Getting started
What DunneWrite needs to run, and the shape of a first project.
DunneWrite is not yet distributed as an installer and its repository is not public, so this page documents the requirements rather than being a set of instructions a general reader can follow today.
What it needs
- Node.js 18+ and npm
- An Anthropic API key, for the assistant features
- Local storage for the project database
A knowledge-graph store is required. That is currently an external Neo4j instance; it is being replaced by an embedded, file-local store, after which no external database will be needed. If you are reading this after that migration lands, the Neo4j requirement is gone.
The shape of a project
A project is one story world. Inside it:
- Entities are created — characters, locations, plots, items, factions, events — or extracted from prose you already have.
- Relationships connect them, forming the knowledge graph.
- Events are placed on the timeline and, where relevant, on a map.
- Queries ask the world questions: who knew this at that point, where was this object during that chapter, which threads are unresolved.
Working with the assistant
DunneWrite is built to be used with Claude rather than alongside it. You describe the world and ask questions about it in conversation, and the answers are grounded in the structured bible rather than invented.
Because that involves sending content to Anthropic’s API, it is worth being deliberate about it — see the note on the difference from DunneNote in the overview.