# Missing auto-closing of brackets / stars etc
**URL:** https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686
**Category:** Annoyances
**Created:** [April 1, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686 "2025-04-01T11:26:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@benwf](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/benwf)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/1 "2025-04-01T11:26:27Z")
I’m sure this has probably been mentioned elsewhere (but couldn’t find it), it’s not a bug, and as this is entirely up to (my) convenience, I’m not sure if this qualifies as a feature request:
I really do miss auto-closing of brackets / stars etc.
[On another post](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/add-option-to-paste-as-markdown/643) I read about the intention of Notenik not becoming a dedicated Markdown editor, which I totally understand, so this is why post it as an “Annoyance”.
- Ben
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### Author:  [@zgr](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/zgr)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/2 "2025-04-01T18:23:16Z")
There are two options:
- Using an external editor supporting auto-pairing
- Using a software supporting text expansion (Raycast, aText, Keyboard Maestro etc.)
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### Author:  [@hbowie](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/hbowie)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/3 "2025-04-01T19:53:44Z")
Personally, I find auto-closing of things annoying. I kind of like to be in charge of what’s appearing in my text, as opposed to having the editor insert things in anticipation of what I might want. Which is not to suggest that your preferences aren’t valid, or to say that Notenik will never support such a request – it’s just to help explain why Notenik doesn’t do such things today (also because writing a custom editor has not so far been something I’ve been interested in).
But thanks for posting! It’s always good to discuss these things.
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### Author:  [@Malcolm](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/Malcolm)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/4 "2025-04-01T20:16:02Z")
> [@benwf](#):
>
> I really do miss auto-closing of brackets / stars etc.
I use Notenik in two ways: entry via fields, which the native UI supports, and long text in the body. For long text I go to [MarkEdit - a Markdown Editor to complement Notenik](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/markedit-a-markdown-editor-to-complement-notenik/426), or BBEdit. I’d love to have MarkEdit functionality in the body area.
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### Author:  [@benwf](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/benwf)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/5 "2025-04-02T10:56:24Z")
@Malcolm thanks for the tip with MarkEdit, will check that out!
@hbowie totally understandable, that’s why I posted it here, and not in FR 🙂
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### Author:  [@zgr](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/zgr)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/6 "2025-04-02T16:18:20Z")
I occasionally use [CotEditor](https://coteditor.com/) and [Typora](https://typora.io/), both of which support auto-pairing.
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### Author:  [@Malcolm](https://discourse.notenik.app/u/Malcolm)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://discourse.notenik.app/t/missing-auto-closing-of-brackets-stars-etc/686/7 "2025-04-02T21:55:00Z")
CotEditor has a good AppleScript Dictionary. Nice!