Getting started

This guide takes you from install to your first analyzed scene.

1. Install

NVS is a desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Download the build for your platform from the releases page and run the installer. Updates arrive automatically.

2. Open a project

NVS keeps a works library — a folder of projects, each a content/ of Markdown scenes plus a co-located .novel-scribe/ for analysis. On first launch it creates the library under your Documents folder.

• New work clones a sample project into the library.
• Open elsewhere… points NVS at any folder of .md scenes.

3. Write a scene

Scenes are plain Markdown with a light Fountain-adjacent dialect for dialogue:

INT. HARBOUR OFFICE - NIGHT

> Mara closes the ledger and slides it across the desk.

MARA
You knew the shipment was short before it left.

DELACROIX (THINKING)
She's been counting all along.

ALL-CAPS cues mark speakers, > marks action beats, (THINKING) is inner monologue. It's just text — agent-writable, diff-friendly, no special tokens.

4. Read the panels

As you write, the engine extracts each scene and updates the ledgers. Open the side panels to see threads advance, cast presence per scene, and any coherence findings. See Core concepts for what each panel means.

5. Bring a model (optional)

Deterministic analysis runs with no API key. AI extraction is configurable: bring an OpenRouter or Anthropic key, use your Claude subscription via MCP, or run a local model with Ollama.