Claude Book Framework

A multi-agent framework for writing novels with Claude Code.

Structure

├── CLAUDE.md                 # Orchestrator instructions
├── .claude/skills/           # Reusable skills
│   ├── book-analyzer/        # Extract bible from source book
│   ├── bible-merger/         # Merge multiple analyses
│   ├── story-ideator/        # Generate original storylines
│   └── perplexity-improver/  # Reduce AI-detectable patterns
├── agents/                   # See .claude/agents/ for definitions
├── .claude/agents/           # Agent definitions (planner, writer, reviewers)
├── analysis/                 # Source book analysis
│   ├── src/                  # Source books (txt/md)
│   └── output/               # Generated analyses
├── bible/                    # PERMANENT - never changes during writing
│   ├── style.md              # Writing style rules
│   ├── structure.md          # Narrative structure patterns
│   ├── characters/           # One file per character
│   └── universe/             # Locations and world-building
├── state/                    # TRANSIENT - versioned per chapter
│   ├── current/              # Symlink → latest chapter state
│   ├── chapter-NN/           # Archived states after each chapter
│   └── template/             # State file templates
├── story/                    # The actual story
│   ├── synopsis.md           # Story pitch and summary
│   ├── plan.md               # Chapter outline
│   └── chapters/             # Generated chapters
├── timeline/                 # Event tracking
│   ├── history.md            # All past chapters (append-only)
│   └── current-chapter.md    # Current chapter events
├── ebook/                    # Ebook generation
│   ├── build-ebook.ps1       # PowerShell build script
│   ├── config/book.yaml      # Book metadata and settings
│   └── templates/epub.css    # EPUB styling
├── scripts/perplexity/       # Perplexity analysis script
└── .work/                    # Temporary files (gitignored)

Workflow

1. Setup: Fill in bible/ with your style guide, characters, and locations
2. Plan: Write story/synopsis.md and story/plan.md
3. Initialize: Set initial state in state/template/, create symlink state/current/
4. Generate: Run orchestrator - it will:
   • Plan chapter beats (planner agent)
   • Write chapter (writer agent)
   • Run perplexity-improver to reduce cliches and AI patterns
   • Lint style (style-linter agent)
   • Review characters (character-reviewer agent)
   • Review continuity (continuity-reviewer agent)
   • Loop if issues found (max 3 iterations)
   • Update state files (create state/chapter-NN/, update symlink)
   • Append to timeline/history.md
   • Save final chapter
5. Export: Generate ebook with ebook/build-ebook.ps1

Key principles

• bible/ is read-only during generation
• state/ is versioned per chapter (state/chapter-NN/), symlink current/ points to latest
• timeline/history.md is append-only
• All agents output in .work/ for review
• Gates must pass before proceeding

Agents

Agent definitions are in .claude/agents/. Each agent has:

• YAML frontmatter (name, description, model, tools)
• Detailed instructions for its role

Agent	Purpose
chapter-planner	Creates detailed chapter beats from synopsis
chapter-writer	Writes chapter drafts following style guide
style-linter	Validates compliance with bible/style.md
character-reviewer	Checks character consistency and voice
continuity-reviewer	Checks timeline and spatial logic
state-updater	Extracts state changes after validation

The orchestrator (CLAUDE.md) invokes these agents automatically.

Perplexity Improver

Reduces cliches and AI-detectable patterns by rewriting low-perplexity sentences.

Prerequisites:

• NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support (~16 GB VRAM recommended)
• uv (Python package manager)
• Default model: Ministral-3-8B

/perplexity-improver story/chapters/chapitre-05.md

• Analyzes text using a local language model
• Identifies "suspect" sentences (too predictable)
• Rewrites them while preserving meaning
• Note: Analysis is slow (several minutes for model loading)

Use after writing a chapter, before final validation.

Ebook Generation

Generates EPUB/MOBI/AZW3 from markdown chapters.

cd ebook
.\build-ebook.ps1              # EPUB (default)
.\build-ebook.ps1 -Format all  # All enabled formats

Prerequisites: Pandoc, powershell-yaml module, Calibre (for MOBI/AZW3)

See ebook/EBOOK-GUIDE.md for full documentation.

Getting started

Option A: Manual bible creation

1. Copy bible/characters/_template.md for each character
2. Copy bible/universe/_template.md for each location
3. Fill in bible/style.md with your target style
4. Write your synopsis and chapter plan
5. Initialize state files
6. Run: "Write chapter 1"

Option B: Analyze existing books (recommended for style matching)

1. Place source books in analysis/src/ (txt or md format)
2. Run: "Analyze analysis/src/[book].txt"
3. Review generated bible in analysis/output/[book]/
4. For multiple books: "Merge analysis/output/*/ into bible/"
5. Write your synopsis and chapter plan
6. Initialize state files
7. Run: "Write chapter 1"

Output language

All prompts are in English but output is in French. Change Output language in agent files if needed.