Org mode

Macros implements Org mode entirely in Scheme on the editor primitives. Opening a .org file activates it automatically (via find-file-hook), turning on fontification and the org-mode keymap.

It's built in five independently useful layers:

1. Fontification + visibility cycling — colored headings you fold and unfold.
2. Structure editing — TODO/tag/priority cycling, promote/demote, move subtree, insert heading, toggle checkbox.
3. An Org AST parser (org-parse) that both export and the agenda consume.
4. Agenda + capture across a set of .org files.
5. Tables (alignment) and babel (executing source blocks).

Visibility & headings#

Key	Command	Action
Tab	org-cycle	Cycle the heading at point: folded → children → subtree
S-Tab	org-global-cycle	Cycle the whole buffer: overview → contents → show-all
M-Enter	org-insert-heading	Insert a sibling heading
M-← / M-→	org-promote / org-demote	Change the heading's level (only on a heading line)
M-↑ / M-↓	org-move-subtree-up / org-move-subtree-down	Move the subtree up / down (only on a heading line)

Leading stars are hidden, so a heading shows only its colored title (all stars collapse from display — the buffer text is untouched). Toggle it with M-x org-toggle-leading-stars, or set (set! *org-hide-leading-stars* #f) in init.scm.

Headings and their body text are virtually indented by depth, like Emacs org-indent-mode: a level-N heading is indented (N-1) levels and its body one level further. The indentation is display-only — no spaces are written to the file, so there is nothing for the cursor to step through (there is no "indent wall"; C-a, backspace, etc. behave exactly as on flush text). Toggle with M-x org-toggle-indent, set the step (default 4) with (set! *org-indent-per-level* 4), or disable with (set! *org-indent* #f) in init.scm. When the cursor is on a heading line, its stars are revealed so you can edit the level.

TODOs, tags, priorities#

Key	Command	Action
C-c C-t	org-todo	Cycle the TODO state
C-c C-q	org-set-tags	Set tags
C-c ,	org-set-priority	Set priority
C-c C-c	org-ctrl-c-ctrl-c	Context action (toggle checkbox, align table, run block…)

Agenda & capture#

Key	Command	Action
C-c a	org-agenda	Open the agenda across your org files
C-c t	org-todo-list	List all TODOs
C-c c	org-capture	Capture a new note/task

In the agenda buffer: Enter visits the entry, g refreshes, n/p move, q closes.

Tables & babel#

Tables are interactive, like Emacs. Inside a table:

Key	Action
Tab / S-Tab	Re-align and move to the next / previous cell (a new row is created past the last cell)
Enter	Re-align and move to the first cell of the next row (creating one)
M-← / M-→	Move the current column left / right
M-↑ / M-↓	Move the current row up / down
M-S-→ / M-S-←	Insert / delete a column
M-S-↓ / M-S-↑	Insert / delete a row
C-c C-c	Re-align the table

Outside a table these keys keep their heading meanings (fold, promote/demote, move subtree). C-c C-c also executes the source block at point. The Org AST parser drives tables, babel, and export, so they all see the same structure.

Export & previews#

Key	Command	Action
C-c C-e	org-export-html	Export the buffer to HTML
C-c C-x C-v	org-toggle-inline-images	Toggle inline image display
C-c C-x C-l	org-toggle-latex-preview	Toggle LaTeX fragment previews

Org-roam (linked notes)#

A Zettelkasten layer over your org files — the Macros port of Emacs org-roam. Each note is an .org file with an :ID: property and a #+title:, and you link notes to each other by ID. Backlinks and a graph view come for free.

Notes live in ~/org-roam by default. Point it somewhere else from init.scm:

(org-roam-set-directory "~/notes")

Nodes#

Key	Command	Action
C-c n f	org-roam-node-find	Find a node by title — creates it if the title is new
C-c n c	org-roam-capture	Create a new node, then open it
C-c n i	org-roam-node-insert	Insert an [[id:…]] link to a node (org buffers only)
C-c n s	org-roam-db-sync	Re-scan the directory and rebuild the index

C-c n f, C-c n c, C-c n s, and C-c n g are bound globally as well as in org buffers; C-c n i and the backlinks toggle are org-mode only.

Links & backlinks#

Key	Command	Action
C-c C-o	org-open-at-point	Follow the link at point — id: (node), file:, or http(s)://
C-c n l	org-roam-buffer-toggle	Show notes that link to the current node in a side buffer

In the *org-roam-backlinks* buffer: Enter visits the entry, g refreshes, n/p move, q closes.

Graph#

C-c n g (org-roam-graph) renders the note network with Graphviz and shows it inline as an image, so it needs the dot command (graphviz) on your PATH. In the graph buffer, g re-renders and q closes. Tune the render from init.scm:

(set! *org-roam-graph-width* 1600)  ; display width in px (default 1200)
(set! *org-roam-graph-dpi* 200)     ; Graphviz DPI (default 150)

Fontification & the overlay layer#

Org's heading colors paint the shared overlay-face layer (the same layer used by rainbow delimiters and LSP semantic tokens). Rainbow deliberately skips .org buffers so the two don't fight over that layer.