| name | workflow-fine-outline |
| description | Produce per-chapter fine outline under outline/ that obeys spec constraints and meets minimum length (Han > 500 per chapter). Use before drafting chapters to lock causality and pacing. |
workflow-fine-outline
Use when (proactive triggers)
Call this skill without being asked when you observe any of the following:
- An outline exists (or is being requested), and the user wants to start writing chapters soon.
- Chapters are being drafted but drift is happening; you need a tighter per-chapter plan to regain control.
- The user asks for “细纲/分章细化/每章要写什么/每章目标与转折”.
Preconditions (rigor)
- If there is no outline yet, run
workflow-outline first (and pass gate-outline).
- If critical constraints are still missing (e.g., system costs/limits), backfill spec via
workflow-extract-backfill + spec-*.
- If
outline/outline.md contains an “Undecided / Open Questions” list, do not ignore it; carry those items forward and resolve them upstream before drafting chapters.
Quick start
- Read the current outline (
outline/outline.md) and relevant spec constraints.
- Produce a per-chapter fine outline using the skill template
assets/templates/fine-outline-chapter.md.
- Ensure each chapter’s fine-outline section is Han > 500 (use
project__text_stats to verify after writing).
- Write to the project working directory
outline/fine-outline.md (or one file per chapter under project outline/fine/ if the project uses that layout).
- Run
gate-fine-outline and output a Gate Report before drafting chapters.
Purpose
This skill locks down chapter-level causality and constraints before prose.
It exists to:
- reduce downstream rewrites by catching drift early
- make each chapter’s intent, conflict, and payoff explicit
- enforce a minimum information density per chapter plan
Output
- Fine outline Markdown under
outline/fine-outline.md (or per-chapter files).
- Each chapter fine-outline block MUST include:
- goal/obstacle/stakes
- key beats (cause → effect)
- constraint anchors (
@spec:<id>) where relevant
- planned hook/payoff (as needed by serialization)
Constraints
- Fine-outline MUST obey spec constraints (premise/system/continuity).
- Minimum length rule: Han > 500 per chapter.
- Do not write prose paragraphs; write plan-level content.
- Do not “solve” undecided constraints inside chapter prose. If a chapter plan depends on a missing rule/fact, mark it as undecided and backfill upstream (spec/outline/fine-outline) first.
- Do not write fine-outline artifacts into this skill directory;
assets/ is for templates only.
References
- Common fine-outline pitfalls + fixes:
references/PITFALLS.md
- Optional: for broader structure frameworks, load
workflow-outline and use its references/FRAMEWORKS_*.md.
Self-check
- Does each chapter have clear goal/obstacle/stakes and causal beats?
- Are anchors used where constraints matter?
- Did you verify Han > 500 for each chapter plan?
- Did you run
gate-fine-outline and address FAIL/WARN before drafting?
