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Getting Started

Getting Started

This guide walks you through the basics using three-little-pigs, a small reference project you can clone and explore.

Clone the reference project 

$ git clone https://github.com/poiesic/three-little-pigs.git
$ cd three-little-pigs

Project structure 

three-little-pigs/
├── .claude/skills/    agent skills
├── CLAUDE.md          agent instructions
├── STYLE.md           voice & prose style guide
├── TOOLS.md           tool documentation
├── TROPES.md          trope reference
├── book.yaml          front matter + scene order
├── scenes/            scene prose (markdown)
│   ├── brad-house.md
│   ├── terence-house.md
│   └── susan-house.md
├── characters/        character profiles (yaml)
│   ├── brad.yaml
│   ├── kevin.yaml
│   ├── susan.yaml
│   └── terence.yaml
├── storydb/           continuity data (csv)
├── appendices/        supporting documents
├── assets/            images and media
├── build/             generated output
└── pandoc-templates/  manuscript formatting

The key file is book.yaml, which defines the manuscript structure:

---
title: three-little-pigs
author: "Kevin Smith"
---
book:
  base_dir: "scenes"
  chapters:
  - scenes:
    - brad-house
  - scenes:
    - terence-house
  - scenes:
    - susan-house

Each chapter lists its scenes by slug. The slugs map to Markdown files in scenes/.

Try some commands 

# View the table of contents
$ nib ma toc

# Check word count and scene stats
$ nib ma status

# Build the manuscript as Markdown
$ nib ma build

# Build as DOCX
$ nib ma build --format docx

Explore the characters 

# List character profiles
$ nib pr list

# Open a profile in your editor
$ nib pr edit brad

# Talk to the Big Bad Wolf at chapter 3, scene 1
$ nib pr talk kevin 3.1

Index continuity data

Extract structured data from the scenes using the agent backend:

# Index all scenes
$ nib ct index

# Index just chapter 1
$ nib ct index 1

Every extracted record is presented for single-keypress review before it enters the database. Nothing is saved without your approval.

Query the story

Once indexed, ask questions in plain English:

$ nib ct ask "what material did each pig use for their house?"

Start your own project

When you’re ready to start fresh:

$ nib init my-novel
$ cd my-novel

# Add chapters and scenes
$ nib ch add --name "The Beginning"
$ nib sc add 1 opening-scene

# Start writing
$ nib sc edit opening-scene

What’s next?

  • Learn about Configuration to understand book.yaml and character profiles
  • Read about Concepts like dotted notation and continuity tracking
  • Browse the full Commands reference
InstallationConfiguration