The LaTeX editor

LaTeX mode exposes the actual source files in your workspace. It is the place for structural changes, custom commands, bibliography source and precise edits that Visual does not support.

Use Files or ⌘P to open a source. Tabs preserve each file's editor state. Source changes autosave, and ⌘S saves immediately. Normal undo and redo operate on editor changes; source history provides longer-term recovery.

Use Outline to jump through sections and subsections. The currently edited file can be an included chapter; the compilation root remains the complete document selected beside Recompile. For example, edit sections/method.tex while compiling main.tex.

Use the file tree's controls to create or manage project files. Keep figures and bibliography paths relative to the document's project structure. Hidden metadata and dot-directories are omitted from ordinary browsing, even when build files are shown.

⌘F searches the active file. ⌘ShiftF opens project search, with matches grouped by file and case-sensitive or regular-expression options. Clicking a result opens its exact source location.

Project-wide replacement is a previewed operation:

1. Search for the text and choose replacement text.

2. Inspect the preview and affected files.

3. Untick files that should remain unchanged.

4. Apply the replacement. VersoFold saves pending editor changes and creates a source checkpoint before writing.

5. Recompile and check the result when replacements affect LaTeX commands, labels or citations.

A literal search is easier to reason about for backslashes and braces. Use regular expressions when you specifically need pattern matching, and inspect matches before applying changes across the project.

Begin a citation command such as \cite{, \citep{, \citet{ or \parencite{. Suggestions search titles, authors, years and venues as well as keys. The workspace's own bibliography comes first; choosing a shared-library paper also adds its full BibTeX entry.

You can narrow library suggestions with filters such as is:checked, in:Related-work, tag:methods or sort:year. The pinned actions open the full reference library or add a paper by link/BibTeX. See references for command/package compatibility.

Use Snippets & wrappers or ⌘ShiftI for reusable blocks. Selecting text before applying a wrapper preserves the selection inside the template. A template insertion is an ordinary editor change and can be undone in one step.

VersoFold watches the workspace on disk. When another program, a script or an agent changes a file you have open, the change streams into the editor within a moment and merges with what you are typing, like a collaborator's edit: nothing you typed is lost, and ⌘Z still undoes only your own typing. A banner above the editor says how many lines were written outside it, with Review to see them and Clear to dismiss it.

Operations that need a stable source (table publishing, linked-result updates, layout adjustments) check the file's hash and refuse, with a message, when it changed since they read it; run them again.

Track changes (the switch in the editor header, ⌘ShiftE) records your edits for review; everyone's pending changes show in their colours, insertions underlined and deletions struck through where they were. Hover one to accept or reject it, and move between them with ⌘Option] and ⌘Option[. Agents' edits are tracked too. The Review tab lists every pending change, and Review → Compare with approved version compares the whole draft with your last sign-off. See tracked changes.

Manuscript checks can surface misspellings, repeated words, unresolved labels and citation keys, missing graphics, unused bibliography entries and remaining TODOs. Source-aware checks skip math and literal environments where appropriate, but custom macros can limit what static inspection understands.

Review each finding in context. Add legitimate terminology to the project dictionary rather than replacing it with an unrelated word. A lint result is a writing aid; compile to verify LaTeX behavior and inspect the PDF for layout.

Keep one section per file when it helps navigation, use consistent labels such as sec:method, fig:overview and tab:results, and introduce macros for repeated notation. Write content before fine-tuning layout. Save a named version before a large restructuring or an agent-assisted revision.

Related: Visual editor, compilation, practical LaTeX.