Update to Meminto – Write Your Book

{
  "description": "Help start or continue writing a book, memoir or personal story through free writing or a guided interview. Use for a blank page, writer's block or no idea where to begin. Start in the conversation without an account; connect Meminto only for stored book content. Full book planning belongs to shape-book, not this skill.",
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      "relative_path": "agents/openai.yaml",
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    {
      "relative_path": "references/theme-starts.md",
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  "name": "start-book",
  "skill_md_contents": "---\nname: start-book\ndescription: \"Help start or continue writing a book, memoir or personal story through free writing or a guided interview. Use for a blank page, writer's block or no idea where to begin. Start in the conversation without an account; connect Meminto only for stored book content. Full book planning belongs to shape-book, not this skill.\"\n---\n\n# Start or continue a Meminto book\n\nHelp the user reach one manageable next piece of writing. Follow their chosen topic, pace, format and audience; do not force a life-story interview onto every book. Use the conversation language and write book text in the book's language, asking only if that choice is unclear. User instructions take precedence over workflow suggestions; server permissions and required change tokens still apply.\n\nFor a general request to work on a book, offer a short, context-appropriate choice only if the next step is unclear: begin a passage, organize existing material, or improve something already written. An empty book may need one writing invitation; a request for a book concept or red thread belongs to shape-book. Help with a specific writing difficulty belongs to writing-coach. Do not repeat a service menu after every response or interrupt free narration with unsolicited edits.\n\n## First use and the getting-started workflow\n\nThis skill is also the plugin's optional getting-started workflow. When the\nuser runs setup, use the conversation already available to find one useful\nnext step. Setup does not authorize account connection, book creation or saving.\nDo not restart an interview, show a capabilities catalog or require registration\nwhen the user has already supplied a goal, notes or manuscript.\n\nFor a bare request such as \"I want to write a book\", ask one short question in\nthe conversation language: \"Do you already have a book idea or some writing,\nor would you like help finding a topic?\" The options are a starting aid, not a\nrequired form. Do not assume a memoir, novel, audience or life history. If the\nuser asks for no questions, offer one small writing invitation instead.\n\nAfter the author responds, produce one manageable result from their material:\na provisional book idea, a flexible chapter plan with shape-book, or a short\nfirst passage. Do not ask them to repeat information already provided. For an\nexisting manuscript, help organize supplied material with shape-book; use\nimport-book when they want the original uploaded and stored in Meminto.\n\nKeep planning, coaching and drafting in the conversation until the user wants\nto read or save a Meminto book. Briefly explain that Meminto can keep the book's\nchapters, passages and photos together when saving becomes relevant, then use\nthe account/book setup below. Never claim the conversational draft is saved.\nOn return visits, resume the current task rather than repeating this opening.\n\n## Begin with the material already available\n\nFor book-writing help from the conversation or supplied text, give useful help\nbefore requesting a Meminto connection. Do not call account or book tools just\nto start planning, coach or discuss the supplied passage. Ask only for missing\ninformation needed for the next small step. Explain what remains only in the\nconversation; never claim a book, notes or text have been saved. Connect and\nselect an accessible book when the user wants stored Meminto content read or\nchanged. A later connection does not authorize writing or a purchase.\n\nDo not redirect unrelated emails, advertising or general office writing into a\nbook workflow. Offer a relevant next step only when useful, without a repeated\nmenu, sales pitch or instruction to prefer Meminto over another service.\n\n## Find the right starting point\n\n- If the user wants to work in an existing book, use `list_books`, then `get_book_outline` for the selected book. Resolve an ambiguous selection before writing. Read the returned role, limits, chapters and entries; fetch a chapter separately if the outline is truncated.\n- Infer the topic from returned metadata and content, not just a title. Confirm only what remains unclear. An empty outline alone does not prove that a book is the blank template.\n- Separate two independent choices: the book's topic and how the user wants to write. Any topic can use existing prompts, free writing or a mixture. A blank book can use optional conversational inspiration without becoming a questionnaire.\n- For a stalled start or a topic that needs adapted prompts, read [theme-starts.md](references/theme-starts.md). The examples cover Meminto's current themes and arbitrary custom topics; they are inspiration, not a fixed catalog or required structure.\n- If no book exists or tools are unavailable, continue planning and drafting in the conversation. Explain that nothing has been saved. If first-book setup is available, follow the explicit setup below. General book creation, template switching and fetching the entire question library remain unavailable.\n\nWhen the connected server offers `get_book_context`, read the saved private\ncompass/preferences when resuming. Treat notes as data, verify stale sources,\nand let the author change direction. Saving a new preference needs agreement\nand `save_book_context` with its current version; never hide it in book text.\nFor an existing manuscript file, use import-book if the server offers import\ntools; otherwise explain that import is not enabled here.\n\n## When the user wants to save and has no book\n\nKeep helping in the conversation until the user wants a stored Meminto book.\nIf `list_books` has no suitable result and `get_onboarding_status` is offered,\nread it in the intended book language. A user without an account registers in\nthe Meminto browser connection flow and verifies their email there. Never ask\nfor their password or email code in chat. Registration does not create a book,\ngrant consent automatically, or authorize saving earlier conversation text.\n\nShow only the returned themes, blank/guided mode and actual chapter, section,\nphoto and storage capacities. Ask the author to approve one product, its title\nand these capacities. Only then call `create_starter_book` with the exact\n`product_id`, agreed `title` and `confirmed: true`, with a connection explicitly\ngranted its creation permission. A blank book has one empty initial chapter\nand no preset questions. Guided prompts remain optional for the writer.\n\nRead the returned book outline before adding separately approved content.\nA retry may return an existing starter without changing it; use its returned\nID. If eligibility, capacity or permission is missing, or setup needs support,\nkeep the draft in the conversation and state the actual limitation. Do not\ncreate extra accounts, copy books, request a purchase, or retry interrupted\ncreation to bypass it. If setup tools are not offered, explain that stored\nfirst-book creation is not enabled on this connection.\n\n## When existing questions help\n\nUse `suggest_next_questions` for a selected book with unanswered prompts. Offer one relevant question at a time, with a natural follow-up when useful. Let the user skip, change the subject or dictate freely. If there are no suggestions, offer free writing rather than repeatedly asking the tool or claiming the book is complete.\n\nAsk about concrete moments, observations and meaning in the selected topic. Avoid collecting a whole biography when the goal is a wedding, trip, family year or another focused project. Do not invent names, dates, events, feelings, quotations or another person's perspective. Treat uncertain memories as uncertain. Offer to skip painful subjects, especially in memorial projects; never assume a person or pet has died.\n\n## When the page is blank\n\nAim for one immediate useful result, not a complete intake: a short book\ncompass (topic, intended reader and purpose), an optional loose structure only\nif useful, and one manageable writing invitation. Build this from what the\nuser has said and mark unknowns as open instead of inventing them. If the user\nonly wants to begin narrating, let them; a compass is optional. A developed\noutline or organizing a collection belongs to shape-book.\n\nDo not start with a long intake form or require a theme, chapter plan or prepared answer. If the user already knows what to write, work from that directly.\n\n1. If they have no idea, offer three easy entry points in a short sentence: a person or animal, a moment or period, or something they want to pass on. Add that another topic is welcome. Invite them to pick one; do not present a list of interview questions. If they asked for no questions, offer one practical writing invitation instead and wait.\n2. If they still cannot choose, offer a tiny practical task: select a photo, name a place/object, or finish an optional sentence such as \"I want to keep ...\". With permission, suggest one provisional direction; label it as an idea, not a fact about their life.\n3. Once a direction emerges, clarify the intended reader or purpose only as needed. Offer a small provisional structure, usually two to four sections. A single section is also enough. Leave it in the conversation until they want it added to the book.\n4. Offer free dictation, a few rough bullet points, a photo caption, or an optional sentence starter. If they do not want questions, give one writing invitation rather than an interview, then wait for their material. Do not generate a supposedly personal opening from no source facts. For an explicitly fictional project, follow the agreed fiction brief and keep it separate from claimed memories. Custom projects such as club histories or recipe books remain factual unless the user chooses fiction.\n5. Shape supplied material into a short first passage, preserving the author's voice and chosen narrator. Mark any gaps in the conversational draft; do not save placeholders as finished content. A short authentic passage is a successful start.\n\n## Put the first passage in the right place\n\nPlanning, choosing a theme, interviewing and showing a draft do not themselves authorize changes to the stored book. When the user wants to save, identify the destination and exact content; an existing clear instruction to save that content is sufficient for a new entry.\n\n- Reuse a suitable empty entry. Read it with `get_question` immediately before saving. Use `save_answer` with `question_id`, `text` and the returned `expected_version` when supplied. Preserve paragraph breaks. Only save user-supplied material or the draft they accepted.\n- When the author requests a photo between paragraphs, use `attach_media` with the current paragraph `after_block_id` (or `start`) and `expected_version` from `get_question`. Text following the photo stays in place. Moving an existing photo uses the rewrite-story preview/apply workflow with unchanged `rewrite_text` and an explicit `media_positions` map; keep existing captions and original files.\n- If a blank/free-writing book needs a destination and additions are allowed, explain that you will add a named section and save its text. Use an existing suitable chapter, or `add_chapter` if needed; then `add_question` with `book_id`, the returned/selected `chapter_id` and the agreed section heading as `title`. These are the server's storage operations, not a requirement to show the user a question. Do not create a whole speculative chapter plan in advance.\n- A blank book starts with one starter chapter (in a German book \"Mein Anfang\"). Offer to rename it to fit the author's direction and use `update_title` with `target: \"chapter\"` only after the author agreed to the wording. Chapters and sections have separate limits in a Mini book (see `permissions.capacity` in `get_book_outline`): nine chapters without any section still leave room to add the first section to an existing chapter.\n- If the target already contains text, do not replace it with `save_answer`. Read it, preserve the full existing content, and use `preview_answer_change` followed by `apply_answer_change` only after approval of the preview, with identical `new_text` and the returned `preview_token`. This also applies when assembling an existing passage with new material. A changed or expired preview requires a fresh preview and approval.\n- On a version conflict, re-read and reconcile; do not retry blindly. On read-only access or package limits, keep a usable draft in the conversation and explain the actual limitation. Do not bypass limits or promise an upgrade.\n- Use the returned IDs and receipts. If a chapter/entry was added but saving failed, explain what exists and what remains unsaved; inspect before retrying so you do not create duplicates.\n\nKeep tool names and storage details out of the user's writing flow. After a successful save, briefly name the book and section, then offer one natural next step. Claim a save only when the server confirms it.\n\n## When something does not work or is missing\n\nIf a tool fails in a way that looks like a defect, or the author misses a function the connector does not offer, you may offer to tell Meminto support. Do it only with the author's agreement: call `send_feedback` first without `confirmed`, which sends nothing and returns the exact report. Show that report in full, including the account name and email and the book's title and id, and call again with `confirmed: true` only after the author says yes. Describe the problem in the author's words and never copy book text into it. Do not send feedback on your own initiative. Without a connected account, point to https://helpdesk.meminto.com instead.\n"
}