Ubiquitous language
Trove uses a precise vocabulary. The same word always means the same thing — in the app, in the docs, and in support conversations.
Manuscript
Section titled “Manuscript”Your work-being-written container — one book. Holds a Manuscript Tree of Scenes, a manifest, snapshots, and trash, and points at the Codex that owns its Entities. Status values: drafting, outlining, complete, on-hold. On disk at ~/Documents/trove/manuscripts/<slug>/.
Manuscript Tree
Section titled “Manuscript Tree”The writable Folder-and-Scene structure inside a Manuscript. Always a structural noun — never used for a single piece of writing.
A single Markdown leaf inside the Manuscript Tree. Has a workflow status (todo | draft | active | done), optional POV, story-time, location, synopsis, word goal, and zero or more Drafts.
Folder
Section titled “Folder”A group of Scenes and sub-Folders inside a Manuscript — an act, part, or chapter grouping. On disk: a real directory.
A versioned snapshot of a Scene. Read-only after creation. Distinct from the draft workflow status.
A library of Entities (characters, locations, factions, …). Every Manuscript has one — Trove provisions a dedicated Codex when you create a Manuscript, or you can link a shared one across several Manuscripts. On disk at ~/Documents/trove/codexes/<slug>/.
Entity
Section titled “Entity”A structured record (character, location, faction, item, …) that lives in a Codex. YAML frontmatter plus a free-form Markdown body.
Entity Type
Section titled “Entity Type”Category metadata for Entities — icon, colour, optional default Entity Template.
Template
Section titled “Template”Reusable scaffolding, in three kinds: a Scaffold (a tree of Folders and Scenes stamped into a Manuscript), a Scene Preset (a bundle of custom frontmatter fields and an optional body skeleton for Scenes), and an Entity Template (the field layout for an Entity Type).
The planning surface of a Manuscript. Its views are Cards (index cards), Outline (act-grouped table), Timeline (lanes by POV or story-time), and POV (point-of-view consistency).
A named, ordered strand of Scenes tracking one through-line — a Plot Arc or a Character Arc.
Appearances
Section titled “Appearances”The Scene × Entity grid — which Entities appear in which Scenes.
Reference
Section titled “Reference”A [[ ]] link from one record (Scene, Entity, or Tome Note) to another. Rename-safe: links follow the record, not its title. Distinct from a Relationship (a typed link between two Entities).
Relationship
Section titled “Relationship”A typed link between two Entities (“sister of”, “sworn enemy”), drawn on the Relationship Map.
A Manuscript’s time system — an invented calendar (months, eras, seasons) plus Landmarks — that makes Scene story-times comparable.
Landmark
Section titled “Landmark”A dated world event with no Scene of its own (“The Fall of Meridian”), pinned to the Timeline axis.
Sticky Note
Section titled “Sticky Note”A small typed, coloured note attached to the editor for a single Scene.
Comment
Section titled “Comment”An inline annotation attached to a text range in a Scene.
Attachment
Section titled “Attachment”A reference file (PDF, image, audio) bound to a single Scene.
The user-wide notes feature: a graph of free-form Markdown files (Tome Notes) with backlinks, wikilinks, and folder organisation. Tome lives at the user level — it is not scoped to one Manuscript.
Tome Note
Section titled “Tome Note”A single free-form Markdown file in the Tome. Backlinks and outlinks between Tome Notes are first-class.
A composite view of a Manuscript Folder’s descendant Scenes as a single continuous scroll. Each Scene keeps its own file on disk and saves independently.
Canvas
Section titled “Canvas”A freeform visual board — cards, notes, and records arranged spatially.
Collection
Section titled “Collection”A saved search across your workspace, or a hand-picked set of records.
The home surface — recent Manuscripts, Codexes, and writing stats.
Sprint
Section titled “Sprint”A timed writing session with a word goal.
Session
Section titled “Session”The broader writing-time tracker that aggregates words across a Sprint or free writing.
Soft-delete container. Items remain on disk under .trash/ until explicitly purged.
Compilation
Section titled “Compilation”Export of a Manuscript to a final format (Markdown, DOCX, EPUB, PDF, or Shunn-format manuscript). Verb form: compile.
Encrypting your writing at rest on this device, behind a passphrase you choose. Verb pair: Seal / Unseal.
License, Activation, Trial
Section titled “License, Activation, Trial”Trove is sold as a lifetime License. A License is trial (14 days from first launch), licensed (a paid activation is present and validated), or expired (no valid activation and the trial window has elapsed). An Activation binds one machine to a License Key. Files always remain visible regardless of state — expiry only switches the editor to read-only.
Guild, Society, Circle, Letter
Section titled “Guild, Society, Circle, Letter”Guild is the optional paid subscription for the hosted relay, covering multi-device sync. Society is the community subscription layered on it — it includes Guild rather than being bought alongside it — and it unlocks the community surface. Inside that surface, a Circle is a writing group and a Letter is an end-to-end-encrypted direct message.