concepts

Concepts

ChapterDesk is a local writing studio, not a chat app. Code and URLs still say project / chat / question / answer, but the words you see in the UI mean something more specific:

In the UI	Means
Topic	A body of work, plus the standing narrator rules (its system prompt).
Environment	A general setting-idea inside a topic: place, tone, who tends to be there.
Story	One narrative thread you can fork.
Direction	The cue you give for the next beat.
Chapter	The draft that comes back.

The core loop

1. You set the room once (Topic rules + Environment + Personas).
2. You open a Story and give a short Direction.
3. A Chapter streams back.
4. You read it, then steer again — or branch if you want to explore another path.
5. Whenever you want to just read, you switch to the Book view.

There is no long conversation history to manage. The active path is always clear.

Steering, not chatting

You give a short direction for the next scene. The model continues it. You stay in control of what happens next — the model drafts the beat, you decide what happens after. When a moment could go two ways, you fork the thread and keep both versions instead of overwriting.

Organized for longer work

• Topics hold the narrator rules of a whole body of work.
• Environments describe a place/setting-idea inside a topic, leaving room for many stories.
• Personas are who the narrator may speak for.

This gives longer fiction structure without forcing you into a rigid outline.

Local first

Your stories and settings stay on your machine. The app talks only to a local server; that server is what calls your chosen model provider. See Privacy.

Next steps

• Write Your First Chapter
• Books (Environments) and moving stories
• Read your story as a book