The whiteboard is a free canvas associated with a workspace. It organizes your files visually without moving or absorbing them.
Enable the whiteboard
The whiteboard is an experimental option, disabled initially. In Settings > General, enable Experimental options to make its commands available. The choice is remembered after relaunching Balise.
Disabling the option preserves existing boards and unsaved changes. To reopen a board while the option is disabled, follow Balise’s message and enable Experimental options again.
Create and reopen the board
In Markdown, choose Tools > New whiteboard…, then name the board. A workspace has one whiteboard. The command then becomes Tools > Whiteboard to reopen it.
Drop and view files
Drag a regular, non-hidden file already inside the workspace onto the canvas. Balise rejects folders and external files without implicitly copying them.
A click selects a card and shows its file using Quick Look in the inspector. A double-click opens supported formats in Balise and others in their associated macOS application. If the source is missing, the card stays visible with an explicit state.
Add a Markdown excerpt
Select text in a Markdown document in Visual or Source mode, then use Add to whiteboard in the toolbar. The text is captured without saving the document. The card remains linked to the file from which the excerpt came.
Organize the canvas
Move and resize cards freely. A rectangle selects multiple cards; ⌘-click adds or removes a card from the selection.
With at least two cards selected, choose Group and name the group. Groups do not nest. Ungroup removes only the group frame. Select a card and press Delete to remove it from the canvas. Deleting a card or group never deletes source files.
To connect two cards, drag the first card’s handle toward the second, following the line under the pointer. Releasing on the target card immediately creates a directed link. Relationships are always created manually; Balise does not infer them from file content.
Copy context
Select one or more cards and use the existing Copy context toolbar button. Balise sorts cards top to bottom and then left to right, expands groups and removes duplicate paths.
For Markdown, the copy contains the last prepared summary followed by its absolute link. Other files contribute only their link. Text displayed in an excerpt card is not copied. A missing source retains its path with an explicit status.
Pasting uses the same references as Markdown context copying: local links in rich paste, full paths in plain text.
Follow this walkthrough from start to finish: Maintain a repository’s documentation.