ActOne Complete Documentation
Official user manual, comprehensive articles, and technical file format specifications for ActOne Screenplay.
1. Getting Started
Welcome Screen
When you launch ActOne with no files open, the Welcome screen appears. From here you can create new projects, open existing screenplays (.fountain, .txt, .actone), import structural templates, access recent files, or launch interactive tutorials.
Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New Screenplay Tab | Ctrl+N |
| Open File | Ctrl+O |
| Save File / Bundle | Ctrl+S |
| Save As (.actone / .fountain) | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Command Palette | Ctrl+K |
| Toggle Sidebar | Ctrl+\ |
| Toggle Zen Mode | Ctrl+Alt+Enter |
| Cycle Line Prefixes / Accept Ghost | Tab |
| Bold / Italic / Underline | Ctrl+B / Ctrl+I / Ctrl+U |
| Toggle Find & Replace | Ctrl+F |
| Open Settings | Ctrl+, |
Command Palette
Press Ctrl+K to open the Command Palette. Type to filter commands across six categories: File, Edit, View, Format, Settings, and Help. Execute commands instantly without taking your hands off the keyboard.
2. Fountain Syntax
Fountain Line Elements
- Scene Headings (Sluglines): Start a line with
INT.,EXT.,INT./EXT., or force with.LOCATION. - Character Names: Uppercase line preceded by a blank line, or forced with
@CharacterName. - Dialogue: Text directly following a character line or parenthetical.
- Parentheticals: Directions wrapped in
(parentheses)below character lines. - Transitions: Uppercase lines ending in
TO:or forced with> FADE IN:. - Dual Dialogue: Append a carat
^to the second character name (e.g.MARA ^) for parallel rendering. - Sections & Hierarchy: Structural headings using
# Act Iand## Sequence A. - Synopses: Outline summary lines starting with
= Outline Note.
3. Writing Tools & Focus Modes
Writing Modes & Automation
Tab-to-Cycle Line Prefixes: Press Tab at the start of a line to cycle prefixes: @ → . → > → normal.
Typewriter Mode: Keeps your active cursor line centered vertically while scrolling the document.
Hide Fountain Markup: Masks syntax prefixes on non-active lines for a clean manuscript view.
Focus Mode: Dims all background lines, highlighting only the current active line.
Smart Newline & Autocomplete: Auto-completes character names, locations, and 29 parenthetical extensions like (V.O.), (O.S.), (CONT'D).
Search & Replace (Ctrl+F)
Features match case, whole word, regular expressions, scene context match preview, and case-preserving replacement (UPPERCASE → UPPERCASE, Title Case → Title Case).
4. Workspace & Views
Activity Bar & Sidebar Panels
The Activity Bar provides 8 dedicated workspace panels: Outline Navigator, Scripts Manager (multi-script bundles), Notepad, Markers List, Tasks Checklist, Snapshots (Version History), Writing Sprint Timer, and Text Parking.
X-Ray Screenplay Analyzer
Open via the bar-chart icon in the Status Bar or Command Palette. Features 5 analysis modes:
- Statistics: Dialogue vs. Action ratios, day/night pie charts, top locations.
- Timing Report: Estimated screen duration per scene with cumulative runtimes.
- Characters: Track dialogue counts, character roles, and gender distribution.
- Connections: Circular node network graphs and matrix heatmaps for character co-occurrences.
- Pacing Chart: Interactive line/area pacing chart with fit-to-window and Ctrl+scroll zoom.
Snapshots (Version History)
Point-in-time version persistence with auto-snapshots, on-save snapshots, and manual tag/comment snapshots. Instant 1-click restore with auto-backup protection.
5. Production Features & File Specs
Production Tagging & Breakdown
Highlight text and right-click to assign breakdown tags across 15 department categories (Cast, Props, VFX, SFX, Costumes, Stunts, etc.). Fully integrated with the undo/redo stack (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) and exportable to CSV tag breakdown reports.
.actone Bundle File Specification
The .actone format is an uncompressed ZIP archive bundle containing the raw Fountain script files along with structured project metadata:
6. Export Engine
PDF, FDX, and Fountain Exports (Ctrl+P)
PDF Export: Powered by Rust krilla engine with title page inclusion, bold headings, scene numbers, element B/I/U formatting, custom header/footer/center image watermarks, and smart orphan/widow pagination protection.
FDX Export: Exports Final Draft XML format with scene color preservation for Final Draft and Fade In compatibility.
Fountain Export: Exports clean standard Fountain text with app markers stripped.
7. Settings & Custom Themes
Theme Manager & .actheme Specification
ActOne includes 17 built-in themes (Classic, Catppuccin, Pitch, Sunrise, Forest, Ocean, etc.) with system-adaptive light/dark auto-switching.
Custom themes are saved and imported as .actheme JSON files containing theme metadata and hex color keys (editor, text, accent, sidebar, button, isDark).
PNG Theme Cards: ActOne can also export visual PNG theme preview cards with the .actheme JSON payload embedded inside a PNG tEXt metadata chunk (key: ActOneTheme). Users can drag and drop PNG theme cards directly into the app window to install them.
8. BYOAI — Muse AI Assistant
Muse AI Assistant
Open via Alt+M or Status Bar AI icon. Provides zero lock-in BYOAI flexibility with local Ollama or OpenAI API keys.
@write-scene [description]: Generates Fountain-formatted scenes directly into code blocks with 1-click editor insertion.@q [question]: Queries your active screenplay document for context-aware answers.@lookup [term]: Returns concise 1-2 sentence definitions for terms.@synonyms [word]: Returns a list of alternative word suggestions.