AI agent for authors
Chapter Dependency and Plot Hole Agent
Give the author a verified map of setups and payoffs with every gap listed.
What it does
In a novel under revision, a gun is placed in chapter 4, fired in chapter 22, and then removed from chapter 4 in a rewrite. This agent reads the manuscript and builds a map of what each chapter sets up and what it pays off: objects, secrets, promises, injuries, relationships and rules of the world. It then checks every setup for a payoff and every payoff for a setup, and lists gaps, such as a character who knows something before learning it. It checks knowledge order by character. After each revision, it rereads the changed chapters and rechecks the full map, because a change in one place can break a link far away. It never changes the text. The author approves changes. Edge case: a deliberate unresolved thread is marked as intentional if the author says so.
How it works
Follow the arrows from top to bottom. The orange dashed arrow is the loop: when a check fails, the agent goes back and tries again.
Read the steps as a list
- New draft or revision submitted
- Read the chapters and extract setups, payoffs and who knows what
- Build the dependency map across chapters
- Check each setup for a payoff and each payoff for a setup
- Check character knowledge order against events
- List gaps with chapter references and suggested fixes
- Author decides what to changeThe agent waits here for your OK.
- Reread the revised chapters and update the map
- Is the full map free of new or remaining gaps?If not: list the new gaps, including those caused by the edits. Back to step 4.
- Final dependency map
How it decides
It treats a thread as broken when a payoff has no earlier setup, a setup has no payoff by the end and is not marked intentional, or a character acts on knowledge not yet shown.
- Flag a payoff with no earlier setup
- Flag a setup with no payoff unless marked intentional
- Flag a character who uses knowledge before the scene that provides it
- Recheck the whole map after each revision, not just the edited chapter
Make it yours
Every agent is a starting point. You choose these settings for your own situation.
- What counts as a thread
- Intentional open threads
- Characters tracked for knowledge
- Chapter range
- Report format
What keeps you in control
It always asks you first
- Every change to the manuscript
Hard limits
- Never edit the manuscript
- Always cite the chapters involved
It stops when
- Done: no unresolved gaps
- Stop: author marks the remaining gaps as intentional
Set it up
We guide you through the set-up, step by step
Members get the full set-up guide for this agent. No technical skills needed: you copy, paste and upload.
- One set of instructions to paste into your AI, with the clicks for ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini and Grok
- The agent then walks you through connecting your own data, one source at a time
- A downloadable copy with the flow chart, the rules and the full guide
