Loop 2.1 — Keyboard Guide

Section 1

Getting Started

Loop 2.1 now has a full keyboard control system. You don't have to use it — everything still works with the mouse — but once the bindings are in your fingers, operating the machine feels fundamentally different. Your eyes can stay on the loops.

The system is designed to be learned incrementally. Start with the three keys you'll use constantly:

Space — Start / Stop the clock E — Send (inject current value) R — Send ALU answer to loop

Those three alone are worth learning. Add bus chords when you're ready. Add the rest whenever it feels natural.

Input Fields

Keyboard bindings are automatically suppressed when any text field has focus — speed input, TG threshold, chat, notes, anything. You won't accidentally start the clock while typing a value. Press Escape at any time to leave a focused field and return keyboard control to the machine.

On Learning

Nobody operates fluently on day one. The binding positions were chosen for ergonomics, not memorability — they reward time at the machine, not time studying this document. Refer back here as needed. The cheat sheet (?, coming soon) is always one key away.

Section 2

The Keyboard Layout

Most bound keys live on the left side of the keyboard so your right hand can stay on the mouse. The four loop keys — S D F G — match the left-hand home row, spatially ordered to mirror the Working, ALU, Memory, and Big loops as they appear on screen.

1Bus A

2Bus B

3Bus C

4Bus D

5Bus E

6Bus F

7Bus G

8Bus H

9Bus I

[Slower

]Faster

Tab

QClear

ESend

RAnswer

TChat

Caps

SWorking

DALU

FMemory

GBig

HValues

Shift

ZSlot→Loop

XWrite

CCap Route

VALU Op

NChallenge

.Step

Start / Stop

Clock

Loop

ALU

Memory

Inject

Bus

Chat

Challenge

Keys 5–9 are shown at reduced opacity — they're for toggling networking buses and use the same double-tap pattern as 1–4, but don't support chord entry.

Section 3

Clock & Stepping

Key	Action
`Space`	Start / Stop the clock
`.`	Step one tick (global — all running loops advance one position)
`[`	Decrease clock speed one step
`]`	Increase clock speed one step

Speed steps: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 6 · 8 · 12 · 16 · 24 · 32 · 48 · 64 · 96 · 128 · 144 Hz. Each press of [ or ] moves one step along this ladder. The recommended operating speed for most work is 24 Hz.

Step Mode

With the clock stopped, . lets you step through computation bit by bit. This is the best way to trace an unexpected value or verify that a bus is routing correctly.

Section 4

Loop Controls

The four loop keys are spatially mapped to the left-hand home row. Working is under your pinky, then ALU, Memory, Big moving toward the index finger. Shift adds gate control to the same positions.

Key	Action	Loop
`S`	Pause / Resume	Working
`D`	Pause / Resume	ALU
`F`	Pause / Resume	Memory
`G`	Pause / Resume	Big
`Shift`+`S`	Toggle gate open / closed	Working
`Shift`+`D`	Toggle gate open / closed	ALU
`Shift`+`F`	Toggle gate open / closed	Memory
`Shift`+`G`	Toggle gate open / closed	Big

Pause vs Gate

Pausing a loop stops its bits from moving but leaves the gate open — values can still enter or exit. Closing the gate blocks the loop's eject point entirely so nothing leaves regardless of bus state. They're different operations and together give you fine-grained control over when values move.

Section 5

ALU Actions

Key	Action
`R`	Send ALU answer to loop
`Shift`+`R`	Send comparator result to loop
`V`	Cycle ALU operation forward
`Shift`+`V`	Cycle ALU operation backward
`C`	Cycle capture route forward (OFF → A → B → C → D → OFF…)
`Shift`+`C`	Cycle capture route backward

Operation cycle order: ADD → SUB → AND → OR → XOR → NOT → SHL → SHR → NEG → INC → DEC — and back to ADD.

Why R and Not A

A is reserved as a chord target (it means "ALU loop" in the bus chord vocabulary). R for result — top row, left index finger reach, directly above the home row ALU key.

Section 6

Inject & Input

Key	Action
`E`	Send — inject the current switch value into the Working loop
`Shift`+`E`	Random inject — a random value within the configured min/max range
`Q`	Clear all input switches (set to zero)

Set your value with the bit switches, then press E to inject. Q clears the switches so you start fresh for the next value. For random-number work, configure the min/max in the RNG panel, then use Shift+E to fire values without touching the switches at all.

Section 7

Memory

Key	Action
`X`	Toggle Write to Slots on / off
`Shift`+`X`	Toggle Auto-Increment on / off
`Z`	Send current slot to loop
`Shift`+`Z`	Batch Write All — stream all 16 slots into the Memory loop

Z sends whichever slot address is currently selected. Shift+Z runs the full batch sequence regardless of the current address. Use X with Shift+X together to set up an auto-incrementing capture pass: enable Write to Slots, enable Auto-Inc, then start the clock and let words accumulate into consecutive slots.

Section 8

Bus Controls — Toggle

Two ways to toggle any internal bus (A–D) on or off:

Double-tap: press the bus key twice rapidly (1 1, 2 2, etc.). The threshold is 300ms — it's generous, not a trick shot.
Shift+number: Shift+1 through Shift+4. No timing required, always reliable.

Both methods produce identical behavior. Use whichever you prefer.

Double-tap	Shift+key	Bus
`1` `1`	`Shift`+`1`	Bus A
`2` `2`	`Shift`+`2`	Bus B
`3` `3`	`Shift`+`3`	Bus C
`4` `4`	`Shift`+`4`	Bus D

Toggle vs Configure

Toggling on/off is separate from configuring source and destination. The toggle keys only flip a bus active or inactive. To change what a bus is connected to, use the chord system (next section) or the sidebar panels with the mouse.

Section 9

Bus Chord System

The chord system lets you configure a bus's source and destination with three keystrokes. The grammar is fixed:

[bus key]  [source key]  [destination key]

Press 1, 2, 3, or 4 to start a chord for that bus. The machine enters chord mode — a status display appears at the bottom of the screen showing your progress. Then type the source component, then the destination. The bus updates instantly on the third keystroke.

1 W A → Bus A: Working → ALU
2 A M → Bus B: ALU → Memory
3 M B → Bus C: Memory → Big
4 B W → Bus D: Big → Working
↑ Four-loop pipeline in 12 keystrokes

Component Keys

Key	Component	Source	Destination
`W`	Working loop	✓	✓
`A`	ALU loop	✓	✓
`M`	Memory loop	✓	✓
`B`	Big loop	✓	✓
`P`	Pattern Matcher 1 output	✓	—
`T`	Threshold Gate 1 output	✓	—
`K`	Global Counter	✓	✓
`F`	File Save	—	✓

Sources produce data; destinations receive it. PM1 and TG1 outputs are source-only — you can route from them but not to them. File Save is destination-only. If you attempt an invalid combination (e.g. 1 F W — trying to use File Save as a source), the chord cancels cleanly and the status display shows why.

PM2 and TG2

The chord keys P and T map to PM1 and TG1 respectively. If you need to route from PM2 or TG2, use the sidebar bus configuration panels with the mouse. During fast operation, PM1 and TG1 cover the common case.

Cancellation

Press Escape at any point during a chord to cancel it. The bus is left unchanged. A chord that receives no input times out and cancels automatically after 2 seconds.

While a chord is active, all flat-layer keys are suppressed — pressing Space mid-chord won't accidentally stop the clock. The only active keys during a chord are the component target keys and Escape.

More Examples

1 P W → Bus A: PM1 output → Working
2 K A → Bus B: Global Counter → ALU
3 T M → Bus C: TG1 output → Memory
1 W F → Bus A: Working → File Save

1 1 → Toggle Bus A on/off (double-tap, not a chord)
2 A W → Bus B: ALU → Working
2 2 → Toggle Bus B off

Section 10

Networking Buses

Buses E through I are the networking buses. Their source/destination and peer configuration is click-only — there's no chord grammar for them. But toggling them on and off during active networked computation is a mid-flow action, so it's covered by the keyboard.

Same two methods as internal buses, same timing:

Double-tap	Shift+key	Bus
`5` `5`	`Shift`+`5`	Bus E (External)
`6` `6`	`Shift`+`6`	Bus F (P2P Left)
`7` `7`	`Shift`+`7`	Bus G (P2P Right)
`8` `8`	`Shift`+`8`	Bus H (Net0)
`9` `9`	`Shift`+`9`	Bus I (Net1)

No Chord for 5–9

Pressing 5 once does not enter chord mode — it starts the double-tap timer. If no second 5 arrives within 300ms, the press is discarded with no action. This prevents accidental chord entry on buses that don't support it.

Section 11

Chat

During networked sessions, the keyboard chat flow is designed to keep your hands on the machine.

Key	Action	When
`T`	Open chat — focus the chat input	No input focused
`Enter`	Send message and exit chat	Chat open via `T`
`Escape`	Cancel — discard text, return to machine	Chat input focused

The key behavior here is that Enter both sends and exits when you entered chat via T. One key to send, no second key to return to machine control. The round-trip is: T → type → Enter → back operating.

If you clicked into the chat input with the mouse instead, Enter sends but leaves focus in the chat field — the assumption is you may want to send several messages in sequence. Use Escape to leave.

T in Chord Context

T normally opens chat. But if a bus chord is active (you've pressed 1–4 and are waiting for a source key), T acts as the Threshold Gate 1 source target instead. The chord state takes priority. Once the chord completes or cancels, T returns to chat.

Section 12

Challenges

Most challenge setup is click-only — selecting challenge type, configuring parameters, adjusting scoring. But the actions that happen during active computation have keyboard shortcuts.

Key	Action	Condition
`N`	Start new challenge	No challenge currently active
`Shift`+`N`	Abort challenge	Challenge is active
`H`	Toggle Show Values	Challenge active or complete
`Enter`	RELEASE — inject staged value	No input focused; RELEASE button is lit

N respects the current challenge type and parameter settings. It's equivalent to clicking NEW CHALLENGE — it won't start if a challenge is already running.

Enter for RELEASE is context-sensitive. If the chat input or any other field is focused, Enter goes to that field as normal. It only triggers RELEASE when you're at the machine (nothing focused) and the RELEASE button is active and lit. The priority is unambiguous: you cannot accidentally release a challenge value while typing.

Chain Sum Keyboard Workflow

A complete chain sum by keyboard: Space to start → wait for RELEASE to activate → Enter to release → operate the machine → T to message teammates → Enter to send and return to operating. No mouse required once the initial setup is done.

Appendix

Quick Reference

Flat Layer

Key	Action	Category
`Space`	Start / Stop clock	Clock
`.`	Step one tick	Clock
`[`	Decrease clock speed	Clock
`]`	Increase clock speed	Clock
`S`	Pause / Resume Working	Loop
`D`	Pause / Resume ALU	Loop
`F`	Pause / Resume Memory	Loop
`G`	Pause / Resume Big	Loop
`R`	Send ALU answer to loop	ALU
`V`	Cycle ALU op forward	ALU
`C`	Cycle capture route forward	ALU
`E`	Send (inject current value)	Inject
`Q`	Clear input switches	Inject
`X`	Toggle Write to Slots	Memory
`Z`	Send current slot to loop	Memory
`T`	Open chat input	Chat
`N`	Start new challenge	Challenge
`H`	Toggle Show Values	Challenge
`Enter`	Challenge RELEASE (when lit)	Challenge

Shift Layer

Binding	Action	Category
`Shift`+`S`	Toggle Working gate	Loop
`Shift`+`D`	Toggle ALU gate	Loop
`Shift`+`F`	Toggle Memory gate	Loop
`Shift`+`G`	Toggle Big gate	Loop
`Shift`+`R`	Send comparator to loop	ALU
`Shift`+`V`	Cycle ALU op backward	ALU
`Shift`+`C`	Cycle capture route backward	ALU
`Shift`+`E`	Random inject	Inject
`Shift`+`X`	Toggle Auto-Increment	Memory
`Shift`+`Z`	Batch Write All	Memory
`Shift`+`1`–`4`	Toggle Bus A–D	Bus
`Shift`+`5`–`9`	Toggle Bus E–I	Net Bus
`Shift`+`N`	Abort challenge	Challenge

Bus Chord Keys

Key	Bus	Single press	Double-tap
`1`	Bus A	Enter chord mode	Toggle on/off
`2`	Bus B	Enter chord mode	Toggle on/off
`3`	Bus C	Enter chord mode	Toggle on/off
`4`	Bus D	Enter chord mode	Toggle on/off
`5`	Bus E	(no action)	Toggle on/off
`6`	Bus F	(no action)	Toggle on/off
`7`	Bus G	(no action)	Toggle on/off
`8`	Bus H	(no action)	Toggle on/off
`9`	Bus I	(no action)	Toggle on/off

Chord Target Keys (inside a chord)

Key	Component	Source	Dest
`W`	Working	✓	✓
`A`	ALU	✓	✓
`M`	Memory	✓	✓
`B`	Big	✓	✓
`P`	PM1 output	✓	—
`T`	TG1 output	✓	—
`K`	Global Counter	✓	✓
`F`	File Save	—	✓

Always Available

Key	Action
`Escape`	Cancel active chord · Blur any focused input field