Principle
Author with intent: story logic, UI behavior, and publish metadata should stay understandable to non-engineers.
Documentation
Platform
Guide.
This guide explains how Plotbun works at a system level. It is intentionally focused on product behavior and responsibilities rather than implementation internals.
Manual Coverage
Press / to search
Sections: 4
Domains: 22
Principles: 4
Content Issues: 0
Narrative Guards: 0
Starts: Narrative
Starts In: Runtime And Story Systems
Ends: Admin
Ends In: Community And Operations
Principle
Fail safely: invalid content is rejected early, and runtime paths prefer predictable fallback behavior.
Principle
Local-first workflow: creation and iteration should remain fast without requiring cloud dependencies.
Principle
Clear separation of concerns: creator, player, community, and admin surfaces should not overlap responsibilities.
Jump Grid
Move directly to the product slice you need without scanning the full manual from top to bottom.
4 mapped sections
Section / runtime
Runtime And Story Systems
How interactive stories are represented, played, and persisted during game sessions.
Section Position: 1/4
Domains: 9
Starts: Narrative
Ends: Export
Span: 1-9/22
Section / creation
Creator Workflow
How creators write, edit, and augment projects before publication.
Section Position: 2/4
Domains: 5
Starts: Editor
Ends: Engine Direction
Span: 10-14/22
Section / platform
Platform Delivery
How projects are hosted, discovered, and presented across core product surfaces.
Section Position: 3/4
Domains: 4
Starts: Host
Ends: GDPR
Span: 15-18/22
Section / ecosystem
Community And Operations
Public discovery, creator monetization, and admin oversight boundaries.
Section Position: 4/4
Domains: 4
Starts: Community
Ends: Admin
Span: 19-22/22
Runtime And Story Systems
How interactive stories are represented, played, and persisted during game sessions.
9 mapped domains
Starts With: Narrative
Ends With: Export
Manual Span: 1-9/22
Section Domain Index
Narrative
Defines story structure, scene/block flow, and the runtime execution model.
Spec: VN narrative runtime - deterministic scene execution with optional future world-navigation layer (web-first, exportable)
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 1/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 1/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Dialogue
Covers dialogue rendering, choice interactions, and player-facing text behavior.
Spec: VN conversation UI: dialogue box, choice menu, input model, theming; optional LLM chat integration
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 2/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 2/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Save System
Controls save/load lifecycle, rollback behavior, and session continuity.
Spec: Save/load/rollback contract for VN runtime and exports; audio best-effort; custom blocks must be save-safe or disallowed
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 3/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 3/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Assets
Describes asset identity, safety constraints, and media resolution rules.
Spec: Asset model for VN projects: backgrounds, sprites, audio; references that survive hosted + export
Surface: /editor, /games/[slug]
Position: 4/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 4/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Game Components
Defines reusable game modules that can be embedded into story flow.
Spec: Engine-owned and project-owned React components rendered via VN 'game' blocks: IDs, versions, capabilities, and save safety
Surface: /editor, /games/[slug]
Position: 5/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 5/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Core
Shared core state primitives used by runtime orchestration and feature modules.
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 6/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 6/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Locations
Location-state semantics for scene context and progression-aware routing.
Spec: Scene staging plus future world-navigation primitives (locations, anchors, world screens, time-of-day)
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 7/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 7/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Inventory
Player inventory contracts and interaction boundaries for item-driven stories.
Spec: Optional VN extension: inventory + gifts + item effects; can be implemented as flags or custom game blocks
Surface: /games/[slug]
Position: 8/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 8/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Export
Defines package outputs and the guarantees required for distributable builds.
Spec: Export targets for VN projects: static web bundle and desktop executable; constraints for custom code + LLM
Surface: /editor
Position: 9/9
Section: Runtime And Story Systems
Manual Position: 9/22
Section Bounds: Narrative to Export
Creator Workflow
How creators write, edit, and augment projects before publication.
5 mapped domains
Starts With: Editor
Ends With: Engine Direction
Manual Span: 10-14/22
Section Domain Index
Section Flow
Section Position: 2/4
Previous Section: Runtime And Story SystemsNext Section: Platform DeliveryEditor
Primary authoring workspace for scenes, blocks, project settings, and stage/script-linked preview editing.
Surface: /editor
Position: 1/5
Section: Creator Workflow
Manual Position: 10/22
Section Bounds: Editor to Engine Direction
Character
Character identity, presentation metadata, and profile behavior guidelines.
Spec: Character models: (1) VN presentation characters for scripted stories, (2) optional agent characters for LLM generation/propagation
Surface: /editor
Position: 2/5
Section: Creator Workflow
Manual Position: 11/22
Section Bounds: Editor to Engine Direction
LLM
Assisted writing and generation interfaces with bounded safety and validation rules.
Spec: AI backend - Z.AI (GLM) integration, context assembly, response streaming
Surface: /editor
Position: 3/5
Section: Creator Workflow
Manual Position: 12/22
Section Bounds: Editor to Engine Direction
Narrator
Optional synthesis/propagation layer for context-aware narrative assistance.
Spec: Information propagation + summarization layer for generation: routes events into character knowledge; not required for scripted VN runtime
Surface: /editor, /sim
Position: 4/5
Section: Creator Workflow
Manual Position: 13/22
Section Bounds: Editor to Engine Direction
Engine Direction
Product-level architecture boundaries and long-term scope constraints.
Spec: Creator-first visual novel engine: data-driven runtime + editor + export; LLM/simulation are optional generation layers
Surface: platform-wide
Position: 5/5
Section: Creator Workflow
Manual Position: 14/22
Section Bounds: Editor to Engine Direction
Platform Delivery
How projects are hosted, discovered, and presented across core product surfaces.
4 mapped domains
Starts With: Host
Ends With: GDPR
Manual Span: 15-18/22
Section Domain Index
Section Flow
Section Position: 3/4
Previous Section: Creator WorkflowNext Section: Community And OperationsHost
Hosted project loading, route safety, and server-side file boundary behavior.
Spec: Hosted Next.js shell: routes, loading projects/manifests, wiring VNRuntime
Surface: /api/host/*, /games/[slug]
Position: 1/4
Section: Platform Delivery
Manual Position: 15/22
Section Bounds: Host to GDPR
Library
Creator/player project management across local and hosted collections.
Spec: Local + hosted project management and account gateway
Surface: /library
Position: 2/4
Section: Platform Delivery
Manual Position: 16/22
Section Bounds: Host to GDPR
SEO
Search and sharing baseline for metadata, crawl surfaces, and canonical routes.
Spec: Search/index/share baseline for web surfaces (metadata, icons, sitemap, robots, structured data)
Surface: /, /sitemap.xml, /robots.txt
Position: 3/4
Section: Platform Delivery
Manual Position: 17/22
Section Bounds: Host to GDPR
GDPR
Data-rights and compliance surface for policy acceptance logging, erasure requests, and portable export boundaries.
Spec: Cross-domain GDPR compliance surface for policy acceptance logging and data export portability
Surface: /api/gdpr/*, /profile, /signup
Position: 4/4
Section: Platform Delivery
Manual Position: 18/22
Section Bounds: Host to GDPR
Community And Operations
Public discovery, creator monetization, and admin oversight boundaries.
4 mapped domains
Starts With: Community
Ends With: Admin
Manual Span: 19-22/22
Section Domain Index
Community
Listing discovery, creator pages, follows, reviews, and reporting flows.
Spec: Community discovery + sharing layer for published VN projects (v3)
Surface: /community
Position: 1/4
Section: Community And Operations
Manual Position: 19/22
Section Bounds: Community to Admin
Commerce
Monetization lifecycle for purchases, entitlements, payouts, and disputes.
Spec: Creator monetization and purchase lifecycle for VN listings (v3+)
Surface: /community/*, /api/commerce/*
Position: 2/4
Section: Community And Operations
Manual Position: 20/22
Section Bounds: Community to Admin
Profile
Authenticated user and creator identity dashboard behavior.
Spec: User profile dashboard and creator identity operations surface
Surface: /profile
Position: 3/4
Section: Community And Operations
Manual Position: 21/22
Section Bounds: Community to Admin
Admin
Operational moderation and payout review surfaces separated from user routes.
Spec: Internal admin surfaces for moderation, payouts, and user operations
Surface: /admin
Position: 4/4
Section: Community And Operations
Manual Position: 22/22
Section Bounds: Community to Admin
AI Content & Generation
What AI does on this platform — and how we tell you about it.
Editor (authoring time): Creators may use AI for scene drafting, image generation, and a moderation pre-pass. AI-assisted text and images are tagged in project metadata (aiAssisted /coverAiAssisted) so the AI Disclosure Badge can surface on the listing page.
Runtime (player time): Only connected exports with runtimeLLM:enabled can call an LLM during play. When that happens the player sees an in-runtime AI-assisted advisory so they know dialogue may be model-generated.
Your right to know: Every listing surfaces an AI Disclosure Badge when AI was used; the player runtime surfaces an advisory whenever AI is active during play. No hidden AI generation.
Content Rating
What ratings mean — and how the platform enforces them.
Four levels: everyone / teen / mature / adult. Set by the creator on the listing.
Player-side advisory: Before play, an advisory overlay surfaces the rating and gives the player a chance to back out.
Age gate: mature and adult require a stricter 18+ attestation step on top of the 16+ minimum-age attestation captured at signup.
No pre-screening: The platform does not pre-screen content; ratings are creator-declared. Players can challenge a rating via the report flow on any listing page.