Documentation

Getting Started Guide

Last updated — July 2026 · Beta version

Introduction

Scrivaelo is an online writing workshop designed for novelists. It brings together everything you need in a single interface: a rich text editor, narrative structure management, character and location sheets, a multilingual spelling and grammar checker, and AI-powered assistance tools.

Scrivaelo runs entirely in your browser. Your manuscripts are stored locally on your device — never on our servers. Only short contextual excerpts are sent during AI requests, and only at your request.

Create an account & access the workshop

Scrivaelo is now fully hosted under a single root domain: scrivaelo.com. The site, your personal space, and the writing workshop now live together in the same place, behind secure access.

Access to the editor is strictly reserved for logged-in accounts. There is no direct public address to the application: you always enter it through the site and then through your dashboard. To get started:

  1. Create your account from the Create an account page. Registration is free throughout the beta period.
  2. Log in via Log in. A secure session is opened for your browser.
  3. Launch the workshop from your dashboard: the application opens under scrivaelo.com, without leaving the site's root domain.

If you try to open the workshop without an active session, you are automatically redirected to the login page.

Compatible browsers

  • Chrome / Chromium 110+
  • Firefox 115+
  • Safari 16+
  • Edge 110+

Your dashboard

The dashboard is your entry point after logging in. It brings together your recent projects, access to the workshop, and management of your account.

  • Your projects — resume an ongoing manuscript or start a new story in one click.
  • Launch the workshop — opens the editor with your active session.
  • Account & subscription — status of your beta access, email address, preferences.

Since your manuscripts live on your device, the dashboard never stores the content of your texts — only the information necessary for your account.

The text editor

Scrivaelo's editor is a rich text editor optimized for long-form prose. It supports essential formatting — bold, italic, dialogue, author's note — without overloading the interface. A full-screen mode and a « typewriter » cursor help you stay focused.

Keyboard shortcuts

  • Ctrl + S — Save manually
  • Ctrl + B — Bold
  • Ctrl + I — Italic
  • Ctrl + Shift + N — Insert an author's note
  • Ctrl + F — Search in text
  • Ctrl + Z — Undo
  • Ctrl + Shift + Z — Redo
  • F11 — Full-screen mode

Autosave runs every 30 seconds. A discreet indicator at the bottom of the editor confirms each save.

Chapters & scenes

The left panel shows the tree structure of your manuscript. You can freely create, reorder, and name your chapters and the scenes they contain. Drag-and-drop lets you restructure your story in seconds.

Each scene has an optional summary, a status (draft, in revision, finalized), and a dedicated word counter. A focused writing mode lets you concentrate on a single chapter at a time without losing the overall view.

Character & location sheets

Accessible from the side menu, the Universe section centralizes your character and location sheets. Each sheet is free-form: you add the fields that make sense for your story — physical traits, narrative arc, relationships, private notes.

Sheets can be viewed from the editor without leaving your text, via the right-hand side panel. The names you enter there are also recognized by the proofreader, which then avoids flagging them as errors.

Proofreader & analysis

Scrivaelo combines several levels of checking, from the lightest (100 % local, instant) to the most advanced (advanced grammar, editorial analysis).

Local autocorrection

An autocorrection runs in real time, directly in your browser, without any data being sent. It covers the typography and spelling of the eleven interface languages (quotation marks, spaces, punctuation, safe lexical corrections), with automatic grammatical agreement for French, English, and Spanish. It is designed to never "over-correct" a text that is already right.

Advanced grammar (LanguageTool)

For thorough grammar proofreading, Scrivaelo relies on LanguageTool in nine languages: French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, and Greek. Finnish and Hungarian are not covered by this engine — local autocorrection remains fully active for them. Titles and internal tags are ignored so as not to clutter the analysis.

Editorial analysis & style

The Analysis panel detects close repetitions, weak words, adverb tics, clichés, and character inconsistencies. Each module can be rerun individually, and results are automatically cleared when you switch projects.

Search in text

The editor's search bar (Ctrl + F) searches for whole words by default: searching for "cat" no longer also brings up "category" or "catalog." The search handles accents and ignores case.

A W button lets you switch to a partial search (substring) when you're looking for a word stem. The ▲▼ arrows or the Enter key navigate between occurrences, and the replace tool follows the same whole-word option.

AI assistance

Scrivaelo's AI tools are activated from the editor's toolbar or via the Analysis panel. They notably allow you to:

  • Editorial analysis of a chapter (consistency, pacing, repetitions, readability)
  • Writing style analysis
  • Brainstorming scenes and plot twists
  • Checking character consistency
  • Automatic summary of a chapter
  • Text continuation based on the context around the cursor

Each request sends only the relevant excerpt to the AI provider — never your entire manuscript. The language of the responses follows your preference, regardless of the language of the analyzed text.

Personal API keys

Scrivaelo works with your own API key. In Settings → AI, enter your key from the provider of your choice (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Mistral…). Your key is stored locally in your browser, sent directly to the provider via a secure header, and is never saved on our servers or included in your exports.

Exporting your manuscript

Your manuscript can be exported at any time from the File → Export menu. The formats available in beta:

  • DOCX — Microsoft Word, compatible with Google Docs, with a title page
  • PDF — standard, print-ready layout
  • TXT — plain text
  • Markdown — for technical workflows

Offline & backup

Scrivaelo is designed "local-first." Once the page is loaded and your session is open, writing and autocorrection work without continuously depending on the network; only the advanced grammar and AI features require a connection.

Your projects are saved on your device (via the File System Access API on Chromium, or OPFS storage on Firefox and Safari). We recommend regularly exporting a backup copy of your important manuscripts.

Your data

Scrivaelo is built around a fundamental principle: your manuscripts belong to you. They never leave your device. Only your account ID and your subscription status are stored on our servers, in strict compliance with GDPR.

To learn more, see our Privacy Policy.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I report a bug or ask a question?

Join our Discord server, the beta testers’ gathering point — with technical channels and multilingual bug-report sections. You can also email us at contact@scrivaelo.com.

Are my manuscripts sent to your servers?

No. They stay on your device. Only short excerpts are sent during an AI request that you trigger yourself.

Do I need an API key to write?

No. The editor, organization, local autocorrection, and export all work without a key. A key is only needed for generative AI features.

Can I work in a language other than French?

Yes. The interface and tools are available in eleven languages. Advanced grammar coverage varies by language (see the Proofreader section).