Practical overview
When it fits
Use it when a fiction project benefits from staged chapter planning and drafting, with the author reviewing output and maintaining control over story rules and direction.
Who it is for
- Fiction authors who want AI assistance with outlining and drafting chapters.
- Writers managing story details, revisions and multiple long-form projects.
- Authors who want project files stored locally while using a separately configured model service.
Documented uses
- Turn a synopsis into a reviewable batch outline.
- Draft chapters and revise prose or selected paragraphs.
- Keep characters, world information and story knowledge alongside a project.
- Track foreshadowing, proofread a completed work, and export text, outlines or reports.
- Import existing text or continue a story in a project.
Requirements & limits
The application is available as a public GitHub project under the MIT license. Its documented first-run workflow uses a downloaded release and a local browser interface at http://localhost:48090.
- A model service must be configured with its API address, exact model identifier and API key.
- Relevant prose, settings and prompts are sent to the configured model service; project files are stored locally.
- The project recommends using the application in a trusted local environment rather than exposing it directly to the public internet.
- The application documents project backup and restoration, while global API configuration and user Skills must be preserved separately.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Set up a model connection and start a first story
Configure the model service and create, review and revise an initial chapter.
Before you start
- A downloaded release for the intended system and a directory for the application.
- An OpenAI-compatible model service, with its API address, exact model identifier and API key.
Steps
Extract and launch the release, then open http://localhost:48090.
Create a Chinese or English project. In Configuration, enter the API address, model identifier and API key, test the connection and save.
Set genre, target chapter length, style and point of view; add essential characters and worldview entries.
In Outline, enter a synopsis and a first-batch chapter count from 1 to 36. Generate and review the outline, confirming it if the page offers that option.
In Writing, generate one chapter, read and revise it, then accept it before continuing.
Expected outcome
A configured project with a reviewed outline and an author-reviewed first chapter.
Guide limitations
- AI operations send relevant prose, settings and prompts to the configured model service, which may charge for usage.
- Authors should review model output; consistency checks primarily use story context and are not online research.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 14 October 2026
- Original website title
- Nigh/show-me-the-story · Official homepage title · retained in its source language

