Keys

Press ? while the script window is in front to see this list on screen at any time.

There are three sets of keys, and the difference between them is the thing worth understanding.

While the script window is in front

These need the script window to be the one you clicked last. It glows faintly around its edge when it is.

• Space — play or pause. Hold it to slow gently to a stop, and let go to carry on from where you were.
• ↑ and ↓ — scroll speed, ten steps.
• ← and → — how bright the fill light is.
• ⌘← and ⌘→ — how warm the fill light is.
• ⌘↑ — back to the top. Home does the same thing.
• ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ — move the red reading line up and down. You can also drag its handle, or set it in Settings › Layout.
• ? — this list.
• Esc — nothing, on purpose. It closes this list, the Help window and the walkthrough, and it is left alone in the prompter so a stray press mid-take cannot hide your script.

While MiniPrompter is in front

These are ordinary menu commands, so they work wherever you are inside the app, including while you are editing.

• ⌘N — start a new, empty script.
• ⌘O — open a file.
• ⌘V — replace the script with whatever is on the clipboard.
• ⌘W — close the script and start blank. Asks first if you have unsaved changes. In any other window it closes that window.
• ⌘S and ⇧⌘S — save, and save as.
• ⌘E — edit the script in place, and back again.
• ⌘+ and ⌘− — bigger and smaller text. ⌘= works too, if you would rather not hold shift.
• ⌘, — Settings.
• ⇧⌘/ — this list.

Anywhere on the Mac

Off until you turn them on, in Settings › Shortcuts. Once they are on they work while Zoom, OBS or anything else is in front, which is the whole point of them.

• ⌃⌥Space — play or pause
• ⌃⌥↑ and ⌃⌥↓ — scroll speed
• ⌃⌥← and ⌃⌥→ — fill light brightness
• ⌃⌥T — back to the top
• ⌃⌥L — fill light on or off
• ⌃⌥O — fill light only, hide the words

These need no permissions at all. MiniPrompter uses an old, well-behaved part of macOS for them rather than the kind of keyboard watching that makes an app ask to control your computer.

Every combination includes Control and Option. That is not a style choice: macOS stopped letting apps claim simpler combinations, and Control-Option is quiet territory that few other apps want.

If one of them does nothing, another app has already claimed it. Settings › Shortcuts will tell you when none of them could be registered at all.

One more thing worth knowing: the app in front sees the keystroke first. Most apps pass along what they do not use, but a few that draw their own text surfaces swallow everything. Zoom is an ordinary Mac app and behaves.