StoryLine transforms your Obsidian vault into a complete novel planning and writing workspace — scene boards, plot grids, a timeline with chronological and reading-order views, character maps, and built-in setup/payoff tracking. Works on desktop and mobile. All stored as plain Markdown you own.
"Every scene, character, and plot thread — tracked, linked, and validated automatically."
StoryLine keeps everything in your Obsidian vault — plain Markdown files with YAML frontmatter you own and can edit directly. No cloud lock-in, no subscriptions. The Link Scanner auto-detects characters and locations in your prose, the Story Graph maps every connection, and seven-category plot validation catches issues before your readers do.
Purpose-built views and tools that cover every stage of the writing process, from first outline to final export.
Freeform spatial canvas for brainstorming. Pin text and image sticky notes, arrange ideas visually, then convert them into full scenes with one click. Supports markdown and [[wikilinks]].
BrainstormingKanban-style scene cards organized by act, chapter, or status. Drag scenes between columns, color-code by POV or emotion, and bulk-edit with multi-select.
Scene managementSpreadsheet-style grid inspired by J.K. Rowling's planning method. Map scenes against plotlines and themes. Auto-Note mode populates cells from your prose, Codex entity pills auto-tag characters and locations, and a tabbed cell inspector shows linked metadata at a glance.
Story structure Desktop onlyChronological scene timeline with visual intensity markers. Supports ten non-linear narrative modes — flashback, parallel, frame, circular, and more. Swimlane grouping by act, POV, or location.
ChronologyTrack plotlines across your entire story with a transit-style subway map or classic list view. Gradient SVG connectors link shared scenes across act dividers. Assign per-tag colors with one click.
Plotline trackingScrivenings-style continuous document with embedded Live Preview editors. The Navigator sidebar scrolls to any scene; the Scene Details Inspector auto-follows your cursor showing metadata, tags, and setup/payoff links. Supports dark and light mode.
WritingA unified hub for Characters, Locations, and custom categories — Items, Factions, Magic Systems, anything you need. Rich profiles with portraits, image galleries, a force-directed relationship map, and a Story Graph. Series mode shares the Codex across books.
World-buildingEight collapsible sections: Overview, Writing Sprint, Writing History, Progress Breakdown, Characters & World, Pacing & Tension, Prose Analysis, and Warnings. Includes the Validator with seven-category plot hole detection and setup/payoff tracking.
AnalyticsSix export formats: Markdown, JSON, CSV, HTML, Word (DOCX), and PDF. Export an outline with metadata and statistics, or a full manuscript ready for editors. DOCX includes configurable page layout and font settings.
PublishingSwitch between views instantly. Each perspective reveals something different about your manuscript.
The Corkboard is your creative sandbox — a freeform spatial canvas where ideas begin. Create color-coded sticky notes to capture thoughts, pin reference art and maps as image notes, and arrange everything visually.
When an idea is ready, convert it into a full scene with one click. Notes support markdown and [[wikilinks]] — links in captions are included in relationship scanning, connecting brainstorming directly to the story graph.
The Board is your command center — a visual Kanban where every scene is a card. Move scenes through your six-stage pipeline from idea to polished draft.
Color-code by POV character, emotional tone, act, or any custom tag. Multi-select cards for bulk status changes or reorganization.
Inspired by J.K. Rowling's legendary planning grids — map every scene against your plotlines, themes, or character arcs to see the whole story at once.
Auto-Note mode populates cells from your prose. Codex entity pills auto-tag characters and locations in each cell. A tabbed cell inspector shows linked metadata, and sticky headers keep labels visible while you scroll through long novels.
The Timeline plots your scenes in two modes — Reading Order (as written) and Chronological Order (as events happen in the story world). Switch instantly with the toolbar dropdown. No other writing tool makes both axes equally first-class.
Swimlane grouping by POV, location, or tag shows how different threads weave across the story. Ten non-linear narrative modes (flashback, parallel, frame, dream, and more) provide visual indicators and intelligently suppress false validation warnings.
The Plotlines view maps every story thread across your narrative. The transit-style subway map uses flat SVG lanes with gradient connectors between shared scenes, act dividers, and labeled station nodes with tag pills.
Assign per-tag colors with one click from the header palette. Switch to list view for a compact plotline-by-plotline overview. Rename or delete plotlines across all scenes at once.
The Manuscript view presents your entire story as a single scrollable document. Each scene is an embedded Live Preview editor — click into any scene and start writing without leaving the view.
Act and chapter headings appear automatically. Plain Text mode hides wiki-link styling for clean prose. Lock Links prevents accidental edits to wikilinks and tags. The Navigator sidebar and Scene Details Inspector follow whichever scene you're reading.
Focus Mode
The Codex is a unified hub for Characters, Locations, and any custom categories you create — Items, Factions, Magic Systems, Creatures. Rich profiles include seven collapsible sections, portrait images, and image galleries.
An interactive force-directed relationship map visualizes how characters connect. The Story Graph goes further — linking scenes, characters, locations, and props into a visual knowledge graph driven by the Link Scanner, which auto-detects character and location names in plain text — no [[brackets]] required.
The Stats Dashboard packs eight collapsible sections — Overview, Writing Sprint, Writing History, Progress Breakdown, Characters & World, Pacing & Tension, Prose Analysis, and Warnings — giving you a complete diagnostic snapshot of your manuscript.
The built-in Validator scans for plot holes across seven categories: timeline, characters, plotlines, setup/payoff, structure, continuity/pacing, and timeline gaps. It's aware of non-linear narrative modes, so flashbacks and parallel timelines don't trigger false warnings.
StoryLine is built on the belief that story planning software should help you think, not get in the way.
Explicit scene-level foreshadowing and resolution links — connect any setup to its payoff across your manuscript. Warns when a setup has no payoff.
Auto-detects [[wikilinks]], #tags, and plain-text name mentions in prose and builds a visual knowledge graph connecting scenes, characters, locations, and props.
Automated validation across seven categories: timeline, characters, plotlines, setup/payoff, structure, continuity/pacing, and timeline gaps. Timeline-mode aware.
Switch the timeline between chronological and reading order with swimlane grouping. Built-in flashback support and 10 timeline display modes.
Group books into a series with a shared Codex. Characters, locations, and custom categories stored once, shared across all books.
Four Catppuccin variants and mood-based palettes with customization possibilities. Support for light and dark theme.
Filter by status, character, location, tag, or text. Save named presets for quick reuse. Shared across all views.
Dims sidebars and darkens non-active scenes in the Manuscript view. Optional blur keeps your eyes on the paragraph you're writing.
All data stored as Markdown + YAML you own. No subscriptions, no lock-in, no AI. Git-compatible. Free and open source.
Save and restore project-wide layout snapshots — corkboard positions, Plot Grid state, and scene ordering. Auto-saves while a snapshot is active.
Import a .scriv project as a new StoryLine project. Attempts to convert scenes, characters, locations, and research. Supports Scrivener 2 & 3. Results may vary.
Compared across 22 writing tools — from Scrivener and Plottr to Campfire, Novelcrafter, and beyond.
| Capability | Scrivener | Novelcrafter | Campfire | StoryLine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup / Payoff tracking | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Auto link detection in prose | — | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Chronological & reading-order timeline | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Plot hole validation (7 categories) | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Multiple plotlines | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Series mode with shared Codex | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Corkboard / spatial canvas | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free & open source | — | — | — | ✓ |
Based on a feature-by-feature comparison of 22 writing tools.
StoryLine covers every stage — plan, draft, validate, and export — inside a single Obsidian plugin.
Brainstorm on the Corkboard, outline scenes on the Board, structure plotlines on the Grid and Timeline.
Write in the Manuscript view with embedded editors — or open individual scene files in Obsidian's native editor.
The Validator automatically catches plot holes, missing payoffs, timeline gaps, and pacing issues across seven categories.
Export a print-ready DOCX or PDF manuscript, a structured outline, or raw data in Markdown, JSON, CSV, or HTML.
StoryLine is free and open source. Install via PluginHub or manually and start your first project in minutes.
See how StoryLine compares to Scrivener, Plottr, Campfire, World Anvil, and 20+ other tools.
View ComparisonBrowse the source code, open issues, or join the community discussion on GitHub.
View on GitHubSearch for @pixerojan on GitHub with PluginHub, or download manually and unzip into .obsidian/plugins/.
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