scrib
Editorial infrastructure for fiction writers.
A CLI that handles the mechanics of your novel project—scaffolding, scene management, manuscript builds, and continuity tracking—so you can focus on the writing.
Get StartedFocus on writing
Continuity tracking, manuscript assembly, and project bookkeeping are tedious and error-prone. Scrib automates them so you can stay in the story.
Augment, not replace
Scrib is not an AI ghostwriter and never will be. It handles complicated tasks that resisted automation in the past, helping you create your best work.
Editor agnostic
Write in Emacs, VS Code, or whatever you're fastest in. Scrib doesn't force you into a specific editing environment.
Plaintext everything
Scenes are Markdown, structure is YAML, continuity data is CSV. Every file in your project is human-readable text—no proprietary formats, no lock-in.
Version control native
Because everything is plaintext, your novel works with git out of the box. Diffs are meaningful and merges work.
Automation friendly
A CLI, not a GUI. Script your workflow, integrate with other tools, and never repeat the same sequence of clicks again.
What scrib does
Project scaffolding
scrib init creates a complete directory
structure—scenes, characters, storydb, build config, and four Claude Code
skills—ready to write.
Scene management
Add, move, and reorder scenes. Open them in your editor or launch a Claude session for review.
Chapter organization
Insert, list, and remove chapters. Scene order lives in book.yaml—a single source of truth for your manuscript's structure.
Manuscript builds
Assemble scenes into a complete manuscript and export to DOCX, PDF, or EPUB via Pandoc. Supports Shunn manuscript format.
AI-assisted editing
Four bundled Claude Code skills—review, copy-edit, continuity check, and voice analysis—launched directly from the CLI.
Continuity tracking
Extract characters, locations, timeline events, and facts from your scenes. Catch contradictions before your readers do.
Character interviews
Talk to your characters in-voice at any point in the story. Claude role-plays using the character's profile and knowledge of events up to the scene you specify.
Installation
Prerequisites
- Pandoc — for manuscript builds (docx, pdf, epub)
- Claude Code — for continuity indexing, critique, and copy-editing
Install scrib
Download the latest release for your platform from the GitHub releases page, extract the binary, and place it somewhere on your PATH.
# Verify it's working $ scrib version scrib 1.0.0 (abc123) 2026-03-20
Quick start
Create a project
$ scrib init my-novel $ cd my-novel # Add a chapter and scene $ scrib chapter add --name "The Beginning" $ scrib scene add 1 opening-scene # Start writing $ scrib scene edit opening-scene
What you get
my-novel/ ├── .claude/skills/ Claude Code skills ├── CLAUDE.md project instructions ├── STYLE.md voice & prose style guide ├── book.yaml front matter + scene order ├── scenes/ scene prose (markdown) ├── characters/ character profiles (yaml) ├── storydb/ continuity data (csv) ├── appendices/ supporting documents ├── assets/ images and media ├── build/ generated output ├── pandoc-templates/ manuscript formatting └── .gitignore
Ask your manuscript anything
# Ask natural language questions about your story $ scrib ct ask "What color are Sarah's eyes?" $ scrib ct ask "When did Marcus first meet the detective?" $ scrib ct ask "Are there any timeline conflicts in chapters 3-7?" --range 3-7
Uses your indexed continuity data and scene files to answer questions about plot, characters, and timeline—with citations back to specific scenes.
Commands
Aliases: ch (chapter),
sc (scene),
pr (character),
ma (manuscript),
ct (continuity)
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Manuscript | |
| scrib manuscript build [--format] | Build manuscript (md / docx / pdf / epub) |
| scrib manuscript status | Word count, scene stats, unassigned scenes |
| scrib manuscript toc | Show table of contents with dotted notation |
| scrib manuscript critique <range> | Review scenes with Claude Code |
| scrib manuscript proof <range> | Copy-edit scenes with Claude Code |
| Continuity | |
| scrib continuity index [range] | Extract structured data from scenes via Claude |
| scrib continuity recap <range> | Output a JSON recap of chapters from indexed data |
| scrib continuity ask <question> | Ask a plain-English question about your novel |
| scrib continuity reset | Clear all indexed continuity data |
| Characters | |
| scrib character add <slug> | Create a new character profile |
| scrib character list | List all character profiles |
| scrib character edit <slug> | Open a character profile in your editor |
| scrib character remove <slug> | Remove a character profile |
| scrib character interview <slug> <scene> | Role-play as a character at a specific point in the story |
| Project | |
| scrib init <name> | Scaffold a new novel project |
| Chapters | |
| scrib chapter add [--name] [--at] | Insert a new chapter |
| scrib chapter list | List chapters with scene counts |
| scrib chapter remove <index> | Remove a chapter (files stay on disk) |
| Scenes | |
| scrib scene add <ch> <slug> | Add a scene to a chapter |
| scrib scene list [--chapter <n>] | List scenes by chapter |
| scrib scene move <from> <to> | Reorder scenes (e.g. 3.2 to 4.1) |
| scrib scene edit [slug] | Open in your editor |