Brainstorm

Brainstorm is a private place to think in points. Each brainstorm is an outline of nested points that you can also view as a mind map. Both views edit the same data, so a change in one appears in the other.

Open Brainstorm

Click Brainstorm under Quick Access in the sidebar.

The left panel lists your brainstorms.

• Click + to create one.
• Edit a brainstorm’s title to rename it.
• Click the trash icon to delete it. Inkwell asks you to confirm first.

A toggle in the header switches between Outline and Mind map. Inkwell remembers your choice.

Outline view

The outline is a list of points that can be nested as deeply as you like.

Do this	To
EnterEnter	Start a new point. If the cursor is in the middle of a line, the text splits.
TabTab / ⇧TabShift+Tab	Nest / un-nest the point.
⌥UpAlt+Up / ⌥DownAlt+Down	Move the point up or down.
⌘.Ctrl+.	Collapse or expand a branch. The chevron does the same.
BackspaceBackspace on an empty point	Delete the point.
UpUp / DownDown at the start / end of a point	Move between points.

You can also use the mouse:

• Drag the grip handle on the left of a row to move that point anywhere.
• Click a bullet to zoom into that branch. Use the breadcrumb to zoom back out.

Mind map view

The mind map shows the brainstorm title as the central node, with your points branching out to the right.

Move around

• Drag the background to pan.
• Hold ⌘Ctrl and scroll to zoom.
• Use the +, − and fit buttons at the bottom right.

Edit nodes

Do this	To
Click a node	Select it.
Double-click, Space or F2	Edit the node’s text.
TabTab	Add a child.
EnterEnter	Add a sibling.
DeleteDelete or BackspaceBackspace	Remove the node and its branch.
Arrow keys	Move the selection.
RightRight	Expand a collapsed node.

Long text wraps onto multiple lines instead of being cut off.

Collapse and expand

Each node with children has a small button on its right edge. Click − to collapse it. A collapsed node shows a badge with the number of hidden points; click it to expand.

Undo and redo

Press ⌘ZCtrl+Z to undo and ⌘⇧ZCtrl+Shift+Z (or ⌃YCtrl+Y) to redo. The buttons in the header do the same.

Undo covers typing, adding, deleting, nesting, moving and collapsing, in both views. Inkwell keeps the last 200 steps. History resets when you switch to another brainstorm or leave the view.

Renaming a brainstorm’s title uses the field’s own undo.

Put a brainstorm inside a note

1. In the editor, type /brainstorm.
2. Pick a brainstorm.

A live, read-only outline appears in your note. You can expand or collapse points there. Click Open to jump to the full Brainstorm view.

In the raw markdown, the embed is a fenced code block tagged brainstorm.