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Outline panel: heading-hierarchy navigation
Last updated June 10, 2026 · 3 min read
The Outline panel turns your headings into clickable navigation — the fastest way to jump around a long chapter.
How to open
The Outline panel is typically reached via the left activity bar, or via a "Toggle Outline" control on the right. The exact entry varies slightly by Slima version — hover activity bar icons for tooltips that say "Outline" or "Headings".
Or use the shortcut Cmd/Ctrl ⇧ O to toggle the Outline panel.
What it shows
A hierarchical tree of the H1–H3 headings in the current file (deeper headings H4–H6 are not shown):
# Chapter 1 (H1)
## Shadows of the lighthouse (H2)
### J. Doe's morning (H3)
## A guest arrives (H2)
# Chapter 2
...
Click any heading → editor jumps there.
Two uses
1 · Navigate within a chapter
In a long chapter, want to jump to "A guest arrives"? Click in the outline — 10× faster than scrolling.
2 · See structure at a glance
Open the outline and scan — you immediately spot uneven pacing, missing middles, sections that drag.
Outline is generated from heading syntax
The panel's hint reads: "Use # heading syntax to build the outline"
The outline is extracted directly from Markdown headings (# / ## / ###) — write a heading, it appears. Paragraphs without headings don't show.
See: Markdown basics
Advanced features (vary by version)
These features may or may not be available in your Slima version — try them in-app:
- Drag to restructure: drag a heading and the whole section (including sub-headings) moves with it
- Fold / unfold: each parent heading has an arrow you can collapse
- Cross-file outline: a toggle may show every file's headings together for whole-book structure review
Whether Slima auto-creates a version snapshot before such operations is governed by the auto-version rules, not strictly tied to outline-specific actions.