Browsing
Double-click a Base, click the > arrow on the right side of its row, or select it and press Return to navigate into it. The window title and toolbar update to show the Base name — including its emoji if one is set.
Note
By default, double-clicking a leaf item triggers its Enter action. If you prefer double-click to rename instead, change Double-Click Action to Rename in Settings.
Press Escape to return to the Home view.
Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right (or the < > toolbar buttons) moves through your navigation history. The buttons are greyed out when there is no history in that direction.
| Context | What Escape does |
|---|---|
| Search bar is active | Clears the search field |
| Browsing inside a Base | Returns to Home |
| Quick Browse popup open | Closes the popup |
When you are inside a Base, a tag bar appears at the bottom of the window:
- Scene link tag — shows the linked scene filename. Click × to unlink.
- Default Base tag (PRO) — shown when this Base is the Quick Browse default. When set, Quick Browse navigates straight to this Base on open instead of showing the Home view. Click × to clear it.
Drag any asset from Unity's Project window onto a Container or Base. You can also drag from:
- Hierarchy — GameObjects are automatically wrapped in Scene Object references; scene names create scene references.
- Inspector — drag a component header to create a Scene Component reference.
- Across tabs — hover the SecondBrain tab in the dock while dragging (without needing to focus it first) and drop at the target position inside the tree.
Right-click any Container or Base and choose Create Child. A submenu lists all valid child types for that node. You can also click the + button that appears at the right side of a selected row to create a new child Container directly.
When Force naming on create is on (the default), an inline ghost row appears:
- Type a name → press Enter to create.
- Press Escape to cancel without creating anything.
- Empty or duplicate names are rejected inline.
To create items with an auto-generated name instantly (no ghost row), disable Force naming on create in Settings.
Press Ctrl+V inside the browser to paste the current clipboard text as a new Text Asset child of the selected Container. If the clipboard contains a URL, the asset name is set to the URL's hostname automatically.
Pressing Return (or double-clicking when Double-Click Action is set to Enter in Settings) triggers the item's enter action:
| Item type | Enter action |
|---|---|
| Base | Navigate into it |
| Container | Toggle expand / collapse |
| Scene Object ref | If scene is open: open a floating inspector for the GameObject. If scene is not open: open the scene and ping the object. |
| Scene Component ref | If scene is open: open a floating inspector for the Component. If scene is not open: open the scene and ping the object. |
| Scene | Open the scene |
| Prefab | Open in Prefab Stage |
| URLs | Open in system's browser |
| Action Item | Execute (PRO) |
Several item types display a small focus icon on the right side of their row. Clicking it toggles focus-on-select behaviour for that specific item. The icon turns blue when enabled.
Scene Object refs and Scene Component refs (only visible when the scene is open):
- Off (dim) — selecting the ref updates Unity's selection but leaves the Scene View camera where it is.
- On (blue) — selecting the ref also frames the Scene View camera on the referenced object, the same as pressing F in the Scene View.
The toggle is saved on the asset itself and persists across sessions.
Folder assets:
- Off (dim) — selecting the folder highlights it in the Project window but does not navigate into it.
- On (blue) — selecting the folder automatically navigates the Project window into it, the same as pressing Return.
The toggle is per-folder and stored in EditorPrefs.
Right-click → Rename or press Ctrl+R. An inline edit field replaces the label.
Rename is not available for Scene Object or Scene Component references — their names reflect live scene content.
Right-click → Duplicate or press Ctrl+D. A copy appears directly after the original with a unique auto-generated name.
Duplication is only available for leaf items (assets, references). Containers and Bases cannot be duplicated.
Right-click any item and choose Remove, or select it and press Delete / Backspace.
What happens depends on how the item is stored:
| Item type | What Remove does |
|---|---|
| Container, Action Item, or any asset embedded directly in the profile | Destroyed and removed from the profile file |
A linked asset with its own file (e.g. a Scene Object ref saved as a separate .asset) |
Unlinked only — the file stays on disk |
Both cases are fully undoable with Ctrl+Z. For anything that can't be undone in-editor, use git discard to restore disk state.
Right-click → Properties opens the Unity Properties window for the selected asset. For Scene Object / Component refs, it opens on the resolved live object if the scene is currently loaded.
All operations — create, rename, delete, duplicate, reparent, move, and navigation — are integrated with Unity's undo system (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z).
Drag any row to reorder it within its parent or move it into a different Container. A drop indicator shows the exact insertion point. The drag only activates after you exceed a short distance threshold, so single-click selection is not affected.
| Drop target | Result |
|---|---|
| Onto a Container | Asset added inside the Container |
| Between rows | Asset inserted at that position in the parent |
| Onto an empty Base | A default Container is auto-created; asset placed inside |
Scene GameObjects dragged from the Hierarchy are wrapped in a Scene Object reference. Scene components are wrapped in a Scene Component reference.
Warning
Assets from scenes that have never been saved to disk are rejected with a notification and not added.
Items can be dragged back out of SecondBrain to other Unity windows:
- Another SecondBrain window — drop onto a Container or between rows to move the item across windows.
- Scene View — places the asset at the cursor position in the scene. Only asset types Unity supports dropping into the Scene View work here (e.g. Prefabs, Materials).
Right-click a Container → Move to → {BaseName} to move it and all its contents to another Base. This option appears only when you are inside a Base and at least one other Base exists.
The move is fully undoable.