Story Scaffold (Templates-Outline-Parts)
Architectural Lineage (Credits):
SwarmCraft is an architectural fork and deep rewrite of the multi-agent swarm engine created by Mojomast in mojomast/swarmussy.
SwarmCraft’s deterministic “Architect-style” layering is also derived from the meta-structure of Abstract Wiki Architect (AWA).
Full details: Credits & Lineage
POWERED BY GROK
The Story Scaffold is SwarmCraft’s structured planning layer used to generate and maintain narrative coherence. It is designed as a human-editable grid and a machine-usable schema.
It combines:
- Templates: what threads exist and how they should be paced
- Outline: chapters → parts mapping + per-part beats + part contracts
- Parts: the atomic unit the engine drafts/revises
The Scaffold lives inside the Story Bible:
data/story_bible/templates/<template_id>.jsondata/story_bible/outline.json
See: Story Bible
1) Why Parts Exist
SwarmCraft drafts and revises one Part at a time.
A Part is the atomic unit because it enables:
- stable, small prompt slices
- targeted regeneration (one slice)
- better continuity control
- precise status tracking in Matrix
Chapters are rollups over Parts.
Related:
2) Threads (Narrative Lanes)
A template defines the thread set used to structure the story, e.g.:
- Plot
- Character Development
- Philosophy
- Conflict
- Themes
- World-Building
- Emotion
- Symbolism and Imagery
- Structure
- Relationships
Threads are not the final prose. They are scaffolding lanes the engine uses to plan and draft.
3) Templates: Thread Set + Cadence + Default Parts/Chapter
A template defines:
- the thread list (rows in the grid)
- cadence rules (which threads are required per part/chapter, and at what frequency)
- default and allowed ranges for parts/chapter
- optional genre voice constraints
Schema: Schema Templates
4) Outline: Chapters → Parts + Per-Part Beats + Part Contract
The outline is the canonical story plan for a project.
It defines:
- chapters and their ordered parts
- for each part:
- beats per thread (grid cells)
- a “part contract” (goal / obstacle / turn / outcome)
- optional locks (protect manual edits)
Schema: Schema Outline
5) Grid View (Human Editing)
The UI projects the outline into a grid:
- Columns = Parts (
P001, P002, …)
- Rows = Threads (Plot, Character Dev, etc.)
- Cells = the beat for that thread in that part
This is designed to be:
- quick to scan
- easy to edit manually
- compatible with CSV round-trip when needed
Round-trip spec: Outline Grid CSV Round-Trip
6) How the Scaffold Drives Writing
During execution, SwarmCraft hydrates prompts with only the active Part slice:
- that Part’s thread beats
- that Part’s contract
- minimal continuity (previous part outcome, relevant character/lore snippets)
- style constraints
This prevents the system from “re-summarizing the whole story” every time.
Details: Orchestration Slice-by-Slice Prompt Hydration
7) Parts/Chapter: User-Configurable Splitting
Templates provide defaults, but the user can override:
- Children / picture book: typically
1 part = 1 chapter
- Novel: often
3 parts/chapter (default example)
- Complex long-form: up to
6 parts/chapter where needed
Important constraint:
- parts must have stable IDs; changing parts/chapter should preserve existing part IDs wherever possible, or explicitly create new parts with new IDs.
8) Orchestration Expectations (Recommended)
The engine SHOULD:
- treat empty cells as “no beat required” unless cadence says otherwise
- enforce cadence at plan-time (PLAN chooses what needs filling)
- use Editor to verify manuscript covers the contract + beats
- lock parts once stable to avoid regressions
9) How This Relates to Matrix
- Outline is creative intent.
- Matrix is runtime progress.
Matrix stores:
- status per Part (EMPTY/DRAFTING/REVIEW_READY/REVISION_NEEDED/LOCKED)
- manuscript paths and metrics
- active_task target
Matrix page: Central Matrix
10) Related Pages
