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Search 577 documents about the world, characters, plot, research, decisions, workshops, and earlier ideas.

Current document 08 Story Loop/DESKTOP-WORKFLOW.md

Document metadata
type: story-loop-workflow
status: active
version: 0.3
updated: 2026-08-26

Desktop Workflow

This is the manual execution path. 08 Story Loop/DEVELOPMENT-ORCHESTRATOR is the controlling route. One session should normally process one scoped gap or Story Unit; adjacent units may be grouped only when their causal handoff is the actual problem.

Before the session

  1. Read START HERE, CURRENT, and RULES.
  2. Check repository changes and preserve unrelated work.
  3. Open STORY-MAP and select the highest-value unresolved unit or author-selected area.
  4. Run 08 Story Loop/GAP-ANALYZER and select one highest-value gap or tightly connected cluster.
  5. Classify the run: close-gap, strengthen-structure, or new-expansion; choose Micro, Standard, Deep, or Cascade mode.
  6. Create a run record from 08 Story Loop/Templates/development-run. Use the older 08 Story Loop/Templates/run-log only for legacy v0.1 unit runs.

Stage A — retrieve and prepare

  1. Open the Story Unit.
  2. Retrieve only its listed source notes and immediate dependencies.
  3. Update the unit's known facts, constraints, missing decisions, and contradictions without solving them.
  4. Prepare a Brainstorm Packet from 08 Story Loop/Templates/brainstorm-packet.

For a creative/inspiration session, reconcile recent author answers into canon first, then use Research → Creative Possibilities / Inspiration Pass with an explicit cutoff and exclusions. Do not let app ideas, implementation planning, or other adjacent work enter the story pass unless separately requested.

Author Gate A — brainstorm scope

The author confirms or corrects what the unit is meant to accomplish and brainstorms the unresolved questions. Extract statements into:

  • accepted decisions;
  • working preferences;
  • possible ideas;
  • rejected ideas;
  • still unanswered questions.

Do not treat conversational exploration as blanket approval.

Stage B — build and attack

  1. Generate compact alternatives before expansion unless the author has already selected the structure.
  2. The Architect expands only the selected working branch from accepted decisions and current sources.
  3. Use 08 Story Loop/CHARACTER-FACTORY only for roles the structure requires.
  4. Run the relevant Character, Causality, Continuity, Structure, System, Creative Interest, Listener-Clarity, and Cost critics independently; do not run every critic automatically.
  5. Record each report with 08 Story Loop/Templates/critique.
  6. The Integration Editor repairs only authorized issues.
  7. Stop after two revision cycles if a load-bearing choice remains.

When a readable test would answer something the outline cannot, build 08 Story Loop/Templates/development-chapter-packet and generate one short non-canon prototype with 08 Story Loop/DEVELOPMENT-PROTOTYPE-STYLE. Do not polish it as manuscript prose.

Author Gate B — creative decisions

Present only decisions that change story facts or select between viable structures. For each, give:

  • the exact decision;
  • why it matters now;
  • two or three viable options when useful;
  • consequences of each option;
  • a free author response path.

Stage C — integration

  1. Produce a final candidate Story Unit with all authority labels visible.
  2. List affected compiled notes before editing them.
  3. Ask for explicit author approval to integrate.
  4. Update the Story Unit, affected compiled notes, 07 QA/Decisions.md when appropriate, and STORY-MAP.
  5. Preserve unresolved questions in the unit and context files.

Author Gate C — integration approval

The author approves the exact decision set and affected-file list. Approval is scoped to that set.

Stage D — close the run

  1. Complete the run log.
  2. Add repeated failures to 08 Story Loop/Evaluations/Failure Modes.
  3. Identify the next highest-value unit from the map.
  4. Verify links and repository diff.
  5. Commit or publish only when separately authorized.
  6. If the output is an inspiration portfolio, leave its review board UNREVIEWED, name one next author-gate question, and keep every candidate out of canon until the author responds.

First desktop command in plain language

Open S-002, review its Brainstorm Packet, and ask me the Author Gate A questions without inventing the inciting event.