git:20260916.10e4843 to git:20260920.2677379

11 added, 1 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: story-maintenance

description: This skill should be used when the user asks to validate, reindex, repair registries, check links, check continuity, count words, summarize a story project, import an existing manuscript, export a manuscript, run the story CLI, or perform deterministic maintenance on a Story Skills markdown project.

---

# Story Maintenance

## Overview

Run deterministic maintenance for Story Skills projects. Use the CLI for structure validation, registry rebuilds, word counts, link checks, continuity checks, project reports, next-action reports, schema migration, entity helpers, manuscript import, and manuscript export. The creative skills still own story decisions; this skill handles mechanical consistency.

## CLI Access

Prefer the first available command:

1. `story <command>` - when the package bin is installed

2. `bun run story -- <command>` - when working from this repository

3. `node scripts/story.js <command>` - bundled fallback, resolving `scripts/story.js` relative to this skill folder

If none of these are available, perform the requested maintenance manually using the conventions in `story-init`.

Run the installed or bundled CLI in place. Do not copy `scripts/story.js` into the user's story project, and do not create project-local build scripts, generator scripts, or bulk writer scripts to generate story content. Story projects should remain markdown-first, plus explicitly requested exports such as `manuscript.md`.

## Commands

Run commands from the story project root, or pass the story path explicitly.

```shell

story validate .

story reindex .

story wordcount . --write

story links .

story continuity .

story series .

story import draft.md --title "Title"

story report .

story report . --actionable

story next .

story doctor .

story migrate .

story add character "Name"

story rename character old-id "New Name"

story remove promise old-promise

story export . --out manuscript.md

story build . --format markdown

story build . --format epub

story build . --format docx

+ story build . --format shunn

+ story build . --format docx --shunn

+ story knowledge sera-voss --at chapter-04

+ story add clue "The silver locket" --planted chapter-02 --payoff chapter-05

+ story synopsis --pages 1

+ story synopsis --pages 3 --out synopsis.md

```

Use:

- `validate` after initialization and at the end of any multi-file edit

- `reindex` after adding/removing/renaming characters, locations, systems, arcs, or chapters

- `wordcount --write` after writing or revising chapters

- `links` after changing character relationships, notable locations, arc participants, or chapter references

- - `continuity` after drafting or revising a chapter, and whenever the user asks about contradictions, dead characters appearing, unfired setups, or stale state; it deterministically checks `died-in` ordering, promise/question chapter ordering, Chekhov gaps, POV/cast consistency, and `continuity/state.md` references

+ - `continuity` after drafting or revising a chapter, and whenever the user asks about contradictions, dead characters appearing, unfired setups, or stale state; it deterministically checks `died-in` ordering, promise/question chapter ordering, Chekhov gaps, POV/cast consistency, and `continuity/state.md` references. It reuses the promise-ordering machinery for the clue ledger (`continuity/clues/`): payoff before plant is an error, a clue planted ≥3 chapters ago with no payoff is a warning, and a completed story with planned or planted clues is an error. It also checks prop custody — artifacts with `destroyed` or `lost` status must not be referenced after their destruction chapter (recorded in object-state `since: chapter-NN`; later scenes referencing them in `state-changes` or `mentions` are errors) — and clock/time plausibility when scenes or chapters carry `date: YYYY-MM-DD` / `time: HH:MM` frontmatter (time may be `dawn`, `morning`, `midday`, `afternoon`, `evening`, or `night`; scene `travel-hours: N` asserts minimum travel time). No dates means no time findings. Intentional exceptions go in `continuity/exemptions.md` (frontmatter `type: exemption-log`, entries with `pattern` + `reason`); exempted findings are reported as dismissed, not errors

- `series` when `story.md` has `follows` or `precedes` links to other books; it orders the linked sequels and prequels by chronology and checks shared canon (characters deceased in an earlier book, cast listings, facts relearned across books, name drift, destroyed artifacts). Use `init --follows <path>` or `init --precedes <path>` to start a linked book, and see the `series-continuity` skill for carrying canon across

- `import` when the user has an existing manuscript or chapter drafts and wants a Story Skills project built from them; follow up by creating character and location files from the printed entity candidates

- `report` when the user asks for project status, inventory, progress, or a quick health summary

- `next` before a drafting session to identify the next deterministic action

- `doctor` when the user asks what is stale, broken, or inconsistent

- `migrate` when a project has an older schema version or missing v2 paths

- `add`, `rename`, and `remove` for deterministic entity file operations when they fit the requested change

- `export` only when the user asks for a combined manuscript at a specific path

- `build` when the user asks to build the book artifact; supports markdown, EPUB, and DOCX outputs in `dist/`

+ - `build --format shunn` when the user wants Shunn manuscript-format markdown: title page, contact block, word count, chapter breaks, and double-spaced prose; `story build . --format docx --shunn` applies the same Shunn formatting to the DOCX output

+ - `knowledge` when the user asks what a character knew at a given chapter: `story knowledge <character-id> --at <chapter-id>` lists knowledge-state entries whose `learned-in` chapter is at or before that chapter, plus entries without `learned-in` as pre-existing knowledge

+ - `add clue` when the user plants a new clue: `story add clue "Name" --planted chapter-02 --payoff chapter-05` creates the clue ledger entity in `continuity/clues/`; omit `--payoff` when the payoff is not yet known

+ - `synopsis` when the user wants a mechanical synopsis compressed from the arcs and the causality ledger: `story synopsis [--pages 1|3] [--out file]`

## Failure Handling

- Treat CLI errors as actionable maintenance findings.

- Fix broken references, missing required files, stale registries, or incorrect word counts when the requested task implies doing so.

- Do not overwrite creative prose or story content merely to satisfy a mechanical check.

- If a validation warning reflects intentional user data, report it rather than silently changing it.