Audio Editor

• 1: Menu and Navigation Bar
• 2: Workspace
• 3: Objects Sidebar
• 4: Controls Sidebar

1 - Menu and Navigation Bar

The Audio Editor top bar contains job actions, save and undo controls, and audio playback navigation.

Menu

Open the Menu to manage the current job:

Item	Description
Upload annotations	Imports interval annotations into the job. Audio tasks use the Generic TSV 1.0 format.
Export job dataset	Exports interval annotations.
Remove annotations	Removes all intervals, or only the intervals in a selected time range. The removal is saved only after you save the job.
Run actions	Annotation actions are currently not available for audio jobs.
Open the task	Opens the task details page.
Change job state	Changes the job state to New, In Progress, Rejected, or Completed.
Finish the job	Saves the annotations and sets the job state to Completed.

Save, undo, and redo

Button	Description
Save	Submits unsaved interval changes to the server. Default shortcuts: Ctrl+S ⌘+S
Undo	Reverses the latest interval creation, deletion, or edit in the current session. Default shortcuts: Ctrl+Z ⌘+Z
Redo	Restores the most recently undone interval change. Default shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+Z Ctrl+Y ⌘+Shift+Z

Playback navigation

Use the player controls to play or pause the audio and move the playhead:

Button	Description
Jump to start	Moves the playhead to the beginning of the recording.
Long step backward	Moves the playhead backward by 5% of the currently visible waveform. Default shortcut: C.
Short step backward	Moves the playhead backward by 0.5% of the currently visible waveform. Default shortcut: D.
Play/Pause	Starts or pauses playback. Default shortcut: Space.
Short step forward	Moves the playhead forward by 0.5% of the currently visible waveform. Default shortcut: F.
Long step forward	Moves the playhead forward by 5% of the currently visible waveform. Default shortcut: V.
Jump to end	Moves the playhead to the end of the recording.

Job information and Annotation Mode

Control	Description
Fullscreen	Toggles fullscreen mode for the Audio Editor.
Guide	Opens the task guide when one is configured.
Info	Opens job statistics, including the total audio duration, region count, and per-label region counts, duration, and coverage.
Filters	Restricts the intervals shown in the sidebar and waveform. See Filters.
Annotation mode	The drop-down list to switch between different annotation modes: Audio annotation is currently the only available annotation mode for audio jobs.

2 - Workspace

The Audio Editor workspace displays the recording as a waveform. The vertical playhead marks the current playback position, and colored regions represent audio intervals.

Navigate the waveform

Move through the recording

• Click the waveform to move the playhead to that time. To move through a zoomed recording, use the horizontal scrollbar, horizontal scrolling on a supported mouse or touchpad, or Shift+mouse wheel.

• The minimap shows the entire recording. Click it to move to a time, or drag its visible-area overlay to scroll the waveform horizontally.

  

• Click Center waveform on playback position button at the top right corner of the waveform to bring the current playhead into view.

  

Zoom and inspect

• Use the Zoom control or scroll the mouse wheel over the waveform to change the time scale.

• The hover guide shows the timestamp at the pointer position, and timeline tick marks and labels adjust automatically to the current zoom level.

  

• Drag the handle below the minimap to change the waveform height.

  

Select and edit intervals

Action	Description
Select	Click an interval on the waveform or select it in the Objects Sidebar to make it active. Default shortcuts: Next visible interval: Tab Previous visible interval: Shift+Tab Each shortcut selects and centers the interval on the waveform.
Move	Drag an interval to change its position. Hold Alt while dragging to snap either boundary to a nearby boundary of another visible interval. If both boundaries have eligible snap targets, CVAT uses the closest one.
Resize	Drag either boundary to change its start or end time. When you resize an interval beyond the visible edge, the waveform scrolls automatically. Hold Alt to snap the boundary being resized to a nearby boundary of another visible interval. It cannot snap to the other boundary of the same interval.
Bulk resize	Hold Shift near adjacent interval boundaries to highlight nearby unlocked boundaries, then drag to resize them together.

Interval details

When you select an interval, its details panel appears below the waveform.

Header

Image	Description
	The header shows the interval number, label, source when available, start and end time, and duration. Use the label selector to change its label.
	Playback controls move the playhead to the interval start or end, or play the interval once. Default shortcuts: Set playback to start: Shift+D Play once: Shift+Space Set playback to end: Shift+F
	State controls lock, pin, or hide the interval. Locked intervals cannot be edited, moved, or resized. Pinned intervals cannot be moved. Hidden intervals are not shown on the waveform. Default shortcuts: Lock/Unlock: L Pin/Unpin: P Hide/Show: H
	The More actions menu lets you fit the waveform to the interval, copy its URL, duplicate it, change its color when available, or delete it. Default shortcuts: Fit interval: I Delete: Del Force-delete a locked interval: Shift+Del

Edit attributes

All attributes are expanded by default. Edit their values or collapse them as needed. Available attributes depend on the selected label.

Play and manage intervals

• Double-click an interval on the waveform to play it once.

• Right-click it to open the context menu, where you can:

  • Fit the waveform to the interval.
  • Copy the interval URL.
  • Duplicate the interval.
  • Change its color, when available.
  • Delete the interval.

  

For interval creation, see Create intervals.

3 - Objects Sidebar

The Audio Editor objects sidebar contains the intervals list, label controls, and appearance settings.

Intervals list

Image	Description
	The list shows every interval in the job, including hidden intervals. Click an item to make it active, or double-click it to play it once.
	Use Sort by to order the list by ID, start time, end time, duration, or label name.
	Bulk controls lock, pin, or hide all applicable intervals. Default shortcuts: Lock/Unlock all: T, then L Pin/Unpin all: T, then P Hide/Show all: T, then H

Interval actions

Each interval card includes playback, state, and more actions:

Image	Description
	The header shows the interval number, label, source when available, start and end time, and duration. Use the label selector to change its label.
	Playback controls move the playhead to the interval start or end, or play the interval once. Default shortcuts: Set playback to start: Shift+D Play once: Shift+Space Set playback to end: Shift+F
	State controls lock, pin, or hide the interval. Locked intervals cannot be edited, moved, or resized. Pinned intervals cannot be moved. Hidden intervals are not shown on the waveform. Default shortcuts: Lock/Unlock: L Pin/Unpin: P Hide/Show: H
	The More actions menu lets you fit the waveform to the interval, copy its URL, duplicate it, change its color when available, or delete it. Default shortcuts: Fit interval: I Delete: Del Force-delete a locked interval: Shift+Del

Labels and appearance

Image	Description
	The labels section lets you manage interval visibility and locking by label.
	In Appearance, choose whether interval colors are determined by Label or Instance and adjust the general and selected interval opacity.

4 - Controls Sidebar

Use the controls sidebar to create and split intervals, and control playback settings.

Control	Description
Cursor	Returns to the selection mode and cancels an active interval creation or recording mode. Default shortcut: Esc.
Audio interval tools	Opens Draw, Record, and Extend tools and default label selection. See Create intervals.
Split interval at playback position	To split an interval, place the playhead strictly inside it and click the button. CVAT splits the target interval into two intervals with the same label, attributes, and color. A locked or hidden interval cannot be split. If multiple intervals are eligible and one is active, CVAT splits the active interval. If multiple intervals are eligible and none is active, CVAT lets you choose which interval to split. Default shortcut: Alt+M.
Loop interval playback	Toggles looping playback for the active interval. Default shortcut: R.
Zoom	Changes the waveform time scale: x1-x300. Minimum base display rate is 8px/second.
Volume	Changes the playback volume: 0-100%.
Speed	Changes the playback speed: 0.1x-4x.

To change default shortcuts, see Shortcuts.

Create intervals

Open the Audio interval control and choose a label. You can then use one of the following methods:

Method	How it works
Draw	Drag over the waveform to define an interval. You can drag in either direction. Hold Alt when setting the start or end to snap that boundary to a nearby boundary of a visible interval. Default shortcut: N.
Record	Start recording at the current playhead position. Press play to start recording. Press pause to set the end time. Press Esc to cancel an unfinished recording. Default shortcut: Shift+N.
Extend	Creates a new interval from the end of the nearest preceding interval to the current playhead. If there is no preceding interval, it starts at the beginning of the recording. Default shortcut: Shift+E.