User Guide and Support

Scriby is a compact macOS menu bar writing surface for quick Draft capture, saved Snippet reuse, local template variables, and explicit Copy delivery.

Core loop

• Open Scriby from the menu bar icon or global shortcut. After Quick Setup, every regular open starts in Editor with Draft selected.
• Write or clean up text in Draft. Use Shift-Command-S / Save as Snippet only when that Draft text should become reusable.
• Use Command-Enter or a visible Copy button to put body text on the clipboard. Copy is always explicit.
• Quick Setup explains this loop and may offer Use Starter Draft when Draft is empty. Starter Draft writes short placeholder text into Draft only; it does not create Snippets, tags, settings, or clipboard output.
• Scriby is not a notes app, document editor, document manager, clipboard manager, chat workspace, sync product, or AI writing tool.

Menu and shortcuts

• Right-click the menu bar icon for Quick Setup, Keyboard Shortcuts, Launch at Login, Manage Tags..., Manage Variables..., Backup..., Export..., Import..., Scriby Pro, Support, Privacy Policy, and Quit.
• Open Keyboard Shortcuts to see a Current Context group for the surface you are using, followed by the full shortcut reference. Recorded global shortcuts need Command, Control, or Option; Shift alone is not enough.
• Common shortcuts: Command-1 Editor/Draft, Command-2 Snippets or compact/expanded toggle, Command-L Snippets search, Command-D Duplicate to Draft, Command-O edit highlighted Snippet, Shift-Command-T tag picker or Snippet tags, and Option-Command-Delete Clear Draft or delete the current saved Snippet after confirmation.

Snippets and tags

• Snippets is the saved reusable text surface. Search by body text or saved #tag metadata, then Copy, Duplicate to Draft, preview, edit, or delete intentionally.
• Compact Snippets are newest-created first. Return expands the highlighted row for full-body preview; Command-2 toggles compact and expanded Snippets when already in Snippets.
• Command-D duplicates the highlighted Snippet body into Draft without rendering variables or changing the source Snippet. If Draft already has text, Scriby asks before replacing it.
• Tags are Snippet metadata. Copy never includes tags, and body hashtags remain body text.
• Manage Tags... searches saved tags, renames or removes one tag inline, and can add one tag to current Snippets search results. These actions change tag metadata only; they do not edit body text or delete Snippets.

Variables and templates

• Type placeholders such as {{name}}, {{date}}, {{time}}, or {{client:Acme}} directly into Drafts or Snippets. They are stored as plain text.
• Type {{ or use the Draft Header {} button for quick variable insertion. Manage Variables... controls custom defaults, built-in visibility, and local date/time formats.
• During an explicit Copy with placeholders, Scriby opens Variables and shows Payload Preview. Blank fields keep the original placeholders; saved Draft and Snippet text stays unchanged.
• Import, Export, Save, Duplicate to Draft, backups, panel open/close, purchase, and restore preserve placeholders instead of rendering them.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Panel: global shortcut opens Draft on the pointer screen; Command-1 switches to Editor or toggles Draft/Snippet; Command-2 switches to Snippets or toggles compact/expanded; Command-0 toggles Editor and Snippets; Command-W closes the Panel; Shift-Command-/ opens Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Editor: Command-Enter or Shift-Command-C copies Draft or current Snippet body; Shift-Command-Return inserts a text block after the current block; Shift-Option-Return inserts one before it; Shift-Option-Up/Down moves current or selected lines; Control-Option-A selects a link, email, or text block; Shift-Command-{ opens quick variable insertion; Shift-Command-K deletes the current line.
• Snippets: Command-C or Command-Enter copies the highlighted Snippet body; Return expands it; Command-O edits it; Command-D duplicates it to Draft; Delete or Command-Delete deletes it after confirmation.
• Variables: Shift-Command-/ can show Keyboard Shortcuts without confirming, canceling, copying, or changing the pending payload; closing help returns to Variables with entered values intact.

Import, export, and local backup

• Scriby stores Draft, Snippets, tags, templateSettings, pinned search tag ordering, backup settings, and preferences locally on this Mac. Pro purchase status is handled by Apple StoreKit and is not stored in Scriby JSON exports or backup snapshots.
• Export... writes Scriby JSON. Import... can merge or replace from Scriby JSON. Both preserve literal placeholders.
• Backup... opens local snapshot controls. Choose Backup Folder, Back Up Now, and Restore from a chosen backup file stay free.
• Automatic backups are Pro, off by default, and local. When enabled, Scriby creates at most one snapshot per day and keeps the newest 30 Scriby backup files in the chosen folder. Pro also shows recent snapshot restore rows.
• Restore asks before replacing current Draft, Snippets, tags, template settings, and any current Snippet edit, and tries a current-state snapshot first.
• Free includes up to 50 non-deleted Snippets. Free Import or Restore that would exceed 50 is blocked before current data changes.
• Launch at Login is optional and can be toggled from the status menu.

Scriby Pro

• Scriby is free for the full writing loop and up to 50 Snippets. Free includes tags, variables, previews, batch delete, manual Import/Export, Back Up Now, and Restore from a chosen backup.
• Scriby Pro is an optional one-time unlock, not a subscription. It adds unlimited Snippets, Automatic backups, recent snapshot rows, and the local Agent CLI.
• Opening, buying, restoring, canceling, or closing Scriby Pro never copies, pastes, saves, clears, or renders template variables.
• Users who bought Scriby 1.5 or earlier from the same App Store listing unlock Pro from production App Store purchase history. Sandbox and App Review users can still use Buy Pro and Restore Purchases.

Agent CLI

• The bundled CLI lives at /Applications/Scriby.app/Contents/MacOS/scribyctl and talks to the running app over a local Unix socket. It never opens a localhost/TCP port and never reads data.json directly.
• scribyctl status can report whether Pro is locked. Draft, Snippet, tag, search, fill, HTML stdout, and write commands require Scriby Pro.
• Common commands: scribyctl draft, scribyctl snippets "#reply client", scribyctl snippet <id>, scribyctl tags, scribyctl draft replace --text "New draft", and scribyctl snippet create --tag reply --stdin.
• --fill writes filled text to stdout only. --html writes escaped HTML to stdout only. Only explicit --interactive may open a transient Variables overlay and return text or HTML to scribyctl.
• CLI write commands are explicit Draft, Snippet, or tag metadata commands. They do not copy, paste, import/export, create backups, open files, sync, upload data, or bypass the running app.

What Scriby does not do by itself

• Scriby does not paste into another app by itself.
• Scriby does not monitor your clipboard in the background.
• Scriby does not copy text from open, close, hide, toggle, tab switch, save, duplicate, import, export, purchase, restore, or backup actions.
• Template variables render only for explicit Copy actions, explicit scribyctl draft/snippet --fill output, or explicit scribyctl draft/snippet --interactive return output.
• Tags are Snippet metadata and never become copied body text.
• Import, Export, Back Up Now, Automatic backups, and Restore are local file actions. Scriby has no account, sync service, cloud upload, hosted storage, or server-side backup.
• The Agent CLI can write only through explicit Draft, Snippet, and tag metadata commands. Its template rendering remains stdout-only through explicit fill, HTML, or optional interactive return flows.

Common questions

• Where is my data? App data is stored locally at ~/Library/Application Support/Scriby/data.json. Backup folder settings and preferences use macOS UserDefaults.
• Will placeholders change my saved text? No. Placeholders stay literal in Drafts, Snippets, Import, Export, and backups. They render only inside an explicit Copy flow, explicit scribyctl draft/snippet --fill output, or explicit scribyctl draft/snippet --interactive return output.
• Will tags be copied? No. Tags help search and manage Snippets, but Copy delivers body text only.
• Can I recover deleted Snippets? A confirmed delete may show a short Undo option. For longer-term recovery, restore from an export or local backup snapshot you created.
• Does Scriby sync between Macs? No. Use Export, Import, or local backup JSON files when you want to move data yourself.

Need more help?

Use the in-app Quick Setup and Keyboard Shortcuts menu items whenever you need to revisit the core workflow.

For support questions, email [email protected].