| name | publish-chapter |
| description | Pre-publish gate and release for a chapter -- final checks, publishedOn, RSS verification, bible update. Use when Sagar says "publish this chapter", "release it", "ship chapter N", or sets a chapter final and wants it live. |
Publish a chapter
The deliberate act that makes a chapter public-official (it's technically visible in git before this, but publishedOn is the announcement). Everything here is a gate, run in order; any failure stops the publish and gets reported.
Gates
- Status: chapter is
final, or Sagar explicitly overrides ("publish it as-is").
- Continuity: run the
story-bible check mode against the chapter. Blockers block.
- Shelf gate: fanfic shelf -> run
fanfic-check blockers only.
- Read-aloud spot check: opening paragraph and closing paragraph (hook) read clean.
- Mechanical sweep: no em/en-dash characters, dialogue punctuation consistent, no leftover draft notes (
TODO, [fix], the stopping-note line from writing sessions).
- Hook present: the chapter ends on an open question, decision, revelation, or arrival -- name which. A serial chapter with no forward pull is a retention leak (Sanderson progress signposts; two-hooks guidance in
serial-fiction.md).
Release
- Set
publishedOn to today (absolute date), confirm order is correct and unique.
pnpm build -- must pass.
- Verify the chapter page renders and
/rss.xml now carries it (build output or preview).
- Update
_bible.md with new facts (this is the point of no return for facts: published facts are canon).
- Commit with a message like
feat(<book-slug>): publish chapter NN.
After
- Report: chapter link, word count, hook type, threads advanced.
- If the book's backlog of unpublished final chapters just hit zero, say so -- cadence outlives enthusiasm only with a buffer (serial-fiction module: backlog before cadence).
Rules
- Never set
publishedOn speculatively or backdate it.
- Once published, the chapter joins the no-retroactive-surgery regime: typos yes, plot changes no (retcon discipline lives in
serial-fiction.md; contradictions get forward-fixes or an author's note).