Quill

AI-powered book writing assistant for Claude Code and Codex. Write fiction, nonfiction, or technical books chapter by chapter with automatic context compression, non-linear revision support, and LaTeX or Markdown output.

Install

Claude Code

Clone or download this plugin, then point Claude Code at it:

git clone https://github.com/gc4rella/quill.git
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/quill

Or install directly from GitHub:

claude plugin install gc4rella/quill

Codex

Install the bundled skill directory skills/quill-context/ into $CODEX_HOME/skills/quill-context/ (usually ~/.codex/skills/quill-context/), or ask Codex to install the GitHub path gc4rella/quill/skills/quill-context.

Then use the skill explicitly with $quill-context, or rely on auto-activation when you are inside a Quill project with a quill.json file.

Start a New Book

Claude Code

Run the guided setup wizard:

/quill:init

The wizard walks you through 6 phases:

1. Foundation — title, type (fiction/nonfiction/technical), premise, audience, length
2. Book-type questions — genre, structure, characters (fiction) or thesis, prerequisites (technical)
3. Output format — LaTeX or Markdown
4. Style fingerprint — derives a one-line voice guide from your influences
5. Project setup — creates quill.json, directories, format files, and a reusable chapter scaffold helper
6. Auto-generated outline — complete chapter-by-chapter plan you can review and adjust, then materializes chapter stubs

Then start writing with /quill:write 1.

Codex

Ask for the same workflow directly. Examples:

• Use $quill-context to initialize a new fiction book in this folder.
• Use $quill-context to write chapter 1 from the current outline.
• Use $quill-context to revise chapter 3 and flag any downstream continuity impact.
• Use $quill-context to export this manuscript to Markdown.

Codex uses the same Quill rules and file layout, but it does not expose /quill:* slash commands. The skill maps those intents onto bundled workflow references.

Commands / Intents

In Claude Code these are slash commands. In Codex they are the corresponding requests you make to the quill-context skill.

Claude command	Codex intent	Description
/quill:init	"Initialize a new Quill project"	Guided setup wizard — run once to start a new book
/quill:write N	"Write chapter N"	Write chapter N using compressed context
/quill:revise N	"Revise chapter N"	Revise an existing chapter with continuity tracking
/quill:status	"Show Quill status"	Bird's-eye view: progress, threads, revision log
/quill:outline	"Show or edit the outline"	View or edit the chapter outline
/quill:threads	"Show or resolve open threads"	Manage open plot threads or concept questions
/quill:character Name	"Update character/concept Name"	Add or update characters (fiction) or concepts (technical)
/quill:export	"Export the manuscript"	Assemble manuscript — PDF, Markdown, DOCX, or HTML
/quill:format	"Switch format to latex/markdown"	View or switch output format (LaTeX/Markdown)

Output Formats

LaTeX

• Chapters saved as chapters/ch-NN.tex
• Wrapper file book.tex with preamble and \input{} entries
• scripts/quill-sync-outline.py keeps placeholder chapter files aligned with the outline
• Switching into LaTeX uses in-repo chapter conversion
• Export can compile to PDF with pdflatex (requires TeX Live)

Markdown

• Chapters saved as chapters/ch-NN.md
• scripts/quill-sync-outline.py keeps placeholder chapter files aligned with the outline
• Export assembles export/manuscript.md
• Optional conversion to DOCX or HTML via pandoc

Choose your format during project initialization. Switch later with /quill:format in Claude Code or by asking Codex to change the Quill format.

Non-Linear Writing

Quill is designed for non-linear work. You can:

• Write chapters out of order — the briefing system handles context from summaries
• Revise any chapter at any time — Quill detects continuity impact and flags downstream chapters that may need updating
• Track open threads — plot threads and concept questions are tracked automatically, with staleness warnings for threads open 5+ chapters

After revising an earlier chapter, check Quill status to see which later chapters may need attention.

How Context Compression Works

Writing a full book exceeds any LLM's context window. Quill solves this with a compression contract:

1. After writing each chapter, Quill self-summarizes: what happened, new characters/concepts, threads opened/closed, emotional beats, word count.
2. Summaries are stored in quill.json, not raw prose. Only the last ~150 words of the most recent chapter are kept verbatim (for prose continuity).
3. When writing the next chapter, Quill builds a briefing under 1500 tokens from summaries, style fingerprint, active characters, open threads, and the chapter's outline brief.
4. No full chapter is ever loaded unless you're actively revising it.

This means chapter 20 writes with the same quality of context as chapter 2 — the compression scales to any book length.

Project Structure

your-book/
├── quill.json              ← single source of truth
├── book.tex                ← LaTeX wrapper (LaTeX projects only)
├── chapters/
│   ├── ch-01.tex or .md
│   ├── ch-02.tex or .md
│   └── ...
├── scripts/
│   └── quill-sync-outline.py
├── characters/             ← fiction: detailed character sheets
├── concepts/               ← technical: detailed concept sheets
└── export/
    └── manuscript.md       ← assembled output (Markdown projects)

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE for details.