utility-guide-me

name	utility-guide-me
description	Use when user types /utility-guide-me or asks for this novel workflow command. Main orchestrator guide for AI-assisted novel writing. Walks you through the eight-step methodology from concept to completed manuscript. Also provides manual drafting guidance when asked.

/utility-guide-me

Treat text after /utility-guide-me as $ARGUMENTS.

User Input: $ARGUMENTS

Objective

Assess the user's current project state and guide them to the next appropriate step in the novel writing workflow.

Execution Steps

1. Assess Project State

Check which documents exist and determine where the user is in the workflow:

1. Does ./memory/constitution.md exist? If not, recommend Step 1: Constitution — tell the user to type /constitution.
2. Does ./stories/[name]/specification.md exist? If not, recommend Step 2: Specify — tell the user to type /specify.
3. Does ./stories/[name]/creative-plan.md exist? If not, recommend Step 4: Plan after checking if Clarify is needed — tell the user /clarify or /planner.
4. Check for drafts: Look in ./draft/chapters/. If drafts exist but tasks.md has no tasks, recommend /task-manager to generate tasks from the drafts. If tasks exist but no chapters are written, recommend /writer — mention that it will detect and expand the drafts.
5. If chapters are being written or edited, guide them to Step 6: Write, Step 7: Edit, or Step 8: Review — tell the user /writer, /editor Chapter [N], or /reviewer.
6. If chapters are marked [FOR_REVIEW], recommend /editor first for one-chapter fixes when needed, then /reviewer for broad QA and [DONE] approval.
7. If all chapters from tasks.md are marked [DONE] and the novel is complete (or user says so), guide them to /reviewer for final analysis, then optionally /utility-meta for metadata.
8. If written chapters exist and the user wants manga, manhwa, manhua, webtoon, comic pages, image prompts, or visual reference sheets, recommend the bonus comics prompt workflow starting with /comics-planner.

2. Present Workflow Overview

Present the user with a clear overview:

Step	Command	What It Does
1	/constitution	Define creative principles and non-negotiables
2	/specify	Build the lean story specification and knowledge map
3	/clarify	Resolve ambiguities in the specification
4	/planner	Create chapter structure and pacing plan
5	/task-manager	Break the plan into tracked writing tasks
6	/writer	Write chapters with the pre-write checklist. Also detects and expands drafts from ./draft/chapters/
7	/editor	Check one chapter, suggest line-level fixes, track approve/skip statuses, and apply approved edits after confirmation
8	/reviewer	Run broad QA on written content, tracking, knowledge, and final readiness

Bonus Comics Prompt Workflow — use after novel chapters exist or when adapting prose into comic/image prompts:

Command	What It Does
/comics-planner	Adapt novel chapters into comic chapters and page-level visual beats
/comics-task	Create comic page and sheet checklist tasks
/comics-chapter-pages-prompt	Generate clean AI image prompt files for chapter pages
/comics-revise-prompt	Revise page or sheet prompts after feedback
/utility-character-sheets-prompt	Generate character reference sheet prompts
/utility-settings-sheets-prompt	Generate setting/place reference sheet prompts
/utility-object-sheets-prompt	Generate object/prop/weapon/artifact reference sheet prompts
/utility-npc-sheets-prompt	Generate NPC/race/monster/bestiary/general archetype reference sheet prompts

Utility Commands — use anytime as needed:

Command	What It Does
/utility-guide-me	Return to this guide and assess your current progress
/utility-meta	Record novel metadata for platform upload (bucket, database, web novel viewer)
/utility-checklist	Quick QA checklist (Pre-Write, Post-Write, General Story modes)
/utility-expert	Activate expert persona (Editor, Sensitivity Reader, Logic Checker, etc.)
/utility-track-init	Initialize the JSON tracking system for a new novel
/utility-track	Update or query the tracking system (character state, plot, relationships)
/utility-timeline	Manage story timeline and verify chronological consistency
/utility-relations	Manage and analyze character relationships
/utility-authentic-voice	Rewrite a passage to remove AI cliches and enforce authentic voice
/utility-authenticity-audit	Audit text for AI-generated stylistic patterns
/utility-command-cross-check	Compare a project file created by a command against the current workflow format

To move to a step, the user types /command-name in the chat. For example: /constitution Help me set up my novel's principles.

Drafting workflow: If the user has written their own drafts, they can place them in ./draft/chapters/ and the workflow will integrate them:

• /planner reads drafts to build the chapter structure
• /task-manager generates tasks from the draft files
• /writer expands drafts into full prose using the @#@ FILL @#@, @#@ DESCRIBE @#@, and @#@ FLASHBACK @#@ tags
• /editor checks the finished chapter and applies approved corrections after confirmation
• /reviewer handles broad QA and marks approved chapters [DONE]

3. Manual Drafting Guidance

If the user asks how to write drafts manually or where to place them, provide this guidance:

Where to put drafts:

• Place draft files in ./draft/chapters/ (relative to project root)
• The /writer command scans this folder before writing and uses drafts as structural guidance
• Accepted naming: chapter_00001.md (preferred), 0001.md, 1.md, 01.md, chapter-1.md, chapter 1.md, ch1.md, or [1-5].md (range files)

How /writer processes drafts:

• Drafts are used as outlines — specification.md, creative-plan.md, knowledge/, and tracking/ take priority
• If a draft conflicts with core documents, core documents win
• After saving, /writer tells the user which scenes were changed from the draft and why

Special draft tags you can use in your drafts:

• @#@ FILL @#@ [Description] @#@ END FILL @#@ — /writer replaces this with fully written prose
• @#@ DESCRIBE @#@ [Description] @#@ END DESCRIBE @#@ — rewrites with light-novel style sensory intensity
• @#@ FLASHBACK @#@ [Description] @#@ END FLASHBACK @#@ — writes a full flashback sequence

Where finished chapters go:

• /writer saves completed chapters to ./stories/[novel-name]/content/chapter_[N].md (zero-padded to 5 digits, e.g. chapter_00001.md)
• /editor edits only the target chapter after all suggestions are approve or skip and the user confirms
• Chapter format: # Chapter [N]: [Title] followed by body, then a mini summary separator
• Task status is tracked in ./stories/[novel-name]/tasks.md as [ ] -> [FOR_REVIEW] -> [DONE]

Supplement Skills

These skills enhance this command's output quality. Check if they are available before proceeding:

Skill	File	Purpose
workflow-guide	[user_agent]/skills/quality-assurance/workflow-guide/SKILL.md	Reference the eight-step methodology.
getting-started	[user_agent]/skills/quality-assurance/getting-started/SKILL.md	Help the user if they are stuck.

If any skill file is not found, inform the user:

"Supplement skills are available to enhance this command. Download them from: https://github.com/JeroTan/novel-writer-english.git I'll continue without them, but output quality will be reduced."