Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ: How can I discover useful snippets within the Pieces for Developers Desktop App?#

For Best Results: We recommend that users add 5-10 project-specific snippets to their repository before performing Snippet Discovery on a local project.

Why?

Pieces trains Snippet Discovery on the common themes within a project to better extract what you need, when you need it.

FAQ: How do I leverage the Pieces Actions Menu to maximize user flow?#

The Actions Menu offers a wide range of valuable features that allow users to more efficiently manage and edit their content. By streamlining these processes and minimizing interruptions to the user's workflow, this feature helps to increase productivity and optimize the user's experience.

These options are accessible through a keyboard shortcut, ensuring that users can quickly navigate the menu without the need to break their focus. Keyboard Shortcut

MacOSWindows
⌘ + ReturnCTRL + Enter

FAQ: How does "Sort by Suggested" differ from "Sort by Last Added"?#

The Pieces for Developers desktop app provides users with two options to sort the snippet carousel:

  1. Sort by Suggested
  • This will resurface previously saved Snippets and reorder the carousel to put relevant snippets closer to the beginning.
  • It's useful for quickly accessing relevant snippets from your current workflow.
  1. Sort by Last Added
  • This view displays your snippets in the order in which they were saved. New snippets are at the beginning.
  • It's useful for users that want to stay up-to-date with their latest saves.

FAQ: Can I edit a snippet in the Pieces for Developers Desktop App?#

Yes! Users can easily modify their selected snippet by clicking the edit button within the snippet's text field.

Keyboard Shortcut

MacOSWindows
⌘ + ECTRL + E

To Cancel Edits, simply press the Escape key.

To Save Edits, hit the Save icon in the top right corner of the edit window. After making an edit, a success notification will verify the changes have been saved.

Overall, this feature provides a more efficient and streamlined way for developers to make quick edits to their code snippets.

FAQ: Can I modify my Confirmation Notification Settings?#

Yes. Users can minimize noise levels by toggling off confirmation settings for various actions in the Pieces for Developers Desktop App.

Navigate to Settings -> Customize -> Confirmation Settings

You can toggle the following confirmations:

  • Created snippet
  • Created snippet tag(s)
  • Created related link(s)
  • Added related person(s)
  • Detected sensitive(s)

Additional settings that can be toggled:

  • Shareable link updates
  • Sensitive alerts when generating a shareable link

FAQ: How do I get started with the Pieces + GitHub Integration?#

1. Link your Account

Settings -> Connect Accounts -> Connect to Google

*Verify your connection to the Pieces Cloud before moving forward

2. Authorize with GitHub

Settings -> Connect Accounts -> Connect to GitHub

After selecting the GitHub icon, a "Link your Account" menu will come into focus.

3. Follow the instructions from here to finish setting up your connection with GitHub.

Note: Verify your connection through the settings section "Manage Cloud Integrations".

Important:

  • Only accounts with matching primary email addresses will be linked.
  • If the accounts do not match, a new, separate account will be created.

Check#

At this point, you should:

  • Be logged in to Pieces with a personal email and/or Google account
  • Be connected to your Pieces Cloud
  • Be authorized via GitHub connection

FAQ: How do I Export a Gist to GitHub?#

  1. Generate a shareable link
  2. Inside this menu, identify the option "Share as GitHub Gist"
  3. Select this icon
  4. You will see a GitHub Menu
  5. You can optionally give your snippet a custom Name & Description
  6. Click "Create" to share to GitHub

Notes:

  • Gists can be set to private in the Share a Gist menu, though they are public by default

FAQ: How do I Import a Gist to the Pieces for Developers Desktop App?#

Prerequisites to Import from GitHub:

  1. Connect to Pieces OS
  2. Sign in to Pieces via your personal email or Google account
  3. Authenticate with GitHub
  4. Your sign in account must be linked with GitHub account. Mismatched accounts will fail when attempting to Import from GitHub.

Steps to Perform a Gist Import

  1. Choose “Discover” above your Snippet Carousel
  2. Choose “Select Gists”
  3. Make sure Pieces is connected to your GitHub account
  4. Browse your Gists in the Desktop App and select the ones you'd like to import
  5. Done!

This feature represents a major step forward in our mission to provide users with the most seamless and intuitive coding experience possible. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, the ability to import your existing GitHub Gists is sure to make your life as a developer easier.

FAQ: If I delete a Gist in GitHub, will the snippet also be deleted in the Pieces Desktop App?#

Deleted Gists will not be deleted in Pieces for Developers.

FAQ: I deleted a Gist from GitHub. Can I recover the original Gist?#

Yes, a Gist can be recovered from the original snippet in Pieces.

To Redo a Gist:

  1. Locate the desired snippet in the Pieces Carousel
  2. Navigate to the shareable link within the snippet's information view
  3. Click the GitHub icon to view the "share as GitHub Gist" menu
  4. Select the "Redo Gist" icon This will repopulate your GitHub Gist list with the selected snippet

FAQ: What are the key benefits of the Pieces for GitHub Integration?#

1. Enhanced Collaboration#

By automatically capturing relevant Git history, including collaborator profiles, commit messages, and related pull request and branch links, Pieces enables users to search their snippets via collaborator profiles, making it easier than ever to know who to reach out to or add to a pull request, ultimately enhancing collaboration.

2. Fully Configurable#

The context captured by the Git Context feature is fully editable, searchable, and shareable, giving users complete control over their snippets and making it easy to find and reuse code. Additionally, all the context information is configurable in the Pieces Settings, allowing users to customize their experience to best fit their needs.

3. Context Awareness#

Pieces for Developers makes it easy for developers to save from their IDE and allow the Pieces GitHub integration to automatically include a list of people who made commits to the code, enabling them to understand who wrote and interacted with the code. This feature is particularly useful for teams who want to collaborate more effectively.

FAQ: How do I toggle Light & Dark Mode?#

To toggle between Light Mode and Dark Mode, use the Keyboard Shortcut:

MacOSWindows
⌘ + Shift + TCTRL + Shift + T

Or navigate to the Pieces User Settings -> Customize -> Toggle Light Mode.

FAQ: What is Pieces OS? How does it work?#

Pieces OS is the background service that enables Pieces to work locally and handles communications with any integrations. Without Pieces OS, Pieces for Developers will not be able to save your snippets or interact with any of your plugins. Pieces OS also enables you to sync Pieces to the cloud so that you can access your data anywhere. It also enables our other cloud-enabled features, like link sharing.

Head over to https://code.pieces.app/install to get started.

FAQ: I'm Disconnected from Pieces OS. Now what?#

If you're unable to connect to Pieces OS:

  1. Navigate to your applications folder from the Finder window
  2. Locate Pieces OS & open the application

If you merely closed the app on accident, the steps above should resolve your connection issue.

Still not Connected?#

You may need to install Pieces OS.

Head over to https://code.pieces.app/install to get started.

Still not Connected?#

If you're still disconnected after installing Pieces OS, check your OS compatibility. If that fails, please contact us at support@pieces.app.

FAQ: What are Collections?#

Collections allow users to save curated groups of code snippets from the cloud-hosted Pieces Collections site. This makes it easy for developers to reference similar code snippets together and quickly access them when needed.

Where can I find Collections?#

Keyboard Shortcut:

MacOSWindows
⌘ + Shift + CCTRL + Shift + C

Or, From the "Add a Piece" menu.

FAQ: How do I convert a saved image to code or text?#

  1. Open the Pieces for Developers Desktop App.
  2. In the snippet carousel, focus on the image you want to extract code or text from.
  3. Click on the "View as Code" button in the menu to the right of the window.
  4. Pieces uses OCR technology to detect and extract code or text from the image, which will then be displayed on the screen.
  5. You can now copy, modify, and share the extracted code as needed.

It's important to note that the accuracy of the extracted code or text may vary depending on the quality of the image and the complexity of the code.

FAQ: How many languages does Pieces Desktop App Support?#

Pieces supports nearly 40 programming languages, and adds more all the time.

Supported Languages:

  • Batchfile
  • C
  • Clojure
  • C#
  • C++
  • CoffeeScript
  • CSS
  • Dart
  • Erlang
  • Emacs Lisp
  • Elixir
  • Go
  • Groovy
  • Haskell
  • HTML
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • JSON
  • Kotlin
  • Lua
  • Markdown
  • Matlab
  • Objective-C
  • Perl
  • PHP
  • PowerShell
  • Python
  • R
  • Ruby
  • Rust
  • Scala
  • Shell
  • SQL
  • Swift
  • TeX
  • Text
  • TOML
  • TypeScript
  • XML
  • YAML

FAQ: What is Activity View?#

In Activity View, developers can quickly and easily navigate back to their most recent work, making it an essential feature for anyone who wants to stay organized and productive.

What's inside?#

In Activity View, you can see when you add or adjust context for your snippets, including:

  • Related links
  • Tags
  • descriptions
  • Snippet names
  • Snippet languages
  • Related people
  • Created snippets
  • Snippet titles
  • Snippet references

Keyboard Shortcut:

MacOSWindows
⌘ + Shift + ACTRL + Shift + A

Is this a manual process?#

No. This feature updates in real time as users work, providing a comprehensive view of their recent activity, including recently opened snippets and files, edited code, and more.

FAQ: Where do the suggested searches in the Global Search view come from?#

The suggested searches in Global Search view are made up of existing snippet tags from the user's personal repository. When a suggested search is clicked, users are directed to a list view of snippet names, titles, classifications, and commonly shared related tags and links. This powerful feature streamlines the search experience in Pieces for Developers and allows users to discover relevant code snippets with ease.

Connect with our team and Get 1:1 Support#

Visit our website to live chat with our team, or send an email to support@pieces.app.