Manuscript Studio: rename, layout, built-in Book Authoring

Policies that keep the org coherent

dotnetgovernancenovolis

name: Manuscript Studio evolution overview: Rename HandcraftedMarkdown to Manuscript Studio in novolis-apps only. Add resizable splitters with AppContext-relative persisted layout, a built-in extension host, and a built-in Book Authoring mode whose behavior is informed by D:\repos\books (reference only — no books repo, no Novolis.Books packages). todos:

id: rename-manuscript-studio

content: Rename HandcraftedMarkdown to ManuscriptStudio; update slnx, docs, namespaces status: completed

id: layout-settings

content: Implement AppContext-relative settings store and ResizableStudioShell with persisted GridSplitter widths status: completed

id: extension-host

content: Add IManuscriptExtension host, GenericMarkdownExtension, mode switcher status: completed

id: book-authoring-in-app

content: Built-in BookAuthoringExtension with in-app content model, metadata/dialogue helpers, Markdig+QuestPDF preview/export (logic inside ManuscriptStudio) status: completed

id: docs-and-verify

content: Update novolis-apps docs; verify-nuget-only + build; Calypso smoke test status: completed isProject: false

Goals

Item	Decision
App name	Manuscript Studio (`src/ManuscriptStudio/`)
Scope	novolis-apps only — one WinExe, all logic in-app
`D:\repos\books`	Reference / spec source for layout, metadata, QuestPDF semantics — not a dependency, not a NuGet, not a sibling `ProjectReference`
Book Authoring	Built-in extension compiled into Manuscript Studio (no dynamic plugins, no separate books product)
Settings	JSON on disk, AppContext-relative data root (see below)
Splitters	Resizable tree / editor / preview; column widths saved in settings

Architecture

flowchart TB
  subgraph novolisApps [novolis-apps only]
    MS[ManuscriptStudio WinExe]
    Shell[ResizableStudioShell + SettingsStore]
    Host[ExtensionHost]
  GM[GenericMarkdownExtension built-in]
  BA[BookAuthoringExtension built-in]
  BAContent[BookAuthoring Content layer in-app]
  BARender[BookAuthoring Rendering in-app]
  MS --> Shell
  Shell --> Host
  Host --> GM
  Host --> BA
  BA --> BAContent
  BA --> BARender
  end
  BooksRef[D repos books reference spec] -.->|design only| BAContent
  BooksRef -.->|design only| BARender
  ContentDisk[User content folders on disk] --> BAContent

NuGet-only (third-party + existing Novolis GPR):

Novolis.Avalonia.Studio (GPR)
Avalonia 12, Avalonia.HtmlRenderer, Markdig, QuestPDF, YamlDotNet, Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting (nuget.org)

No novolis-books repo. No Novolis.Books.* packages. No ProjectReference into D:\repos\books.

1. Rename HandcraftedMarkdown → ManuscriptStudio

In novolis-apps:

src/HandcraftedMarkdown/ → src/ManuscriptStudio/
Update Novolis.Apps.slnx, README, docs
Title: Manuscript Studio; namespace ManuscriptStudio
Generic Markdown remains the default built-in mode (current folder tree + Markdig preview)

2. App data and persisted layout

Replace AppSettingsStore.cs with ManuscriptAppContext + ManuscriptSettingsStore.

Data root (AppContext-relative, writable fallback):

var dataRoot = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "ManuscriptStudio");
if (!TryEnsureWritable(dataRoot))
    dataRoot = Path.Combine(
        Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData),
        "Novolis", "ManuscriptStudio");

File: {dataRoot}/settings.json

{
  "layout": { "leftColumnPixels": 280, "rightColumnPixels": 420 },
  "lastWorkspaceRoot": "D:\\repos\\books\\content\\series\\the-calypso-cycle",
  "contentRoot": "D:\\repos\\books",
  "activeExtensionId": "book-authoring",
  "bookAuthoring": {
    "seriesId": "the-calypso-cycle",
    "bookId": "calypso",
    "debugMetadata": false
  }
}

contentRoot is the user's publishing workspace root (default D:\repos\books on your machine) — paths under content/series/ and content/books/ discovered from there. Not wired to the books git repo as a build dependency.

Persist on: splitter drag-end, mode switch, series/book change, folder open.

3. Resizable three-column shell

Replace fixed StudioWorkspace columns in MainWindow.cs with app-local ResizableStudioShell:

Columns: Left | GridSplitter | * | GridSplitter | Right
Min width ~120px per side; center *
GridSplitter.DragCompleted → save layout to settings
Keep StudioChrome / StudioFeedback from GPR package

4. Built-in extension host

Under src/ManuscriptStudio/Core/:

Type	Role
`IManuscriptExtension`	Id, display name, left rail, toolbar items, preview hook
`ManuscriptExtensionRegistry`	Registers only built-in extensions in `Program.cs`
`ManuscriptHostContext`	Session, feedback, settings, active extension
Mode switcher	Toolbar: Generic Markdown / Book Authoring

Built-in extensions (v1):

generic-markdown — current MarkdownEditorSession + folder tree + Markdig preview
book-authoring — Book Authoring (section 5)

No DLL plugin loading. Future modes = new built-in class + registry entry in the same project.

5. Built-in Book Authoring (all code in ManuscriptStudio)

Folder layout inside the app project:

src/ManuscriptStudio/
  Extensions/BookAuthoring/
    BookAuthoringExtension.cs      # IManuscriptExtension impl + UI wiring
    Navigation/                    # series/book/chapter picker
    Helpers/                       # metadata + dialogue insert actions
    Content/                       # in-app "books" logic (not a separate repo)
      ContentCatalog.cs            # discover content/series + content/books
      SeriesBookModels.cs          # series.yaml, book.yaml models
      ChapterOrder.cs              # booktools-chapter, heading, filename rules
      ChapterMetadata.cs           # [!tag] parse/write/visibility
    Rendering/
      BookPreviewRenderer.cs       # Markdig + metadata HTML (books semantics)
      BookPdfExporter.cs           # QuestPDF export (Community license)

Design reference (read-only, do not import or shell out):

content-model.cs — discovery layout
CHAPTER_METADATA_SPEC.md — [!tag] tags
chapter-order.md — sort keys
compile-book.cs — preview/PDF behavior (reimplement in-app, not copy-paste)

Navigation (left rail)

contentRoot picker (default D:\repos\books)
Series dropdown → book dropdown → ordered chapter list (from in-app ContentCatalog + ChapterOrder)
Opens chapter .md files under content/series/{id}/books/{slug}/chapters/ (or standalone content/books/)

Toolbar helpers

Helper	Behavior
Metadata	Insert `[!date]`, `[!time]`, `[!system]`, `[!location]`, `[!pov]`, `[!characters]` at cursor
Dialogue	Insert functional-block prose templates (line-break dialogue, quoted paragraph) per books STYLE conventions
Chapter tag	Insert `<!-- booktools-chapter: N -->`
Debug metadata	Toggle extended `[!tag]` visibility in preview
Export PDF	In-app `BookPdfExporter` → `{dataRoot}/exports/{series}/{book}/` or user-picked folder

Preview

Book Authoring mode: BookPreviewRenderer (books-aligned Markdig + metadata blockquote handling)
Generic mode: existing MarkdownPreviewRenderer + Avalonia.HtmlRenderer

Optional v1: small metadata summary panel (parsed tags for current chapter).

QuestPDF

Set QuestPDF.Settings.License = LicenseType.Community once at app startup (same as books compile-book.cs). Package: QuestPDF on nuget.org only.

6. Package references

Update Directory.Packages.props — add only:

<PackageVersion Include="YamlDotNet" Version="16.3.0" />
<PackageVersion Include="QuestPDF" Version="2025.7.4" />
<PackageVersion Include="Markdig" Version="0.41.3" />

(Align Markdig with books reference; bump patch if Avalonia app already pins 0.38 — pick one version for the app.)

Keep: Avalonia 12, Avalonia.HtmlRenderer, Novolis.Avalonia.Studio, Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.

7. Docs (novolis-apps only)

docs/getting-started.md — Manuscript Studio, Book Authoring mode, contentRoot, Calypso smoke path
docs/design.md — built-in extensions; books repo as editorial reference, not runtime dependency
App README under src/ManuscriptStudio/README.md

No governance/registry changes for a books domain.

Implementation order

Rename to ManuscriptStudio + update slnx/docs
ManuscriptSettingsStore + ResizableStudioShell
Extension host + GenericMarkdownExtension (lift current code)
Extensions/BookAuthoring/ — Content layer (catalog, order, metadata)
Book Authoring rendering (preview + PDF) + UI (nav, helpers, mode switch)
verify-nuget-only.ps1, dotnet build, smoke: open Calypso 047-marsh-black.md in Book Authoring mode

Risks

HtmlRenderer may not render full style.css from books — PDF export is the faithful print path for v1
QuestPDF Community license required at startup
GPR still needed for Novolis.Avalonia.Studio only (no new Novolis packages)