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The sixty-second tour

What to press in your first minute inside the abax GUI. Nothing to run here — this is a walkthrough; launch the app and follow along.

You'll need: the GUI installed — pipx install "abax[all]" (or pip install "abax[gui]"), then run abax.

The first minute

  1. Move: arrow keys walk the grid; vim keys work too (h j k l, g/G, / to search).
  2. Type: just start typing in any cell and press Enter. Numbers, text, and ISO dates (2026-07-12) are recognized automatically.
  3. A formula: type =SUM(A1:A5) — anything starting with = computes. While you type, function names autocomplete and a tooltip shows the current argument.
  4. The command palette: press Ctrl+Shift+P (or just : on the grid). Every action in the app is in there — start typing to filter.
  5. Help: F1 lists the keyboard shortcuts. Help → Documentation (online) opens the full manual.
  6. Save: Ctrl+S writes wherever the extension says — .abax (native), .csv, .xlsx, .md, …

Worth knowing on day one

  • Themes: View → Theme — twelve presets (Obsidian, Dracula, Tokyo Night, Gruvbox Dark, Monokai, Nord, Solarized, CRT green/amber, High-contrast, Light, Dark One) with a live preview.
  • The RPN calculator: Ctrl+K — an HP-style keypad that can pull the active cell onto its stack and write results back.
  • The Python console: Ctrl+Shift+Y — a REPL wired to the live workbook.
  • The file manager: Ctrl+Shift+F — a dual-pane browser with archiving and search.
  • Recalculate: F9 (matters when calculation mode is manual).

Next steps