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Eric Rhys Taylor edited this page Feb 7, 2026 · 17 revisions

Inquiry

Inquiry is Radial Timeline's second view — a dedicated visual interface for corpus-level story analysis. While the main Timeline view and its AI Analysis evaluate individual scenes in triplets, Inquiry takes a higher-altitude perspective — scanning your entire manuscript (or multi-book saga) to surface structural signals, loose ends, continuity issues, and narrative gaps.

The Inquiry visual interface with Flow and Depth rings
Inquiry view — visual glyph with Flow and Depth analysis rings

Overview

Inquiry sends your manuscript corpus to an AI provider and asks structured questions organized into three narrative zones. The AI returns findings with severity ratings, confidence levels, and scene citations that are visualized in the Inquiry glyph.

Commands:

  • Open Inquiry — Opens the Inquiry view
  • Inquiry: Run Omnibus Pass — Runs all enabled questions in a single batch

Settings: Settings#inquiry

Key Concepts

Zones

Inquiry organizes questions into three narrative zones that correspond to the structural arc of your story:

Zone Focus Examples
Setup Foundations and introductions Character introductions, world-building, initial stakes
Pressure Escalation and conflict Rising tension, subplot intersections, pacing
Payoff Resolution and conclusion Loose ends, thematic resonance, climactic impact

Modes

Each Inquiry run produces two complementary analyses:

  • Flow — Evaluates narrative momentum: pacing, tension arcs, scene-to-scene energy, and structural rhythm.
  • Depth — Evaluates thematic substance: character development, motif recurrence, emotional resonance, and subtext.

The Inquiry glyph visualizes both scores as concentric rings, giving you a snapshot of your story's structural health.

Scope

  • Book — Analyzes scenes within the current source path (single manuscript).
  • Saga (Σ) — Expands analysis across multiple books using configured scan folders, ideal for series continuity checks.

The Inquiry Glyph

The visual interface centers on a radial glyph:

  • Flow ring (outer) — Represents narrative momentum score (0–1).
  • Depth ring (inner) — Represents thematic depth score (0–1).
  • Zone segments — Three segments (Setup, Pressure, Payoff) around the glyph show per-zone health.
  • Minimap — Scene citations from findings are highlighted, showing where issues cluster in your manuscript.

Click zone segments or findings to drill into specific analysis results.

Running an Inquiry

Single Question

  1. Open the Inquiry view (Open Inquiry command or click the Inquiry ribbon icon).
  2. Select your scope (Book or Saga).
  3. Choose a zone (Setup, Pressure, or Payoff).
  4. Select a question from the prompt library.
  5. Click Run to send the corpus to your configured AI provider.
  6. Review findings in the results panel — each finding includes a headline, impact rating, confidence level, and scene citations.

Omnibus Pass

The Omnibus Pass runs all enabled questions across all three zones in sequence. Use the Inquiry: Run Omnibus Pass command or the Omnibus button in the Inquiry view.

Corpus & Material Modes

Inquiry builds a "corpus" from your manuscript files before sending them to the AI. You can control what each YAML class contributes:

Material Mode What Is Sent Best For
Full Complete note body content Scenes you want deep analysis on
Summary Synopsis field only Context without token overhead
None Excluded entirely Reference notes, worldbuilding docs you want to skip

Configure per-class material modes in Settings#inquiry-sources.

Corpus Content (CC) Thresholds

The Corpus system classifies notes by word count to help you spot thin content:

Tier Default Threshold
Empty < 10 words
Sketchy ≥ 100 words
Medium ≥ 300 words
Substantive ≥ 1,000 words

When Highlight completed docs with low substance is enabled, completed notes that remain Empty or Sketchy are flagged. Adjust thresholds in Settings#inquiry-corpus.

Findings

Each Inquiry result contains findings — specific observations the AI identified:

Finding Kind Description
Loose end An element introduced but never resolved
Continuity A consistency issue between scenes
Escalation A tension or stakes progression issue
Conflict A structural or thematic conflict
Unclear An ambiguous element needing clarification

Each finding includes:

  • Impact rating (low / medium / high)
  • Confidence level (low / medium / high)
  • Status (introduced / escalated / resolved / dropped / unclear)
  • Scene citations linking back to specific notes

Briefings & Artifacts

  • Auto-save: When enabled, Inquiry saves a brief after each successful run to your configured Artifact folder (default Radial Timeline/Inquiry/Briefing).
  • Embed JSON payload: Optionally includes the raw validated JSON response in the artifact file.
  • Session cache: Stores recent Inquiry sessions for fast reloads (configurable limit, default 30 sessions).

Action Notes

Inquiry can write findings directly into your scene frontmatter:

  • Enable: Toggle Write Inquiry action notes to scenes in Settings#inquiry.
  • Target field: Findings are appended to the configured YAML field (default Pending Edits).
  • Purge: Use the purge function in the Inquiry view to remove all Inquiry-generated action notes from scenes.

Prompts

Inquiry comes with built-in prompt questions for each zone. You can also add custom questions:

  • Free: Up to 2 custom questions per zone.
  • Pro: Up to 7 custom questions per zone.
  • Drag to reorder questions within a zone.
  • Toggle individual questions on/off.
  • Reset to built-in defaults using the restore button.

Configure prompts in Settings#inquiry-prompts.

Scan Folders & Class Scope

Control which vault content Inquiry can access:

  • Scan folders: Limit scans to specific paths. Supports wildcards (e.g., /Book 1-7 */) and / for vault root.
  • Class scope: Filter which YAML Class values are scanned. Use / to allow all classes.
  • Presets: Choose Default (recommended), Light (fast, lower token usage), or Deep (comprehensive, higher token usage).

Configure sources in Settings#inquiry-sources.

Tips

  • Start with Book scope and a single question to calibrate before running an Omnibus Pass.
  • Use Summary material mode for large manuscripts to reduce token usage while maintaining context.
  • Review the token estimate indicator before running — amber and red tiers indicate high token consumption.
  • Combine Inquiry findings with AI Analysis for both macro and micro-level feedback.
  • Inquiry works with all supported AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Local LLM).

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