	Right-click that line → Add Comment
.map relationship map	a node, a relationship, or a group	Right-click the thing → Add Comment
.geomap world map	a place	Click the place → floating toolbar → Add Comment
.timeline timeline	an event	Right-click the event card → Add comment
.beats beat board	a beat card, an act column, or a file card	Hover it and an icon button appears

There is a seventh: the whole file. Right-click the editor tab → Add comment, and you get a comment tied to no position, its location line reading Whole file. That route works on any file, images and PDFs included — for those, it is the only kind of comment there is.

Easy things to trip on

• .md requires a selection. With nothing selected, the right-click menu offers no comment at all — so there is no "comment on this paragraph".
• .script cannot take a comment on a scene heading, and there is no "comment on this whole scene". Only a line inside it.
• .map: if the node you right-click happens to be inside a multi-selection of two or more, you get the multi-select menu, which has no comment item. Click empty canvas first to clear it.
• .geomap: only places take comments. Rivers, roads and borders are selectable but get no comment button.
• .timeline: neither swimlanes nor dates take comments — events only. The calendar month view shows no comment markers either.
• .beats: the ungrouped column has no act, so its column header has no comment button.

Where the markers sit

• .md — a tint on the text itself (yellow for a comment, blue for a suggestion). Given a wide enough window, enough margin, and at least one open comment, you also get a Word-style rail of cards down the side.
• .script — a small round badge in the gutter beside the line, sharing its spot with the notes icon.
• .map — upper right of a node, the midpoint of a relationship, upper right of a group box.
• .geomap — beside the place, and it keeps the same size however far you zoom.
• .timeline — on the event card's title row.
• .beats — at all three levels: beat card, act column, file card.

What clicking a comment does (desktop)

Each one opens the file, and then:

• .md scrolls the tinted passage into the middle.
• .script un-collapses that scene, switches back to editing, scrolls to the line — and puts your caret at the end of it. The only one of the six that really hands you the focus.
• .map selects and highlights that node or relationship, then pans so it lands dead centre.
• .geomap selects the place and pans it to the centre, and the floating toolbar appears with it.
• .timeline selects the event (switching back from the calendar view if you were in it) and centres it on both axes.
• .beats un-collapses the act it lives in — and, for a file card, the beat above it — then centres it.

Also: .geomap and .map pan to centre, they do not zoom. Whatever zoom level you were at is left alone.

Leaving one on a phone

File	The gesture on a phone
.md	Select text → use the toolbar that appears
.script	Long-press the line (about half a second) → a bottom sheet
.map	Long-press a node. Relationships and groups cannot be reached by touch
.geomap	Tap the place → floating toolbar. The map is view-only on a phone, but comments still work
.timeline	Relies on the browser turning a long-press into a right-click. Android does; iOS may not
.beats	The three icon buttons are always visible here — the friendliest of the six on a phone

What a comment can do

Comments are flat: one comment is one comment, with no replies and no threads. There are four states:

State	When
Open	Just left, not dealt with
Resolved	You pressed Mark as Resolved — the route for a plain comment
Accepted	You accepted a suggested edit, and the new text went into the manuscript
Rejected	You rejected a suggested edit

Anything dealt with can be Reopened back to Open, so nothing is one-way.

Suggested edits exist only on .md and .script — those are the two where new text can be put back in place. The other four take comments only.

Comments are written locally first and synced in the background. One that has not gone out is marked as not yet sent, with a Retry beside it.

After the text changes

A .md comment finds its place using the passage you selected plus about thirty characters on each side. Edit that sentence beyond recognition, or delete it, and the comment is badged Lost position.

• It is never deleted for you and never resolved for you.
• It drops out of the side rail — a card cannot point at nothing — but it is still in the panel.
• If it was a suggested edit, Accept goes grey: the original text is gone, so there is nowhere to apply it.

Comments on structured files can lose their place too, on a much simpler test: is that node, place or beat still there. Renaming does not orphan anything, but the location line on the card is not updated afterwards, so you may see an old name.

Who can comment

• You: everything, including accepting and rejecting.
• Someone you sent a public share link to: no. The reader has no comments, and creating a share link offers no "allow comments" option. If you need an answer from someone, it has to come another way.
• A Reviewer on a team: can leave comments and suggested edits, but cannot resolve, accept or reject — commenting is that role's entire write capability. Teams are in closed beta and enabled by hand for now.

Commenting requires being signed in. The Writing Studio opens while signed out, and leaving a comment then fails.

Comments are not tied to a plan and have no count limit. The free plan gets the whole feature.

Related

• Docs: Inline comments
• Docs: Public read-only share link
• Docs: Reader View for recipients
• Docs: The notes panel
• Docs: Relationship map
• Docs: What a world map is
• Docs: What the timeline is for
• Docs: What a beat board is