Scrivener MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI assistants read, write, and organize Scrivener projects. Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and other MCP-compatible AI tools.

Features

• Read & Write - Full access to manuscript content, notes, and synopses

• Organize - Create, move, rename, and delete documents and folders

• Search - Find content across your entire project with context

• Compile - Export your manuscript to PDF directly from AI

• Continuity Tools - Check character/setting consistency across your manuscript

Perfect for writers who want AI assistance with drafting, revision, outlining, or project organization.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or higher

• Scrivener 3 (macOS or Windows)

• An MCP-compatible AI client (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Desktop, Cursor, etc.)

Installation

Option 1: npm (Recommended)

Then add to your MCP client's configuration. For Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Option 2: From Source

1. Clone and build:

   git clone https://github.com/TwelveTake-Studios/scrivener-mcp.git cd scrivener-mcp npm install npm run build

2. Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

   { "mcpServers": { "scrivener": { "command": "node", "args": ["/full/path/to/scrivener-mcp/dist/index.js"] } } }

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Quick Start

Once installed, try these commands with your AI assistant:

Available Tools (22 total)

Project Management

Document Operations

Synopsis & Notes

Search

Compile & Export

Continuity Checking

Tool Reference

open_project

Open a Scrivener project to work with.

Parameters:

• path (required): Path to the .scriv project folder

Example:

get_structure

View the binder hierarchy of your project.

Parameters:

• folderId (optional): Get structure for specific folder only

• maxDepth (optional): Maximum depth to traverse

Example:

read_document

Read the content of a document.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• includeSynopsis (optional): If true, returns both content and synopsis

Example:

write_document

Replace the content of a document.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• content (required): New content to write

Example:

append_to_document

Add content to the end of a document without replacing existing content.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• content (required): Content to append

• separator (optional): Separator between existing and new content (default: two newlines)

Example:

create_document

Create a new document or folder.

Parameters:

• title (required): Title of the new document

• parentId (optional): UUID of parent folder (defaults to Draft/Manuscript)

• documentType (optional): "Text" or "Folder" (default: "Text")

• content (optional): Initial content

Example:

delete_document

Move a document to the trash.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document to delete

Example:

move_document

Move a document to a different folder.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document to move

• targetFolderId (required): UUID of the target folder

• position (optional): Position in target folder

Example:

rename_document

Rename a document.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• newTitle (required): New title

Example:

batch_read

Read multiple documents at once. More efficient than multiple read_document calls.

Parameters:

• documentIds (required): Array of document UUIDs to read

Example:

read_synopsis / write_synopsis

Read or write the synopsis (index card text) for a document.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• synopsis (required for write): Synopsis text

Example:

read_notes / write_notes

Read or write inspector notes for a document.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• notes (required for write): Notes content

Example:

search_content

Search for content across all documents.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search query

Example:

search_with_context

Search with surrounding paragraphs for better context.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search term

• contextParagraphs (optional): Paragraphs before/after to include (default: 2)

Example:

get_compile_order

Preview what documents will be compiled and in what order.

Parameters:

• stopAtTitle (optional): Stop at document with this title (partial match)

Example:

compile_manuscript

Compile the manuscript to a PDF file.

Parameters:

• outputPath (required): Full path for the output PDF

• title (optional): Book title for cover page and PDF metadata (default: project filename)

• author (optional): Author name for cover page and PDF metadata

• stopAtTitle (optional): Stop at document with this title

• includeTitle (optional): Include document titles as headers (default: true)

• fontSize (optional): Font size in points (default: 12)

• lineSpacing (optional): Line spacing multiplier (default: 1.5)

Example:

set_include_in_compile

Toggle whether a document should be included when compiling.

Parameters:

• documentId (required): UUID of the document

• include (required): true to include, false to exclude

Example:

word_count

Get word count for a specific document or the entire manuscript.

Parameters:

• documentId (optional): UUID of document (omit for entire manuscript)

Example:

find_all_mentions

Find all sentences mentioning a term. Great for character/setting consistency checks.

Parameters:

• term (required): Term to search for (e.g., character name)

Example:

compare_descriptions

Find descriptive sentences for a term (sentences with "was", "had", "looked", etc.). Helps identify inconsistent descriptions.

Parameters:

• term (required): Term to find descriptions for

Example:

Important Notes

• Close Scrivener first before using this server to avoid conflicts

• The server modifies the .scrivx binder file and RTF content files directly

• Always keep backups of important projects

• Only documents marked "Include in Compile" are included in PDF export

• This is an unofficial tool and is not affiliated with Literature & Latte

How It Works

Scrivener projects (.scriv folders) contain:

• A .scrivx XML file that defines the binder structure

• Individual RTF files for each document's content

• Synopsis and notes stored as plain text and RTF files

This server parses and modifies these files directly, allowing AI assistants to interact with your project programmatically.

Support This Project

If you find this useful, consider supporting development:

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Changelog

v1.3.2

• Added title/author to compile - compile_manuscript now accepts title and author parameters for cover page and PDF metadata

v1.3.1

• Fixed PDF compile formatting - Paragraphs now have proper spacing instead of running together

• Added text formatting to PDF - Bold, italic, and bold-italic are now rendered in compiled PDFs

• Improved chapter titles - Larger font (18pt), bold, with better spacing

v1.3.0

• Added utility tools: word_count, append_to_document, set_include_in_compile, read_notes, write_notes, batch_read

• Added continuity tools: search_with_context, find_all_mentions, compare_descriptions

• 22 tools total

v1.2.0

• Added compile features: get_compile_order, compile_manuscript (PDF export via pdfkit)

• Compile supports partial export with stopAtTitle parameter

• Added synopsis tools: read_synopsis, write_synopsis

v1.1.3

• Fixed empty paragraph handling - Empty lines no longer cause extra spacing in compiled output

v1.1.2

• Fixed RTF paragraph formatting - Resolved issue where \par\par patterns caused section breaks in Scrivener compile

v1.0.1

• Fixed DraftFolder detection - create_document now finds the manuscript root by type (DraftFolder) instead of requiring title to be "Draft" or "Manuscript"

• Fixed empty search query - search_content with empty query now returns empty array

• Fixed empty rename validation - rename_document rejects empty titles

v1.0.0

• Initial release with 11 core tools

• Custom RTF parser with formatting preservation

• Support for bold, italic, em-dash, en-dash

Credits

Developed by Dave Cilluffo / TwelveTake Studios

Scrivener is a registered trademark of Literature & Latte Ltd.