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Writer profiles

φ can be as bare as a single page or as full as a whole writing studio — and you choose which, per vault, with a writer profile. A profile decides which features are shown. It never changes what φ can do and never touches your work; hiding a feature simply tidies it out of the way.

The two built-in profiles​

  • Simple — just you and the page. The core editor and formatting, collections, find & replace, templates, and the session timer. The heavier machinery stays out of sight.
  • Full — everything Simple has, plus the tools for larger and more scholarly work: the graph view, world-building (Characters, Authors, Research), citations & bibliography, readability stats, the table-of-contents block, the Journal, and Morning Pages.

New vaults start on Full.

"How do you want φ to feel?"​

The first time you open a vault, φ asks one question — How do you want φ to feel? — with two answers:

  • Full — every tool available
  • Simple — just you and the page

Pick one, or Skip to keep the default (Full). It's framed as how much you want on screen, not as a skill level, and you can change it any time.

What a profile hides — and never deletes​

Turning a feature off hides its entry points: its rail icon, menu items, and slash commands. It never removes anything.

  • The feature's data stays exactly where it is. Hide the Journal and your entries are still there; turn it back on and they reappear, untouched.
  • A hidden feature is still reachable from the command palette (⌘P), so nothing is ever locked away — it's only tidied off the main surface.

The features a profile can show or hide:

  • Graph view
  • World-building — the Characters, Authors, and Research rail entries
  • Citations & bibliography
  • Readability stats (in the document-stats popover)
  • Table of contents (the slash block)
  • Journal
  • Morning Pages
  • Session timer
  • Templates

Managing profiles — Settings → Profiles​

Open Settings (⌘,) → Profiles. You'll see Simple, Full, and any custom profiles you've made. For each one you can:

  • Use in this vault — apply it to the vault you're in.
  • Use in another vault… — apply it to a different vault.
  • Set as global default — the profile a vault uses when it hasn't chosen its own.
  • Duplicate — copy it as a starting point for a custom profile.
  • Rename / Delete — for your own custom profiles. The built-in Simple and Full can't be renamed or deleted.

Below the list, the Features grid toggles each feature for the active profile, and you set the Streak display and Weekly rhythm here too — see The calendar.

Custom profiles​

Change any toggle while a built-in is active and φ quietly makes an editable copy for you rather than altering the built-in — so Simple and Full always stay as they are. Give the copy a name and it becomes a reusable profile you can apply to other vaults or set as your global default.

Profiles are remembered per vault, so a novel and a journal can each surface just what they need. A vault that hasn't pinned its own profile follows the global default.