Make room for
your next story.

Start with your vault.

Prefer to explore first? Download the Greek Demo for a preconfigured vault with a linked cast, comic scripts, timeline and walkthroughs pinned on Home.

1. Install and enable Marginalia, then open Settings → Marginalia.
2. In Theme, choose World for worldbuilding or Storyboard for story projects. Configure your Canon types, folder routes and templates with Configure vault….
3. Enable the modules you want: app pages, Scripts and, on desktop, Librarian. Timelines are separately enabled in World vaults.
4. Open Marginalia: Open Home from the command palette. Use the app navigation to reach Brainstorms, Canon and Projects.

You can use your own templates and folder structure. Optional modules can be switched off independently.

Give each idea a place.

Brainstorms holds ideas and author conversations. Canon holds the entries you treat as established. Projects brings the work for a story together.

Choose New Entry on an app page. Select the category and type, enter a title, choose the destination and template, and create the note. Your template is copied rather than executed.

Link related entries with ordinary Obsidian wikilinks. Distinct entries can share a display name; paths keep their identities separate.

Storyboard projects

Use the Project Register to browse projects. An optional existing Base can supply the register’s records when Obsidian 1.10 or newer and the Bases core plugin are available. The built-in register works without Bases.

Write comics and graphic novels.

Script Studio is currently designed for comics and graphic novels, with scripts divided into pages and panels.

Enable Scripts, then use the M ribbon or Open Script Studio. Choose a project or grouping above the outline. Click names to open scripts or pages; use the arrows to expand pages and panels.

Choose a script template location in Scripts settings. Use New Script or right-click a folder and choose Create a New Script. Drag scripts to reorder them; Marginalia maintains the predecessor properties used by the outline.

Shortcuts in a script

Type a shortcut alone on a line and press Enter. Conversion has its own Undo step.

On desktop, type to filter the character dropdown and accept with Enter, Tab or a click. Mobile uses a searchable choice dialog. Shortcuts leave ordinary notes and code blocks alone.

Writing sessions and output

Use the optional timer and word goals in the sidebar. Counts reflect net words added in the local editor while the plugin is running; they do not count earlier writing. Session history is optional.

Choose Compile PDF… for a project or grouping, select scripts and content, and preview before exporting on desktop. Mobile offers a script preview. Focused writing can be enabled separately in Scripts settings.

Put your world in time.

1. On desktop, choose a World vault and enable Timelines in Marginalia settings. Enabling it sets up a default Calendar note if one is missing.
2. Use the timeline ribbon or Open World Timeline command. Calendar definitions are actual notes in your vault.
3. Add dates and linked locations/participants to event entries using the configured timeline properties. Edit these in the note’s ordinary Properties.
4. Open View → Locations… to choose and drag location lanes. Create named groups, choose a color or neutral banding, then assign locations.
5. Use Filters to select Canon entries as removable chips. Multiple chips match any selected entry; the other filters still apply.

A simple dated event

This example uses a Calendar note named Calendar. Use your configured property names and replace the example links with actual Canon entries. The Calendar field is a plain name or path; entry links are wikilinks.

---
Type: Event
Calendar: Calendar
Date: "440"
Locations:
  - "[[Harbor]]"
Participants:
  - "[[Mira Thorne]]"
---
The first dispatch leaves the harbor.

For a span, use Start and End in place of Date. Calendar years can be zero, negative or positive. A lower-precision date starts at the beginning of that date internally, even when only the year is displayed.

Follow a thread

Turn on Threads in the timeline’s View controls. Participants appear beneath event cards, with links to their other recorded appearances across location lanes. Single-click a marker or line to hold a highlight; click blank chart space or press Escape to clear it. Double-click to open the entry timeline.

Enable entry images to use vault-local icons. The default icon property is icon and can be changed in settings. For example:

icon: "[[Assets/Mira.png]]"

Missing images fall back to initials. Threads continue toward known offscreen occurrences when you zoom in. Dotted links have the same recorded time and no implied order. Undated events stay separate.

Inspect a moment

Open View → Snapshot at time… to inspect state and location with their source entries. An entry’s own dates override corresponding event-supplied dates; a change in a span takes effect at its end. Unknown and absent are separate states.

Invite the Librarian in.

1. On your desktop computer, install Ollama and download a model suitable for your hardware.
2. Enable Librarian in Marginalia. The default connection is local: http://127.0.0.1:11434. Choose an installed model in settings.
3. Use the lantern beside an entry, Open Librarian, or the right sidebar. Follow the active note or pin its context.

Ask is a conversation. Review starts with four actions; choosing one hides the alternatives. Library reopens saved developments, expansions and vault reports.

The Librarian uses original entries, links and bounded surrounding context. Suggestions can be wrong; read the sources and accept only the changes you want. There is no cloud fallback, and Marginalia does not download models automatically.

Your writing stays yours.

Original entries and scripts remain vault notes. Accepted source changes are explicit. Generated expansions are stored under .marginalia/expanded, and AI-only Vault Reviews under .marginalia/reviews. Open them through Library.

Entry Development includes author-written content, so its default home is Brainstorms/Development. Its save location is configurable, including a hidden option. Generated reports are excluded from canonical evidence.

Plugin preferences use Obsidian’s existing plugin settings storage. Check your sync provider’s treatment of hidden folders and plugin data before relying on cross-device synchronization.

Choose the right device.

Obsidian 1.8.7 or later is declared; optional Bases integration needs 1.10 or later. Release checks cover the current tested desktop host, automated mobile loading and browser device profiles. Physical Android, some iOS keyboard interactions, Windows/Linux PDF output and hidden-file synchronization still need wider testing.