Action, Mouse Gesture & Keyboard Shortcut Reference

Complete reference for all 58 keyboard actions across macOS, Windows, and Linux, mouse interaction gestures, the Keymap View, and command-line options.

Cave Recorder is engineered for fast, eyes-on-the-band operation during live rehearsals and studio tracking sessions. Every transport command, workspace switch, marker placement, channel strip toggle, timeline zoom action, and snapshot operation can be triggered from the keyboard or with direct mouse and trackpad gestures.

This chapter provides the complete reference for all 58 keyboard-assignable studio actions across macOS, Windows, and Linux, all mouse and trackpad modifiers across the console and timeline, the interactive KEYMAP configuration workspace (CMD + 6 on macOS, CTRL + 6 on Windows and Linux), and the command-line options for automated studio verification and visual inspection.

8.1 Complete Keyboard Shortcut Reference (All 58 Actions by Scope)#

Cave Recorder organizes its 58 bindable actions into seven execution scopes so that single-key shortcuts can be reused across different workspace views without colliding:

• Platform Modifier Mapping: Cave Recorder supports four modifier keys across platforms: the primary command modifier maps to CMD on macOS and CTRL on Windows and Linux, the alt modifier maps to OPT (ALT) on macOS and ALT on Windows and Linux, the shift modifier maps to SHIFT on all platforms, and the secondary control modifier maps to CTRL on macOS and SUPER (WIN) on Windows and Linux. Keymap profiles saved on one operating system automatically translate to the native modifiers on the other platforms.
• Modal Priority (PROJECT MODAL): While the PROJECT (Project & Session Browser) modal is open, only PROJECT MODAL actions (ENTER and ESC) respond to keyboard input.
• View-Specific Priority & Global Fallback: When a workspace view tab (MIX CONSOLE, WAVEFORM TIMELINE, CHANNEL INSPECTOR, SESSION REEL, or MARKERS & RANGES) is active, Cave Recorder checks that view's dedicated shortcuts first and then falls back to GLOBAL actions. Unmodified single-letter keys (R, O, C, M, K, L) remain reserved for global transport and cue marker actions, while channel strip toggles on the Mix Console use SHIFT combinations (SHIFT + M, SHIFT + S, SHIFT + A, SHIFT + I, SHIFT + P) so you never accidentally mute or disarm a track while dropping a marker.

8.1.1 Global Transport & Record (GLOBAL TRANSPORT)#

These 10 actions belong to the GLOBAL / TRANSPORT category (GLOBAL scope) and are active from every workspace view whenever the Project Browser modal is closed.

8.1.2 Global Navigation & Modals (GLOBAL NAVIGATION & MODALS)#

This group includes the 9 GLOBAL / NAVIGATION actions (GLOBAL scope) used to switch workspace tabs and open studio configuration dialogs, plus the 2 MODAL / PROJECT actions (PROJECT MODAL scope) active inside the Project & Session Browser modal.

8.1.3 Global Undo, Snapshots & Markers (GLOBAL UNDO / SNAPSHOTS / MARKERS)#

This group covers the 5 GLOBAL / SESSION actions (Undo, Redo, Capture Manual Console Snapshot, Template popover, and Cloud Sync popover), the 9 GLOBAL / MARKERS cue and range hotkeys, and the 3 VIEW / MARKERS TAB table filter actions scoped to the MARKERS & RANGES view.

8.1.4 Mix Console View (MIX CONSOLE VIEW)#

These 7 actions belong to the VIEW / MIX CONSOLE category (MIX CONSOLE scope) and operate on the currently inspected Input Track or Subgroup Bus when the MIX CONSOLE tab (CMD/CTRL + 1) is active.

8.1.5 Waveform Timeline View (WAVEFORM TIMELINE VIEW)#

These 6 bindable actions belong to the VIEW / TIMELINE category (WAVEFORM TIMELINE scope) and are active when the WAVEFORM TIMELINE tab (CMD/CTRL + 2) is selected, supplemented by the direct left/right arrow cursor step keys.

8.1.6 Channel Inspector View (CHANNEL INSPECTOR VIEW)#

These 4 actions belong to the VIEW / INSPECTOR category (CHANNEL INSPECTOR scope) and are active when the CHANNEL INSPECTOR tab (CMD/CTRL + 3) is selected.

8.1.7 Session Reel View (SESSION REEL VIEW)#

These 3 actions belong to the VIEW / SESSION REEL category (SESSION REEL scope) and are active when the SESSION REEL tab (CMD/CTRL + 4) is selected.

8.2 Complete Mouse & Trackpad Gesture Reference#

All faders, rotary knobs, horizontal drag bars, meter overload lamps, processor rack slots, interactive EQ and compressor graphs, and timeline rulers share consistent mouse and trackpad gestures across Cave Recorder.

8.3 Customizing Shortcuts in the KEYMAP View (CMD/CTRL + 6)#

Pressing CMD + 6 on macOS (CTRL + 6 on Windows and Linux) or clicking KEYMAP in Row 2 of the Top Transport Deck opens the KEYMAP & SHORTCUT CONFIGURATION workspace.

8.3.1 Searching by Action Name, Reverse-Searching by Key Chord & Filtering by Scope#

The KEYMAP view provides three complementary ways to inspect bindings across all 58 studio actions:

1. Text Search (Search actions or keys...): Type any action name (Phase Align, Snapshot, Pass Lanes), action identifier (transport_record), scope name (MIX CONSOLE), or key chord (SHIFT + M, CMD + 1) into the left search box to filter the table in real time. Click CLR to clear the text query.
2. Interactive Reverse-Search by Shortcut (FIND BY SHORTCUT:): Click inside the CLICK & PRESS KEYS TO FIND... capture well in the top header bar. Its status indicator switches from IDLE to LISTENING... and the prompt changes to HOLD MODIFIERS OR PRESS KEY...:
   • Hold Modifier Keys (MODS: [...]): Hold down any combination of modifiers (CMD/CTRL, OPT/ALT, SHIFT) without pressing a letter key to filter the table immediately to every action whose shortcut includes those held modifiers.
   • Press a Trigger Key (EXACT: [...]): Press any non-modifier key (such as SPACE, R, or 1) to lock the complete key chord and isolate the exact action(s) bound to that shortcut across all scopes.
   • Clear Reverse Search (CLR KEY): Click CLR KEY beside the capture box to clear the key filter and restore all 58 rows.
3. Scope & Status Quick-Filter Pills: Click any of the eight filter pills in the toolbar (58/58 ROWS) to isolate a specific subset of actions:
   • ALL: Displays all 58 bindable studio actions.
   • GLOBAL: Displays the 33 global actions (GLOBAL / TRANSPORT, GLOBAL / NAVIGATION, GLOBAL / MARKERS, and GLOBAL / SESSION).
   • CONSOLE: Displays the 7 VIEW / MIX CONSOLE channel strip actions.
   • TIMELINE: Displays the 6 VIEW / TIMELINE zoom and Pass Lane actions.
   • INSPECTOR: Displays the 4 VIEW / INSPECTOR processor and clip-reset actions.
   • REEL/MRK: Displays the VIEW / SESSION REEL, VIEW / MARKERS TAB, and MODAL / PROJECT actions.
   • BOUND: Displays only actions that currently have an active keyboard shortcut assigned (44/58 by factory default).
   • MODIFIED: Displays only actions whose current shortcut differs from the factory default (marked with an amber * in the DEFAULT column and counted in the MOD: telemetry badge at the top right).

8.3.2 Recording Custom Shortcuts, Unbinding & Resetting Defaults#

Every row in the KEYMAP table includes an interactive SHORTCUT (CLICK TO ASSIGN) capture well and row action buttons on the far right:

1. Enter Capture Mode (ASSIGN or Click Capture Well): Click the ASSIGN button on the target row, or click directly inside its SHORTCUT (CLICK TO ASSIGN) box (UNBOUND - CLICK TO SET). The row's capture well highlights and prompts PRESS KEYS, THEN APPLY, while the right-hand action column switches to APPLY, CANCEL, and UNBIND.
2. Press Your Desired Key Combination: Hold any desired modifier keys (CMD/CTRL, OPT/ALT, SHIFT) and press a character key (A..Z, 0..9, [, ], -, =, ,, .), function key (F1..F12), or named navigation key (SPACE, ENTER, TAB, BACKSPACE, DELETE, HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT). Shifted punctuation symbols (such as { or +) are automatically normalized to their canonical physical base key (SHIFT + [ or SHIFT + =) for consistent cross-platform matching.
3. Commit the Binding (APPLY): Click APPLY to validate and save the captured key chord, or click CANCEL (or click outside the capture well) to exit without changing the shortcut.
4. Unbind or Reset Individual Actions (UNBIND / RESET): Click UNBIND on any row to clear its shortcut to UNBOUND, or click RESET to restore that single action to its factory default binding.
5. Restore Factory Defaults Across the Entire Studio (RESET ALL DEFAULTS): Click RESET ALL DEFAULTS at the top right of the KEYMAP header to restore all 58 actions to their original factory keybindings in one step.

8.3.3 Live Scope Conflict Detection, Shared Non-Conflicting Scopes & OS Warnings#

When you assign a custom shortcut, Cave Recorder validates the key chord against two safety layers before writing to disk:

1. Scope Clash Detection (CLASH DETECTED Confirmation Banner):
   • Overlapping Scopes (Blocked Without Confirmation): Because GLOBAL shortcuts are active across every workspace view, assigning the same key chord to two GLOBAL actions, to two actions in the same workspace view, or to a GLOBAL action and a workspace view action creates an ambiguous collision. When you click APPLY on a colliding chord, Cave Recorder pauses and displays the amber Clash Detection Banner at the top of the KEYMAP view (CLASH DETECTED: [SPACE] conflicts with "Play / Pause Transport" (GLOBAL) in overlapping scope [GLOBAL]. Overwrite and unbind existing?). Click CONFIRM OVERWRITE to assign the shortcut and automatically unbind the conflicting action, or click CANCEL to keep your existing bindings untouched.
   • Non-Conflicting Sibling Views (Allowed & Highlighted in Green): Because only one workspace view tab is visible at a time, sibling view scopes (MIX CONSOLE, WAVEFORM TIMELINE, CHANNEL INSPECTOR, SESSION REEL, and MARKERS & RANGES) never conflict with each other, and PROJECT MODAL only runs while the modal browser is open. When two actions in separate views share the same key (such as E bound to Expand All Track Pass Lanes in WAVEFORM TIMELINE and Toggle Pass Lanes on Inspected Channel in CHANNEL INSPECTOR), the DESCRIPTION, SCOPE & WARNINGS column highlights SHARED IN NON-CONFLICTING SCOPE: CHANNEL INSPECTOR in emerald green.
2. Operating System Shortcut Conflict Warnings (OS WARN):
   • If you assign a key combination commonly intercepted by the host desktop environment, Cave Recorder displays an amber OS WARN (<Platform>): <System Function> badge in the row description so you know the operating system may capture the key press first:
   • macOS Warnings: CMD + Q (Quit Application), CMD + H (Hide Window), CMD + M (Minimize Window), CMD + W (Close Window), CMD + SPACE (Spotlight Search), CMD + TAB (Application Switcher), CMD + SHIFT + 3/4/5 (System Screenshot), and CTRL + Arrow keys (Mission Control / Desktop Spaces).
   • Windows & Linux Warnings: ALT + F4 (Close Window), ALT + TAB (Window Switcher), ALT + SPACE (Window Menu), CTRL + W / CTRL + Q (Close / Quit), CTRL + SHIFT + ESC (Task Manager), CTRL + ALT + T / DELETE (Terminal / Session Dialog), and SUPER (WIN) + L/D/E/R/I/TAB/SPACE/Arrow keys.

8.3.4 Persisting, Backing Up & Sharing Studio Keymap Profiles (keymap.json)#

Every change you make in the KEYMAP view is saved immediately to a human-readable JSON profile (keymap.json) inside your user configuration folder (stored alongside preferences.json and recent.json):

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/caverec/keymap.json
• Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/caverec/keymap.json (or ~/.config/caverec/keymap.json when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset)
• Windows: %APPDATA%\caverec\keymap.json (or %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\caverec\keymap.json)

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "bindings": {
    "console_trigger_group_phase_align": {
      "modifiers": {
        "command": false,
        "control": false,
        "alt": false,
        "shift": true
      },
      "key": {
        "kind": "character",
        "value": "G"
      }
    }
  }
}

To transfer your custom studio keymap to a second rehearsal computer or back it up to version control:

1. Copy keymap.json from the source workstation's configuration directory into the target workstation's caverec configuration directory while Cave Recorder is closed, and launch caverec.
2. On startup, Cave Recorder automatically normalizes character symbols, maps command: true to CMD on macOS and CTRL on Windows and Linux, populates any omitted actions with their factory defaults, and sanitizes the table so no two overlapping scopes can ever load with a conflicting shortcut.

8.4 Command-Line & Automated Studio Verification Reference#

In addition to launching Cave Recorder from your desktop application menu, studio engineers and system integrators can run caverec from a terminal shell to execute automated 18-channel signal-path verification or generate offscreen workspace captures for studio documentation and rig sign-off.

# 1. Standard interactive desktop studio launch
caverec

# 2. Run the 18-channel studio self-test & signal-path verification
caverec --self-test
caverec --stress-test

# 3. Render all 15 workspace & modal inspection screenshots
caverec --screenshot-dir .tmp/caverec-shots

# 4. Render a single workspace preset at custom dimensions
caverec --screenshot-dir .tmp/caverec-shots \
  --screenshot-view console-18ch \
  --screenshot-size 1680x960

8.4.1 Command-Line Arguments Reference#

8.4.2 Studio Environment Variables#

Cave Recorder also recognizes the following optional environment variables on startup: