voice-checker

Voice Checker

Check prose against character voice capsules for all speaking characters in a scene.

The Iron Law

EVERY CHARACTER HAS A VOICE. Load capsules for all speakers. Check POV internal + all dialogue.

When to Use

• Called by prose-editor (Phase 3)
• Called by writing-mode for voice spot-check
• "check voice" / "voice consistency" / "does this sound like [character]?"
• Before marking scene as final
• When dialogue feels off

Scene Requirements

Scenes should include pov_character in frontmatter:

---
title: Scene Title
pov_character: Character Name
---

The character name should match the filename (without .md) in 02_World/Characters/.

The Process

Phase 1: Identify Characters in Scene

1. Read scene file completely
2. Identify POV character from frontmatter (pov_character field) or narration style
3. Scan for all characters with dialogue (look for dialogue tags, speech patterns)
4. Build character list: [POV, Speaker1, Speaker2, ...]

If no pov_character in frontmatter:

• Infer from third-person limited narration
• Or ask user: "Who is the POV character for this scene?"

Phase 2: Load Voice Capsules

For each character identified:

1. Search 02_World/Characters/ for matching file
2. Load the ## Voice section if present
3. Track which characters have capsules vs missing

Report loading status:

Voice capsules loaded:
✓ [Character A] - full capsule
✓ [Character B] - full capsule
⚠ [Character C] - no Voice section (will skip)
✗ [Character D] - no character file found

Continue with available capsules. Missing capsules = skipped, not failed.

Phase 3: Check POV Character

Internal Narration (only POV character has this):

• Does thinking style match Internal.Style?
• Are Internal.Markers present naturally? (not forced)
• Any violations of Internal.Never? → CRITICAL

POV Character Dialogue:

• Apply same dialogue checks as other characters (see Phase 4)

Phase 4: Check All Dialogue