> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tempoweave.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tempoweave.com/help-by-menu-tabs/tools-menu/thread-assistant.md). # Thread Assistant ### What It Does The Thread Assistant is your at-the-loom companion for **threading the warp** — sleying each warp end through its heddle on the correct shaft. Instead of squinting at a paper draft and counting ends, it walks you through the warp a small group at a time, showing exactly which shaft each end goes through and what color it is. You mark each group as you thread it (with a button, the keyboard, or a foot pedal) and it advances to the next group automatically. Think of it as a guided checklist for dressing the loom: it keeps your place, shows the shaft number and yarn color for every end, tracks how far you've threaded, and even tells you how many heddles to pre-pull on each shaft for the group you're about to thread. Your threading progress is saved with the draft and is **shared with the mobile app**, so you can start threading at your computer and finish at the loom on a tablet or phone (or vice versa).
*** *** ### Opening the Thread Assistant * **Ribbon**: Tools tab > Dobby group > **Thread Assistant** button The Thread Assistant opens as a separate, non-modal window — you can keep working in the main drawdown while it's open. Only one instance can be open at a time; clicking the button again brings the existing window to the front. *** ### The Thread Assistant Window The window has five regions: * **Navigation bar** (top) — move between groups, jump to a thread, and zoom. * **Group display** (center) — the large color discs for the group you're currently threading. * **MARK THREADS** button — marks the current group done and advances. * **Threading Preview** strip — a warp's-eye overview of where you are. * **Settings panel** (right, collapsible) — direction, group size, starting point, foot pedal, and display options. * **Overview** strip (bottom) — a progress bar across the whole warp. *** #### Navigation Bar (Top) **Direction toggle** (e.g. "Left ← Right") Which way your hands move across the loom. Most weavers thread from their right toward their left, so the default is **right to left**. Click to switch to **left to right**. (This is the same setting as the threading direction under **At the loom** in the Settings panel.) When you thread from the center outward, the toggle shows the direction for the group on screen, which reverses for the second half. Next to the Thread field, a short readout says where thread 1 is and where you are standing (for example "Thread 1 on your right · from the front"), so the setup is visible even with the Settings panel collapsed. **◀ Prev / Next ▶** Step to the previous or next group without marking anything. Use these to review groups you've already threaded or to skip ahead. Each step gives a soft tick, quieter and lower than the mark beep, so you can hear that the group changed without looking; at the first or last group there is no tick. **Unmark** Clears the threaded marks for the **group currently on screen** only. Use it if you marked a group by mistake or need to re-thread it. (To clear the *entire* draft, use **Unmark All Threads** in the Settings panel.) **Thread \[ ] / \[total] Go** Type any thread (end) number and click **Go** (or press Enter) to jump straight to the group containing that end. The total number of warp ends is shown next to the field. **− / +** Make the color discs smaller or larger. Zoom in for big, easy-to-read discs at the loom; zoom out to fit a larger group on screen. *** #### The Group Display This is the heart of the window: one large **color disc per warp end** in the current group, laid out left to right in the order you'll thread them. Two lines run under each disc: the color name, then the yarn line beside it, each long enough that nothing is cut off. They appear whenever the disc area has room for them (an iPad, a phone held upright) and step aside when it does not (a phone on its side); **Show color names** in the Settings panel turns them off altogether. Each disc tells you everything you need for that end: * **Disc color** — the yarn (warp) color of that end, so you can confirm you're picking up the right thread. * **Shaft number** (large, centered) — the shaft to thread this end through. A dash ("—") means the end is empty (no shaft assigned). * **End number** (above the disc) — which warp end this is, counting from end 1. * **Green ✓ badge** — appears on ends that are already threaded; threaded discs are also dimmed so your eye goes to what's left to do. * **FS** — a **floating selvedge** from Project Info appears as an extra disc outside the edge thread, marked "FS": before thread 1, or after the last thread (two discs each when Project Info says two threads per selvedge). It gets no heddle and is sleyed through the reed only, so with groups of 4 the first group shows five discs, FS then 1 to 4. It borrows its neighbor's color and is marked along with its group. * **⋆ (amber star)** — marks the **geometric center** of the warp. * **◆ (blue diamond)** — marks your **starting/anchor end** (where group 1 begins). When every end in a group is threaded, a note appears: *"This group is threaded. Use Prev / Next or Unmark."* **Heddle Summary (optional)** When **Show heddle summary** is enabled (Settings panel), a small **Shaft / Heddles** table appears in the top-left corner. It lists how many ends in the current group fall on each shaft — so you can pre-pull exactly the right number of heddles per shaft before you start the group. Only shafts used by the current group are listed. *** #### MARK THREADS The big red **MARK THREADS** button marks the current group as threaded and advances to the next group. This is the action you'll repeat over and over as you dress the loom. So you don't have to reach for the mouse at the loom, you can also trigger it with a **keyboard key or foot pedal** — the default is the **Space** bar (configurable in Settings). When marking, an optional beep confirms the action. The Thread Assistant **does not wrap around**: when you mark the last group, threading is complete and it stops rather than looping back to the start. *** #### Threading Preview The **Threading Preview** strip below the discs is a warp's-eye view of your draft's threading. It shows the shaft cells across the warp, with **threaded ends in green** and the **current group highlighted in blue** so you always know where you are in the overall draft. A frozen shaft-number column stays in view as the preview scrolls horizontally through a wide warp. You can hide this strip and set how many shafts it displays (**Max shafts in preview**, 8–64) in the Settings panel — handy for very tall drafts, or to free up vertical space for bigger discs. *** #### Overview (Bottom Strip) A thin progress bar spanning the bottom of the window represents the **entire warp** at a glance — threaded versus not-yet-threaded — so you can see how much of the warp remains. A small label shows the range currently in view. *** #### Settings Panel (Right) The panel on the right holds all the configuration. Click **◀ Collapse settings** to hide it (a thin **▶** tab brings it back) — useful for a wider disc area at the loom. **At the loom** Three choices that tell the assistant how the loom looks from where you sit. Together they decide which thread group 1 starts with and the order the discs appear in, which is always the order the threads sit in front of you. * **Front of the loom** or **Back of the loom** — where you are standing. From the back, the highest shaft is the nearest one, so the Threading Preview and its shaft numbers turn over to match. * **Threading right to left** or **Threading left to right** — which way your hands move. Matches the toggle in the navigation bar. * **Thread 1 on your right** or **Thread 1 on your left** — where thread 1 sits, as you face the loom. This is filled in from the draft's **Origin Side** setting and where you stand (a right-origin draft seen from the back has thread 1 on your left). Change it if your loom is dressed the other way. | Thread 1 is on your | You thread | Group 1 starts with | Disc order | | ------------------- | ------------- | ------------------- | ---------------------------- | | right | right to left | thread 1 | high numbers left, low right | | right | left to right | the last thread | high numbers left, low right | | left | left to right | thread 1 | low numbers left, high right | | left | right to left | the last thread | low numbers left, high right | These choices are saved with the draft, so a draft set up on the desktop behaves the same in the mobile app at the loom. Front or back is also remembered as the starting point for your next draft. **Group size** How many ends are shown and marked together (1–16, default **4**). Groups too wide for one row flow onto a second row. Smaller groups are easier to keep your place with; larger groups mean fewer marking steps. **Starting thread** The anchor end where **group 1** begins (1–40,000, default 1). * **Position at Center** — sets the starting thread to the geometric center of the warp and jumps there. The center end is marked with the **⋆** glyph and your chosen start with the **◆** glyph in the group display. * **Thread from the center outward** — the common way to keep a design centered in the reed. Group 1 starts at the starting thread and walks to one selvedge in your threading direction. When that side is done, the assistant returns on its own to the thread beside the start and walks to the other selvedge, with the direction reversed. Turning this on while the starting thread is still at a selvedge moves it to the center for you. **Progress** * **Restart at thread** — keep the good work and redo the rest. Enter the thread where the mistake began and click **Restart**: the marks before that thread (in threading order) stay, that thread and everything after it are cleared, and the view jumps there. For example, after 300 threads you find the last 100 were wrong, so restart at 201 and the first 200 stay marked. * **Unmark All Threads** — clears every mark in the draft. **Foot pedal** The key (or pedal mapped to a key) that triggers **MARK THREADS**. Click **Set**, then press the key or pedal you want to use. The default is **Space**. **Sound** The same card as the Weave Assistant's, with what applies here: * **Volume** — shared with the Weave Assistant's chimes. * **Beep when marking** — the confirmation when a group is marked, with a ▶ button to hear it. * **Tick on Prev / Next** — the soft step tick, with its own ▶ button. * **Vibrate on taps and alerts** (phones and tablets) — a pulse when a group is marked, a step is taken, or an alert sounds. It works alongside the beeps or instead of them: turn the volume down and keep this on for silent feedback at the loom. Shared with the Weave Assistant. Plays a short confirmation chime each time you mark a group. Turn off for silent marking. **Display** * **Show heddle summary** — toggles the Shaft / Heddles table described above. * **Show color names** — displays each end's yarn line and color name as a vertical tag under its disc, so "the blue one" becomes "Bockens 8/2 Marine". Handy when a warp mixes similar colors. * **Show threading preview** — toggles the Threading Preview strip. * **Max shafts in preview** — how many shafts the preview shows (8–64, default 16). Bigger drafts can show more shafts; the tradeoff is less room for the discs. **Unmark All Threads** Clears **every** threaded mark in the draft, so you can start the threading over. Use this when you reopen an already-threaded draft and want a clean slate. (To clear only the group on screen, use **Unmark** in the navigation bar.) *** ### Typical Workflow 1. **Open the Thread Assistant** (Tools > Dobby > Thread Assistant) with your draft loaded. 2. In the **Settings panel**, answer the three **At the loom** questions (front or back, which way you thread, which side thread 1 is on), then set **Group size** and **Starting thread** — or turn on **Thread from the center outward**. 3. (Optional) Turn on **Show heddle summary** and pre-pull the heddles it lists for the first group. 4. Thread the ends shown in the **disc row**, matching each end to its **shaft number** and **color**. 5. Press **MARK THREADS** — or your **foot pedal / Space key** — to mark the group done and advance. 6. Repeat. Watch the **Threading Preview** and **Overview** bar fill in as you go. 7. Made a mistake? **Unmark** the current group (navigation bar) and re-thread it. Found it several groups later? Use **Restart at thread** in the Settings panel to keep the good threads and clear the rest. 8. When the last group is marked, threading is complete. *** ### Notes & Tips * **Progress is saved with the draft — automatically.** Threaded marks live in the `.wif` / `.twa` file (the `[TW THREAD ASSISTANT]` section). Every mark is written into the saved file a moment after you make it and again when the assistant window closes, without a Save and **even on a locked draft** (the lock guards the pattern, not your place). A draft that has never been saved has no file to write to, so save it once first. * **Cloud drafts.** The automatic writes stay on this computer. To carry your marks to another device, Save the draft and accept the offer to update the MyCloud copy. Opening from MyCloud keeps the marks already on this computer, as long as the cloud draft itself hasn't changed since. If MyCloud can't be reached when you save, the draft is still saved here, a notice says so, and an amber banner on the tab offers **Update MyCloud** until a push succeeds. * **Shared with mobile.** Because progress lives in the file, you can start threading on the desktop and continue in the TempoWeave mobile app at the loom — your marks carry over both ways. * **The assistant guides; it doesn't change your draft.** Marking a group threaded only records progress — it never alters your threading, colors, or shafts. * **Center-out threading** keeps the pattern centered in the reed: turn on **Thread from the center outward**. The assistant threads one half to the selvedge, then brings you back to the thread beside the center for the other half, reversing the direction for you. * **Threading from the back of the loom?** Choose **Back of the loom** under At the loom. The discs, the Threading Preview, and the shaft numbers all turn around to match what is in front of you. * **At the loom**, collapse the Settings panel and zoom the discs up (**+**) for a large, glanceable display, and drive everything from the foot pedal. *** *See also: Weave Assistant for the at-the-loom weaving companion, and Prepare Threading.*