ai.interactive.fiction/MARKUP_GUIDELINES.md

Markup Guidelines

This file documents author-facing Ink tag conventions. The active parser normalizes tags into structured StoryTag objects before they reach the UI.

Implemented Tag Forms

Use bracket tags for titles, filenames, and longer text:

#chapter[Eibenreith]
#image[statue.png](square)
#music[Kaiserpunk Waltz.mp3](crossfade, loop, lead=8)
#sfx[church-bells.ogg](max=8, fade)
#score[You reached an ending.]
#achievement[First Steps]
#alert[Try examining the room.]

Use colon tags for short identifiers, categories, and choice keys:

#action:movement
#key:l
#sort:last
#gated:noble

Bare flags are accepted as tags with no value:

#optional

Choice Metadata

Choice tags are placed on the Ink choice they belong to:

* [__Schaue__: Aus dem Fenster.]
  #action:orientation
  #key:l

Implemented choice metadata:

• #key:x: reserves keyboard key X for the choice.
• #letter[x]: older equivalent for reserving keyboard key X.
• #action:group or #action[group]: stores a category/template hint.

The current UI renders all choices in one list. Explicit keys are assigned first; choices without explicit keys receive 1 through 0, then A through Z in visible order while skipping explicit keys. #optional choices are displayed italic. Grouping columns, stable shuffling, #gated[...], and #sort[...] are documented authoring conventions or future metadata, not fully implemented UI behavior yet.

Popup And End-State Tags

These tags may appear as Ink global tags, paragraph tags, or empty tag-only lines. They are dispatched through the same tag channel as media tags.

#score[You reached the quiet ending.]
#error[The story ended unexpectedly.]
#achievement[First Steps]
#alert[Try examining objects before using them.]

• #score[...]: intended ending. When the turn reaches inputMode: end, the UI shows a localized ending popup with the tag value as the optional message.
• #error[...]: unrecoverable ending. The UI shows a localized error popup with the tag value as the optional message. The Ink engine emits this automatically if Ink runs out of content without an explicit #score[...] or #error[...].
• #achievement[...]: queued localized achievement popup while the game continues.
• #alert[...]: queued localized player hint/tutorial popup while the game continues.

Existing Media And Structure Tags

#chapter[Title]
#section
#textblock
#image[filename.png](landscape)
#image[filename.png](portrait pause=2)
#image[filename.png](square lead=1.5)
#music[track.mp3](crossfade, loop, lead=4)
#sfx[file.ogg](max=8 fade fade-duration=2)

Asset filenames resolve relative to the configured image, music, and sound folders.