Quick start

Use this quick start with a small manuscript sample first. Arc is most useful when the first project is narrow enough to review carefully.

1. Prepare a small source set

Start with a few chapters rather than a full series. In the current preview, the safest source formats are:

• Markdown files (.md);
• plain text files (.txt).

Use stable filenames such as chapter-01.md, chapter-02.md, or book1-ch03.txt. Keep the original manuscript files unchanged so evidence can stay traceable.

2. Create or select a project

Open Arc and choose the project you want to work with. A project should map to one coherent manuscript, book, draft, or story arc.

Avoid mixing unrelated drafts in the same first project. If you are testing Arc, choose a section where you already know the characters and continuity well enough to judge the output.

3. Import the chapters

Upload the prepared source files through the ingestion flow. Arc stages the files, analyses the source material, and reports progress by stage.

Watch for warnings. A project can be partially useful even when a stage reports a warning, but warnings should be reviewed before you rely on the generated canon.

4. Review entities and relationships

After ingestion, inspect the extracted entities and relationships.

Check:

• duplicate character entries;
• aliases that should point to the same person;
• locations or factions that were misclassified;
• relationships that need evidence;
• claims that are plausible but not actually supported by the source.

Do not treat the first pass as final canon. Treat it as a structured draft.

5. Inspect evidence before accepting claims

For any important claim, follow the evidence back to the source. The question is not only “does this sound right?” but “where did Arc get this from?”

If evidence is weak, ambiguous, or missing, keep the item in review instead of accepting it as stable canon.

6. Use the graph for orientation

The canon graph is useful for spotting clusters, missing links, and suspicious relationships. Use it to ask practical questions:

• Why are these two characters connected?
• Is this location linked to the right event?
• Does this relationship have source evidence?
• Is one entity doing too much work because multiple concepts were merged?

7. Revise with author control

When Arc supports AI-assisted revision, use the structured context as a guide, not as an instruction to accept changes automatically. The author should remain the final authority on voice, intent, canon, and style.

Stop and review if

Pause before continuing if:

• many entities are duplicated;
• source files were imported in the wrong order;
• warnings mention missing semantic output or partial extraction;
• evidence is unavailable for important claims;
• the result conflicts with what you know is true in the manuscript.

Fixing the source set early is better than building canon on a bad first pass.