Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Quick Reference (defaults)¶

Shortcut	Action
`Left Ctrl`+`Left Ctrl`	Open the tagger UI for the hovered operator (press left control twice)
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`U`	Update all dirty externalizations
`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`U`	Update only the current COMP you're working inside
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`R`	Refresh tracking state
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`O`	Open the Manager UI
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`E`	Export entire project network to `.tdn` file
`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`E`	Export current COMP network to `.tdn` file
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`C`	Copy the selected COMP to the clipboard as a portable TDN envelope

On macOS the factory defaults use Cmd (cmd+shift+o, cmd+alt+u, …) — the platform's idiomatic app-shortcut modifier. ctrl and cmd name distinct physical keys: macOS keyboards have both (so ctrl+shift+o and cmd+shift+o are two different bindings there), while PC keyboards have only Ctrl — a Mac-authored cmd+... binding automatically fires via Ctrl on Windows/Linux. Saved values are never rewritten when a project changes platforms, so bindings round-trip intact.

Every shortcut is editable. If a default collides with your own workflow hotkeys, remap or disable it on the Embody COMP's Shortcuts parameter page — see Customizing Shortcuts.

Customizing Shortcuts¶

Open the Embody COMP's parameter dialog and switch to the Shortcuts page. Each action has an editable binding and a Record pulse:

Type a combo directly into the binding parameter — lowercase, joined with +: modifiers (ctrl, cmd, alt, shift) plus one trigger key, e.g. ctrl+shift+o, cmd+alt+e, or alt+F5. ctrl and cmd are distinct physical keys on macOS (a combo may even use both, e.g. ctrl+cmd+k); on Windows/Linux cmd bindings fire via Ctrl. Invalid input reverts with a warning; anything you type is normalized to the canonical form (CMD + SHIFT + O becomes cmd+shift+o). Trigger keys can be letters, digits, most punctuation, F1–F12, or named keys like space, tab, enter, pageup, printscreen. The characters +, -, . and space act as separators, so they can't themselves be bound — nor can Esc (it cancels the recorder) or a modifier on its own.
Or record one: pulse Record, then press the keys you want. Held modifiers preview in the status bar and never commit on their own — the first non-modifier key commits the combo with whatever modifiers are held at that instant. Press Esc to cancel; an armed recorder times out after 10 seconds if nothing is pressed.
Disable a shortcut by clearing its binding (empty = off). The Enable Keyboard Shortcuts toggle at the top of the page switches all of them (including the tagger double-tap) at once.
Tagger Double-Tap Key is a menu, not a combo — pick which physical modifier key opens the tagger when double-tapped, or turn it off. The choices adapt to the platform's keyboards: macOS offers Left Ctrl and left/right Cmd (Apple keyboards have no right Ctrl key) plus Alt and Shift; Windows/Linux offers left/right Ctrl (no Cmd key exists) plus Alt and Shift. A choice the other platform's keyboard lacks falls back to its closest key there (Cmd → Ctrl on Windows/Linux, Right Ctrl → Left Ctrl on macOS) — the saved value is never rewritten, so it round-trips between platforms intact.
Reset Shortcuts to Defaults restores the factory bindings above.

Custom bindings are saved to .embody/config.json with the rest of your settings, so they survive Embody upgrades.

Conflicts¶

Duplicates are blocked. A combo may drive exactly one action: if, while recording, you press a combo that another action already holds, a dialog explains which action owns it and recording continues (with a fresh timeout) so you can press a different combo — or Esc to cancel. Typing a duplicate into the parameter reverts with a warning. To swap two bindings, clear one first.
TD built-ins warn. Assigning one of TouchDesigner's own shortcuts (read live from TouchShortcuts.txt, including your user overrides) logs a warning and shows it in the status bar.

TouchDesigner built-ins cannot be suppressed

Embody's Keyboard In DAT observes keys — it cannot block them. If you bind an Embody action to a TD built-in like Ctrl+Z, both will fire. Prefer ctrl+shift+... / ctrl+alt+... combos that TD leaves free, and heed the warning when one is reserved. Note that OS-level shortcuts (macOS system hotkeys especially) are intercepted before TD ever sees them and cannot be recorded or triggered at all.

Tagging¶

The double-tap Left Ctrl shortcut (configurable — see above) works on the operator your cursor is hovering over in the network editor (not the current selection). It opens the tagger UI for that operator:

On an untagged operator, the tagger lets you pick how to externalize it — a strategy (TOX or TDN) for a COMP, or a file format for a DAT
On an already-tagged operator, the tagger lets you switch strategy, remove the tag, or save the externalization

Update Operations¶

Ctrl+Shift+U — Updates all dirty externalized operators. If Embody hasn't been initialized yet, this also performs first-time setup. This is the primary way to update your externalizations.
Ctrl+Alt+U — Updates only the COMP you're currently inside. Useful for large projects where a full update takes too long.
Ctrl+Shift+R — Refreshes tracking state, re-scanning externalized operators for changes without writing files.

Keep your externalizations up to date

Use Ctrl+Shift+U to write all dirty operators to files on disk. On project open, TOX-strategy COMPs are always restored from .tox files and DATs sync from their externalized source files (.py, .txt, .json, ...). TDN-strategy COMPs are reconstructed from .tdn files only in Roundtrip mode — in the default Export-on-Save mode the .toe stays authoritative and is not rebuilt from .tdn on open. See TDN Mode.

Roundtrip mode strips TDN containers on Ctrl+S

In Roundtrip mode (and only when strip-on-save is enabled), saving the .toe with Ctrl+S makes Embody temporarily strip all children from TDN-strategy COMPs to keep the .toe file small. They are restored immediately after the save completes — but if TD crashes during the save, those children will be missing from the .toe. This is fine: they'll be reconstructed from .tdn files the next time the project opens. Just make sure you've updated your externalizations with Ctrl+Shift+U first. In the default Export-on-Save mode, Ctrl+S does not strip: the .toe keeps its children and remains the source of truth.

TDN Export¶

Ctrl+Shift+E — Exports the entire project network to a single .tdn file at your project root
Ctrl+Alt+E — Exports only the current COMP's network to a .tdn file

Export vs Update — what's the difference?

The Update shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+U / Ctrl+Alt+U) update operators that are already tagged and tracked by Embody. They write files, increment build numbers, and clear dirty state — this is your daily workflow.

The Export shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+E / Ctrl+Alt+E) create a standalone .tdn snapshot of any network, whether or not it's externalized. No tracking, no build increment, no side effects. Use these when you want to grab a snapshot of a network you haven't tagged — like exporting someone else's component, creating a one-off backup, or sharing a network as a .tdn file.

Clipboard (TDN copy / paste)¶

Ctrl+Shift+C — Copy the selected COMP to the OS clipboard as a portable TDN envelope. Paste it into another Embody project, or share it; the web Collection's "embody it" button writes the same envelope.
There is no paste shortcut — pasting is automatic. With Clipboard Auto-Paste on (default), Embody watches the clipboard and, when an inbound TDN network appears (e.g. the web "embody it" button), prompts to paste it as a new COMP in the current network. Your own Ctrl+Shift+C outbound copy is recognized and does not trigger the prompt — you copied it to share or paste elsewhere, not to re-import it. The old Ctrl+Shift+V binding was removed: TouchDesigner's native operator-paste fires on the same key, so it pasted stray nodes alongside the TDN. See Clipboard Auto-Paste.