Smart Author IDE
Your professional book writing assistant for VS Code
Smart Author IDE transforms VS Code into a powerful book writing environment with templates, AI-powered planning, progress tracking, validation, and professional export capabilities.
✨ Features
📚 21 Professional Project Templates (v0.1.1 NEW!)
- Fiction (5): General Novel, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Non-Fiction (2): Memoir, Educational
- Visual & Audio (3): Screenwriting, Scriptwriting, Graphic Novel
- Technical (3): Documentation, Code Samples, API Guide
- Collections (3): Poetry, Short Stories, Essays
- Digital (5): Blog, E-book, Interactive, Social Media, Newsletter
- Standard 18-folder structure per template for consistent organization
- Rich metadata: categories, tags, use-cases, descriptions
⚙️ Project Settings Panel (v0.1.1 NEW!)
- Visual management of project metadata (title, author, genre, description)
- Template selection with folder structure previews
- Real-time auto-save for all changes
- Responsive webview UI integrated with VS Code
⌨️ 12 Keyboard Shortcuts (v0.1.1 NEW!)
- Project shortcuts: Create, Settings, Chapter Switcher
- Editing shortcuts: New Chapter, Find & Replace
- Analysis shortcuts: Word Count, Analyze, Report
- Export shortcuts: Export, Quick Export
- Help shortcuts: Shortcuts Reference, Documentation
- Platform-specific bindings (Windows, Linux, macOS)
🎨 Enhanced Export System (v0.1.1 NEW!)
- Custom export templates with ExportTemplateManager
- Professional cover page generation
- Enhanced table of contents generation
- Custom styling and formatting options
🤖 AI-Powered Book Planning
- Generate complete book outlines with Claude AI
- Answer 5 simple questions to get a custom chapter structure
- Privacy-first: Explicit consent required before using AI
📊 Progress Tracking
- Real-time word count in status bar
- Beautiful progress dashboard with statistics
- Goal tracking with visual progress bars
- Chapter-by-chapter analytics
- Per-chapter statistics view with reading time estimates
- Writing velocity metrics (daily, weekly, monthly pace)
✅ Smart Validation
- Automatic checks for empty chapters
- Chapter numbering consistency validation
- Metadata completeness verification
- Visual indicators in chapter navigator
- Full-text search across all chapters
- Chapter outline view with heading extraction
📤 Professional Export
- PDF: Print-ready HTML with professional typography
- EPUB: Standards-compliant EPUB 3.0 format
- Custom export templates
- Professional cover pages
- Enhanced table of contents
- One-click export with optional watermark
🔒 Privacy & Security
- All features work offline by default
- No telemetry or data collection
- Your content stays on your machine
- AI features require explicit consent
🚀 Quick Start
- Install Extension: Search for "Smart Author IDE" in VS Code Extensions
- Create Project: Run
Smart Author: Create New Book Project
- Choose Template: Select from 21 professional templates across 6 categories (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Visual/Audio, Technical, Collections, Digital)
- Start Writing: Open chapters from the sidebar and start writing!
📚 Usage
Creating a New Book Project
Command Palette:
Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) → Smart Author: Create New Book Project
With AI Planning:
Ctrl+Shift+P → Smart Author: AI Book Planning
Writing Chapters
- Open Chapter Navigator in the sidebar
- Click any chapter to open it
- Write using Markdown syntax
- Word count updates automatically
Tracking Progress
View Dashboard:
Ctrl+Shift+P → Smart Author: Open Progress Dashboard
Or click the word count in the status bar.
Validating Your Book
Ctrl+Shift+P → Smart Author: Validate Book
Checks for:
- Empty or very short chapters (<100 words)
- Duplicate or missing chapter numbers
- Incomplete metadata
Exporting Your Book
Ctrl+Shift+P → Smart Author: Export Book
Choose format:
- PDF (HTML): Opens in browser for PDF printing
- EPUB: Creates EPUB directory structure (zip manually for .epub file)
⚙️ Configuration
Access settings via File → Preferences → Settings → Smart Author
Available Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
smartAuthor.ai.provider |
claude |
AI provider (claude/openai/none) |
smartAuthor.ai.claude.apiKey |
"" |
Your Anthropic API key |
smartAuthor.validation.autoValidate |
true |
Auto-validate on save |
smartAuthor.useWebviewUI |
true |
Use visual template selection |
smartAuthor.export.defaultFormat |
pdf |
Default export format |
smartAuthor.export.addWatermark |
true |
Add watermark to exports |
Setting Up AI Features
- Get API key from Anthropic Console
- Open Settings → Smart Author
- Paste key in
AI: Claude API Key
- Run
Smart Author: AI Book Planning
📖 Chapter Management
Adding Chapters
- Click + icon in Chapter Navigator
- Enter chapter title
- Chapter file created with auto-numbering
Deleting Chapters
- Right-click chapter in navigator
- Select Delete Chapter
- Confirm deletion
chapters/
├── 01-introduction.md
├── 02-getting-started.md
├── 03-advanced-topics.md
└── 04-conclusion.md
📁 Project Structure
my-book/
├── .smartauthor/
│ └── metadata.json # Book metadata
├── chapters/
│ ├── 01-introduction.md
│ ├── 02-chapter-two.md
│ └── ...
├── exports/ # Generated exports
└── templates/ # Template-specific files
🎨 Markdown Support
Smart Author supports full Markdown syntax:
# Chapter Title
## Section Heading
**Bold text** and *italic text*
- Bullet lists
- Second item
1. Numbered lists
2. Second item
[Links](https://example.com)
`Inline code`
\`\`\`javascript
// Code blocks
function example() {
return "Hello World";
}
\`\`\`
> Blockquotes
🔍 Status Bar Indicators
Word Count (Right side)
- Shows total words across all chapters
- Displays goal percentage if set
- Click to open dashboard
Validation Status (Right side)
- Shows error/warning count
- Color-coded (red/yellow/green)
- Click to run validation
📋 Commands
All commands accessible via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):
Smart Author: Create New Book Project - Start a new bookSmart Author: AI Book Planning - Generate outline with AISmart Author: Open Progress Dashboard - View statisticsSmart Author: Validate Book - Run validation checksSmart Author: Export Book - Export to PDF/EPUBSmart Author: Add New Chapter - Create new chapterSmart Author: Welcome Screen - Show welcome guide
Requirements
- VS Code version 1.80.0 or higher
- Optional: Anthropic API key for AI features
Known Issues
- EPUB export creates directory structure (manual ZIP needed for .epub file)
- PDF export requires manual print-to-PDF from browser
🗺️ Roadmap
Planned Features
v0.2.0 - DOCX Export & Advanced Templates
- ✅ DOCX export support with full formatting
- ✅ Additional specialized templates (Business Plans, Grant Proposals, etc.)
- ✅ Export customization UI for styling and branding
- ✅ Watermark and pagination controls
v0.3.0 - Manuscript Explorer & Multi-Format Viewers
- ✅ Interactive manuscript structure visualization
- ✅ Real-time preview for all export formats
- ✅ Character relationship mapping
- ✅ Timeline visualization tools
v0.4.0 - Advanced Project Management
- ✅ Kanban board for chapter planning
- ✅ Timeline view for story events
- ✅ Advanced analytics dashboard
- ✅ Collaboration features (comments, suggestions)
v0.5.0 - AI Manuscript Assistant
- ✅ AI-powered writing suggestions
- ✅ Dialogue improvement recommendations
- ✅ Pacing analysis and optimization
- ✅ Character voice consistency checker
Release Notes
0.2.0 - DOCX Export & Chapter Export (2025-10-31)
🚀 Major Export Expansion Release
New Features:
- ✅ DOCX Export for Full Books - Export entire manuscript to Word format with proper formatting
- ✅ Export Individual Chapters to PDF - Export current chapter to HTML (print-to-PDF)
- ✅ Export Individual Chapters to DOCX - Export current chapter as standalone Word document
- ✅ Markdown-to-DOCX Conversion - Proper heading levels, paragraphs, code blocks
- ✅ docx Library Integration - Professional Word document generation
Commands Added:
Smart Author: Export Chapter to PDF - Export active chapter to PDFSmart Author: Export Chapter to DOCX - Export active chapter to DOCX
User Benefits:
- Share individual chapters with editors or beta readers
- Export chapters while working on them
- Professional Word format support with proper formatting
- Full control over what gets exported
Technical Improvements:
- Added
docx library for Word document generation
- Extended ExportService with 3 new export methods
- 100+ lines of new export functionality
- Zero breaking changes, fully backward compatible
0.1.6 - Sample Chapters & Starter Content (2025-10-31)
🎯 Sample Chapters Feature Release
New Features:
- ✅ 10 Sample Chapters Per Project - Structure: Beginning + 3 Acts (3 chapters each) + Conclusion
- ✅ Template-Specific Starter Content - Unique chapter content for all 21 templates
- ✅ Meaningful Prompts & Guidance - Each chapter includes writing tips and starter prompts to inspire creativity
- ✅ Genre-Aware Structure - Chapters tailored to Fiction, Non-Fiction, Technical, and Digital templates
Template Coverage:
- 5 Fiction templates (Novel, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy/Sci-Fi)
- 2 Non-Fiction templates (Memoir, Educational)
- 3 Visual & Audio templates (Screenwriting, Scriptwriting, Graphic Novel)
- 3 Technical templates (Documentation, Code Samples, API Guide)
- 3 Collection templates (Poetry, Short Stories, Essays)
- 5 Digital templates (Blog, E-book, Interactive, Social Media, Newsletter)
User Benefits:
- New users get immediate inspiration and structure
- Sample content shows best practices for each genre
- Chapters serve as templates for user's own content
- Reduces blank page anxiety with meaningful starter prompts
0.1.1 - Enhancement Release (2025-10-31)
🎉 Major Enhancement Release - Production Ready
New Features:
- ✅ 21 Professional Templates across 6 categories (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Visual/Audio, Technical, Collections, Digital)
- ✅ Project Settings Panel - Visual metadata management with auto-save
- ✅ 12 Keyboard Shortcuts - Platform-specific bindings for productivity
- ✅ Enhanced Export System - Custom templates and professional cover pages
- ✅ Templates Architecture Modernization - Clean, maintainable codebase
Statistics:
- ✅ 181 new tests (all passing)
- ✅ 5,000+ lines of new code
- ✅ 681+ total test cases
- ✅ Zero compilation errors
- ✅ 100% backward compatible
For detailed release notes, see RELEASE_NOTES.md
0.1.0 - MVP Release (2025-10-30)
✨ Initial Release - MVP Complete
Core Features:
- ✅ 3 professional book templates (now expanded to 21 in v0.1.1)
- ✅ Project creation workflow
- ✅ Chapter management with sidebar navigation
- ✅ AI-powered book planning (Claude integration)
- ✅ Progress dashboard with statistics
- ✅ Smart validation engine (3 core rules)
- ✅ PDF & EPUB export
- ✅ Status bar indicators
- ✅ Welcome screen for new users
Privacy & Quality:
- ✅ All features work offline by default
- ✅ No telemetry or data collection
- ✅ TypeScript strict mode (zero errors)
- ✅ 500+ unit tests passing
📝 License
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details
🙏 Credits
Built with:
📬 Support
- Documentation: See
.progress/README.md for development docs
- Manual Testing: See
.progress/MANUAL-TESTING.md
- Issues: Report bugs via GitHub Issues
Made with ❤️ for authors by authors
Version: 0.2.0 | Status: Production Ready | License: MIT | Free & Public | Development: Private
💡 Smart Author IDE is free and publicly available for anyone to use. The package is open source under MIT license. Development happens privately, but we welcome feedback via GitHub Issues.
