Py Editor for Mac — User Manual
Developer ID 27.0.2 (32) · English · reviewed 16 September 2026
Reviewed user manual for Developer ID 27.0.2 (32). The procedures below use the actual Mac app and its bundled examples. Individual chapters distinguish replayed operations, known build limitations, protected external actions and unavailable prerequisites. This edition does not establish iPhone, iPad or Mac App Store feature parity.
The HTML home page begins with Choose a chapter, a grouped library of 26 separate pages. Find a topic filters the chapter list at the side. Within a chapter, open On this page to jump to a section or subsection. Use Browse all 312 sections and subsections only when you need the detailed topic index; it stays collapsed until you open it.
This manual is organized as 26 navigable chapter pages, not 26 features. The current chapters contain 312 named sections and subsections and more than 50,000 words. The point-by-point GUI map alone covers the window zones, toolbar, rails, panel-local controls, launcher, both settings surfaces, detached windows and external example windows.
Start with a working example
Choose a starting point; you do not need to read every chapter in order.
| Your starting point | Follow this route | What you will have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Py Editor is not installed yet | Install the free Developer ID edition, then verify its version. | The signed, notarized direct-download Mac app identified by version and build. |
| New to Py Editor, with Helper already connected | Create Vision Dataset Notes, then learn the three panel areas. | A saved Python program and its dataset-plan output, with no training step. |
| Want to explore a native Mac interface | Check Helper and the project environment, then plan a small day with Focus Studio. | A working PySide6 task list and focus timer in its own Mac window. |
| Ready to explore a larger Python project | Check Helper and the project environment, then run AI Vision Lab. | Training output and a report you can open in macOS Preview. |
| Want to read documents before running code | Get the companion examples, then open their folder. | Local HTML, SVG and stored notebook content displayed in the editor's preview. |
The first-project chapter includes its complete program inline. The companion ZIP is optional for that exercise; it supplies reusable files for later chapters. The Python examples bundled with the app and the manual's companion files are different collections, explained on the example files page.
- Install and identify the free Developer ID edition
- Open the launcher and create a useful first project
- Get the manual's example files
- Find the Left, Bottom and Right areas
- Prepare Helper and a project environment
- Open Mac Desktop Studio and use Focus Studio
- Run AI Vision Lab and read its report
- Organize files, save a dataset script and keep copies
- Answer a program's question and recover from invalid input
- Open included lessons and run a NumPy example
- Understand projects, execution and saved changes
Work with the app's tools
- Find, navigate, replace text and use bookmarks
- Read a document beside its source
- Inspect packages in the current project
- Run a script, stop it and clear its output
- Explore objects in Python Console and use Terminal
- Pause and inspect a program with the debugger
- Run tests, measure coverage, profile and read diagnostics
- Create local Git commits and switch branches
- Add tasks and run a Focus Studio timer
- Ask the AI Assistant about code with local Ollama
- Inspect Docker and cloud-service readiness
Look up settings
- Map every part of the project window, point by point
- Find a command or a verified keyboard shortcut
- Application and project settings, including BYOK providers
- Find help, identify your version and check for updates
- Troubleshoot symptoms observed in the reviewed build
Edition scope and protected actions
This edition documents the Developer ID 27.0.2 (32) Mac app. It does not claim feature parity with the Mac App Store, iPhone or iPad editions. Its core local workflows have been replayed with disposable projects: launcher and projects, all three panel areas, file handling, editing, previews, Run, Terminal, Python Console, debugging, tests, coverage, profiling, local Git, settings, Helper-backed environments, local Ollama conversations and the two featured Mac examples. The command reference also reconciles every visible top-level menu and custom command in the reviewed build.
Operations that create an external or destructive effect stop at a safe boundary in this manual. It does not claim completion of remote Git writes, cloud-resource linking, account sign-in or sign-out, feedback delivery, file sharing to a recipient, moving a file to Trash, changing package indexes, downloading or removing Ollama models, or installing, updating, restarting or uninstalling Helper. Those actions depend on the reader's accounts, destinations and intent; follow the confirmation shown by the app and make a recoverable copy first.
Some recovery states could not be produced honestly on the review Mac: an available app or Helper update, a disconnected drive, a full disk and crash recovery. The Focus Studio timer's start, pause, resume and reset states were replayed; its natural 25-minute completion endpoint was deliberately not added to the review wait. The corresponding chapters state these boundaries instead of inventing a successful result.
Known build-specific behavior is documented where readers encounter it. For example, the generated AI report PNG needed macOS Preview, turning off Autosave When Switching Files did not produce the promised prompt in the reviewed ACE session, and reopening the AI Assistant panel did not preserve its visible conversation. See Troubleshooting for symptoms and verified recovery routes. Some procedures can reveal personal paths or account details; inspect a screen before sharing it.
This reviewed edition keeps those boundaries visible instead of converting an unavailable or deliberately protected operation into a success claim. Packaging the manual is not the same as publishing it online.