Smart Enter + Tab: element-type auto-switching

Smart Enter / Tab is the "soul" of Slima's script editor — pressing Enter / Tab auto-switches to the next sensible script element type. No need to manually specify "next line is dialogue" every time.

Smart Enter: typical sequence

The most common script sequence:

Scene Heading
→ Description
→ Character
→ Dialogue
→ Character (the other one speaks back)
→ Dialogue
→ Description / Transition

Smart Enter knows this sequence and switches automatically:

Current element	After Enter
Scene Heading	Description
Description	Description (new paragraph) or Character (depending on content)
Character	Dialogue (most common)
Dialogue	Character (next speaker) or Description
Parenthetical	Dialogue
Transition	Scene Heading (new scene)

Tab: force element switch

If Smart Enter doesn't guess what you want — press Tab to switch to the next element type in the current format's flow. Tab is not a free cycle through all 6 element types; the destination depends on the current element plus your format (Hollywood / Taiwan):

• Hollywood: Description (action) ⇄ Character toggle; Character / Dialogue + Tab → Parenthetical
• Taiwan: Description ⇄ Character toggle (Dialogue has no Tab destination)
• Transition and Shot have no Tab action in either format

For example:

• You're on Description, want to add a Character → Enter goes to Description → press Tab to convert to Character
• Reverse: Shift + Tab to step back (only where the current element defines a reverse destination)

Onboarding tour hint

The first-time tour explicitly states: "Pressing Enter on a blank line returns to Description; pressing Enter on a transition creates a new scene. Character-name prediction (Highland-style) auto-suggests based on recent dialogue."

Character autocomplete (Highland-style)

When typing a Character element, Slima auto-suggests from recent dialogue (the last N character appearances):

• Previous block was J. Doe speaking → next Character auto-suggests A. Smith (dialogue handoff)
• Last 3 blocks rotated J. Doe / A. Smith → predicts which comes next

See: Dialogue + character autocomplete

Cross-scene: Enter on a transition

If you press Enter on a Transition line (FADE TO / CUT TO) → Slima auto-creates a new Scene Heading (previous scene ends, new one starts).

Different from Split scene — this is "naturally write into a new scene" vs "split mid-scene".

Keyboard escape

When you don't want Slima to guess:

• Type / on an empty line for the slash palette, or Ctrl 1–Ctrl 5 to switch directly
• The status bar at the bottom of the editor shows the current element type plus the Tab / Enter destinations — but it only displays them, it is not a selector

Related

• Script elements overview
• Dialogue + character autocomplete
• Scene heading: INT/EXT
• Description / Transition / Insert Shot