Scribe

A scholarly Visual Studio Code extension that aids in writing medieval languages.

Status

Scribe is currently at version 1.0.0, but we are happy to acccept PRs!

🎨 Scribe Theme

Scribe includes a beautiful custom theme specifically designed for medieval language work:

• Dark scholarly theme optimized for reading medieval texts
• Enhanced syntax highlighting for runic text, Gothic script, and medieval letters
• Custom file icons for medieval language files (.oe, .on, .got)
• Semantic token support for word definitions and glossaries
• Reduced eye strain with warm, professional colors

Quick Setup:

1. Install Scribe extension
2. Set theme: Preferences → Color Theme → "Scribe"
3. Set icons: Preferences → File Icon Theme → "Scribe Icons"
4. Configure settings:
   • Editor toolbar: Click ⚙️ icon when editing medieval files (.oe, .on, .got)
   • Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) → "⚙️ Scribe Settings"
   • Settings template: "📋 Insert Scribe Settings Template" or Alt+Shift+S
   • Or manually add to settings.json:

{
  "editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled": true,
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Scribe",
  "editor.semanticTokenColorCustomizations": {
    "[Scribe]": {
      "rules": {
        "wordentry": {
          "foreground": "#FFD700",
          "fontStyle": "italic"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Language Features

⌨️ Autocomplete

Added basic functionality for autocomplete while typing. Popups include definition and documentation.

• Old English: 40,342 exhaustive words.
  • Sourced from Wiktionary, Bosworth & Toller, and other historical dictionaries.
• Old Norse: 36,847 exhaustive words.
  • Sourced from the Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary and other historical texts.
• Gothic: 2,368 comprehensive words.
  • Sourced from the Gothic Bible and other historical texts.

Languages

Old English (Anglo-Saxon)

Anglo-Saxon Letter Substitution Guide

To make it easy to type Old English (Anglo-Saxon) text using a modern keyboard, this project automatically converts certain letter sequences into their correct historical characters and diacritics.

How It Works

When you type the following combinations, they are automatically replaced with the correct Old English letters:

Example Usage

Typing this:

Thaet c'ild bearn waes aefter wynnfullum daegum.

Becomes:

Þæt ċild bearn wæs æfter ƿynnfullum dægum.

Old Norse

Old Norse Letter Substitution Guide

This project allows you to type Old Norse using a modern keyboard. The following substitutions are performed automatically to produce the correct Old Norse characters and diacritics:

Example Usage

Typing this:

thae k'ona var a' mikill maðr ok o_ll e'ygð

Becomes:

þæ ǩona var á mikill maðr ok ǫll éygð

Gothic

Gothic Letter Substitution Guide

This project enables easy typing of the Gothic alphabet using a modern keyboard. The following substitutions are automatically performed:

Example Usage

Typing this:

Jah hvaiwa is thatei hvam thamma

Becomes:

Jah ƕaiwa is þatei ƕam þamma

Ancient Writing System Support

Runes

The following runic writing systems are fully supported:

• Elder Futhark (Proto Germanic)
• Younger Futhark (Old Norse)
• Medieval Futhark (Old Norse & Old Scandinavian languages)
• Futhorc (Old English aka. Anglo-Saxon, Old Frisian)

Gothic Script

• Wulifia's Gothic writing system for the Gothic Bible.

Transliteration Tags

These tags work similar to XML where anything inside of <Tag></Tag> gets transliterated into the desired writing sysytem. The following tags are available:

• <Futhorc>
• <YoungerFuthark>
• <ElderFuthark>
• <MedievalFuthark>
• <Gothic>

Opening to Bēowulf

<Futhorc>
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in ġēardagum,
þēodcyninga, þrym ġefrūnon,
hū þā æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla oftēah,
egsode eorlas syððan ǣrest wearð
fēasceaft funden; hē þæs frōfre ġebād,
wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh,
oþþæt him ǣghwylc þāra ymbsittendra
ofer hronrāde hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan; þæt wæs gōd cyning!
</Futhorc>

ALT+R →

ᚻᚹᚫᛏ! ᚹᛖ ᚷᚪᚱ-ᛞᛖᚾᚪ ᛁᚾ ᚷᛖᚪᚱᛞᚪᚷᚢᛗ,
ᚦᛇᛞᚳᚣᚾᛁᛝᚪ, ᚦᚱᚣᛗ ᚷᛖᚠᚱᚢᚾᚩᚾ,
ᚻᚢ ᚦᚪ ᚫᚦᛖᛚᛁᛝᚪᛋ ᛖᛚᛚᛖᚾ ᚠᚱᛖᛗᛖᛞᚩᚾ.
ᚩᚠᛏ ᛋᚳᚣᛚᛞ ᛋᚳᛖᚠᛁᛝ ᛋᚳᛖᚪᚦᛖᚾᚪ ᚦᚱᛖᚪᛏᚢᛗ,
ᛗᚩᚾᛖᚷᚢᛗ ᛗᚫᚷᚦᚢᛗ, ᛗᛇᛞᚩᛋᛖᛏᛚᚪ ᚩᚠᛏᛖᚪᚻ,
ᛖᚷᛋᚩᛞᛖ ᛇᚱᛚᚪᛋ ᛋᚣᚦᚦᚪᚾ ᚫᚱᛖᛋᛏ ᚹᛖᚪᚱᚦ
ᚠᛖᚪᛋᚳᛖᚪᚠᛏ ᚠᚢᚾᛖᚾ; ᚻᛖ ᚦᚫᛋ ᚠᚱᚩᚠᚱᛖ ᚷᛖᛒᚪᛞ,
ᚹᛇᛉ ᚢᚾᛖᚱ ᚹᚩᛚᚳᚾᚢᛗ, ᚹᛇᚱᚦᛗᚣᚾᛞᚢᛗ ᚦᚪᚻ,
ᚩᚦᚦᚫᛏ ᚻᛁᛗ ᚫᚷᚻᚹᚣᛚᚳ ᚦᚪᚱᚪ ᚣᛗᛒᛋᛁᛏᛏᛖᚾᛞᚱᚪ
ᚩᚠᛖᚱ ᚻᚱᚩᚾᚱᚪᛞᛖ ᚻᚣᚱᚪᚾ ᛋᚳᚩᛚᛞᛖ,
ᚷᚩᛗᛒᚪᚾ ᚷᚣᛚᛞᚪᚾ; ᚦᚫᛏ ᚹᚫᛋ ᚷᚩᛞ ᚳᚣᚾᛁᛝ!

The Lord's Prayer in Gothic

<Gothic>
Atta unsar, þu in himinam,
weihnai namo þein.
qimai þiudinassus þeins.
wairþai wilja þeins,
swe in himina jah ana airþai.
hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga.
jah aflet uns þatei skulans sijaima,
swaswe jah weis afletam þaim skulam unsaraim.
jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai,
ak lausei uns af þamma ubilin.
unte þeina ist þiudangardi jah mahts jah wulþus in aiwins.
Amen.
</Gothic>

ALT+R →

𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂, 𐌸𐌿 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼,
𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽.
𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌹 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃.
𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃,
𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹.
𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌰.
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌰,
𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌼 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌼 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌼 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌼.
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌽𐌹 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌹,
𐌰𐌺 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌰𐍆 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌽.
𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌹𐍃𐍄 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌹 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍃.
𐌰𐌼𐌴𐌽.

⚙️ Configuration

Scribe provides several settings to customize your medieval language experience. You can access these through VS Code's settings UI (File > Preferences > Settings) or by editing your settings.json file directly.

Extension Settings

How to Configure

Option 1: Editor Toolbar

When working with medieval language files (.oe, .on, .got), look for the ⚙️ gear icon in the editor toolbar (top-right). Click it to open Scribe settings directly!

Option 2: Settings UI

1. Go to File > Preferences > Settings (or Ctrl/Cmd + ,)
2. Search for "Scribe"
3. Configure the options as desired

Option 3: Command Palette

• ⚙️ Scribe Settings - Opens settings UI directly to Scribe configuration
• ✨ Convert Language Blocks - Converts tags to their respective transliterated characters
• 📋 Insert Scribe Settings Template - Generates complete settings template

Option 4: Manual Configuration

Add these to your VS Code settings.json:

{
  "scribe.theme.autoActivate": true,
  "scribe.completion.highlightColor": "#FFD700",
  "scribe.oldenglish.enableWynn": false
}

Setting Details

Theme Auto-Activation

When enabled, Scribe will automatically switch to its custom theme when the extension loads. This ensures you get the best visual experience for medieval text work.

Custom Highlight Color

Customize the color used to highlight word entries in your medieval language files. Use any valid hex color (e.g., #FF6B6B for red, #4ECDC4 for teal).

Old English Wynn Conversion

When enabled, all instances of the letter "w" will be automatically converted to the historical wynn character (ƿ) in Old English files. This provides a more authentic representation of historical texts.

Note: Changes to wynn conversion require a window reload to take effect.

🛠️ Developer Automation

Scribe includes powerful automation scripts for development and release workflows:

🚀 Release Automation

# Complete automated release workflow
npm run auto-release

Features: Creates PR → Waits for CI → Auto-merges → Creates GitHub release

🔀 PR Auto-Merge

# Create PR with auto-merge enabled
npm run auto-merge

Features: Creates PR → Enables auto-merge → Merges when CI passes

📦 Version Management

# Interactive semantic version bumping
npm run version-bump

# Add new dictionary words
npm run add-word

Prerequisites: GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated

Documentation: See scripts/README.md for detailed usage guide

AGPLv3 License