Canto
Tulip
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subtankActions and styles
On this page 6 sections
An action does one job on what you point at: selected text, the note, or a chat. A style changes how Canto answers. Both live in Settings › Actions & styles. They replace the commands, skills and personas of Canto 0.10.
Run an action#
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| On selected text | The selection bar shows your pinned actions; ⋯ lists every selection action. Right-click the selection for the same list. |
| In a note | Type /: AI · this note lists the note's actions, most recently used first. More AI actions… opens the rest. |
| Anywhere in a note | ⇧⌘K opens the ⌘K bar with the actions for this note, your selection and the chat beside it. |
| In Ask | Type / at the start of a message. ↩ runs the highlighted action; ⇥ puts it in the message so you can add words first. |
An action runs in Ask, beside the note, on the chat's model. The chat shows the action as a chip, not its instructions. When an action changes the note, the change is reviewed like any other edit and one Undo takes it back; see Let Ask edit.
Built-in actions#
| Works on | Action | What it does | Type it as |
|---|---|---|---|
| A selection | Rewrite | Says the selected text more clearly, in your voice | /rewrite |
| Shorten | Same meaning, fewer words | /shorten | |
| Explain | Explains it in plain words | /explain | |
| Find a source | Looks through your notes for what backs it up | /source | |
| Fix spelling and grammar | Corrects mistakes, keeps your wording | /grammar | |
| Expand | More detail and an example, in the same voice | /expand | |
| Professional tone | Formal wording for work email | /professional | |
| Translate to English | Keeps the meaning and the tone | /en | |
| Translate to Korean | Keeps the meaning and the tone | /ko | |
| The note | Summary at the top | A short summary under the title | /tldr |
| Add headings | Section headings that follow the note's ideas | /headings | |
| Outline | The note's structure and main points, under the title | /outline | |
| Key points and to-dos | Takeaways and action items, added at the end | /insights | |
| Format as email | Greeting, body and sign-off | /email | |
| Weekly review | Done, open and next week, added at the end, in three steps | /weekly | |
| A chat | Summarize this chat | Decisions, open questions and next steps | /summarize-thread |
| Critique the last answer | Hidden assumptions, missing evidence, the best counterargument | /critique | |
| Explain simply | Plain language, one analogy, no jargon | /eli5 | |
| Action items from this chat | A checklist of next steps | /action-items | |
| Research | Chapter study | A study guide for one chapter of an attached source | /chapter-study |
| Source critique | Argument, evidence and limits of one source | /source-critique | |
| Literature follow-up | Continues a saved research question | /literature-follow-up |
The selection bar starts with Rewrite, Shorten, Explain and Find a source. A few things that used to be actions are now ⌘K commands: Open a random note, Surprise me and Send this note to future me….
The Actions tab#
Settings › Actions & styles opens on Actions: every action, grouped by what it works on (On a selection, On the note, In a chat, In Research). Filter with All, Selection, Note, Chat, Research, Yours and Off, or search.
Each row has its name, what it does and where its result goes, its "/" name, a pin when it's in the selection bar, and a switch to turn it off. Its ⋯ menu has Edit, Duplicate, Pin, Export and, for a built-in, Reset to original; for one of yours, Delete.
You can change a built-in action in place: it's marked Customized, and Reset to original puts it back. Canto never deletes the actions you saved or imported. If an earlier version left copies of built-in actions, Canto asks once which to keep.
Make an action#
New action opens one sheet:
- Name, what it does, and an icon.
- Works on: Selected text, The note or A chat.
- Instructions in plain words. Values such as "Selected text" or "Note title" show as tokens; type
{to add one. - Result: where the answer goes. On a selection: Replace it, Insert below or Answer in Ask. On the note: Add at the top, Add at the end, Rewrite the note or Answer in Ask. A chat action answers in Ask.
- Show it in: The "/" menus and ⌘K, and for a selection action, The selection bar (up to five actions are pinned there).
- Try it on one of your notes: it shows what Canto will send and gives a throwaway answer from your Mac.
- Advanced: Type it as (its "/" name, made from the name until you change it), Model (Same as chat, or a model on your Mac), Creativity (Same as chat, Precise, Balanced or Creative), and steps: an action can run in several steps, and ask you before a step.
Only the name is required.
Styles#
A style is how Canto answers in a chat. The default, Canto, has no style of its own. Three come built in:
| Style | How it answers |
|---|---|
| Researcher | Methodical, cites every claim, says what is inference |
| Critique | Finds assumptions and the strongest counter-argument first |
| Companion | Warm and encouraging, for thinking out loud |
Choose a chat's style from the model chip's menu, under How it answers › Style. The Styles tab in Settings › Actions & styles sets the Default for new chats.
To make your own, choose New style, then either Describe how Canto should answer or Paste a sample of your writing. Under Advanced you can set its Creativity (instead of a temperature), what it reads, whether it uses the web or Think, and Use only these instructions. Uncheck Show in the Style picker to keep a style out of the menu.
Share actions and styles#
Import… reads a file, a drop, or a bundle you paste with ⌘V, and shows what each item will do before anything is saved. It never doubles what you have. Export yours… writes your own actions and styles to a file; built-ins as shipped stay out of it.
Actions and styles sync between your Macs with iCloud sync; see Sync between your Macs.