Nico

Narrative Insight Composition Output

A privacy-first, local-first writing application for authors, screenwriters, and narrative creators. Think Scrivener meets modern worldbuilding tools, with optional AI assistance that respects your creative process.

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For Writers

Nico helps you organize complex narratives across any medium—novels, screenplays, concept albums, video scripts, or non-fiction works.

What You Get

Hierarchical Organization

• Projects contain Stories (or Volumes for non-fiction)
• Stories contain Chapters
• Chapters contain Scenes (fiction) or Sections (non-fiction)
• Drag-and-drop reordering at every level

Rich Worldbuilding

• Characters with detailed attributes, psychological profiles, and trait sliders
• Relationships between characters with customizable dynamics
• Locations as rich, character-like entities
• Events tracked on flexible timelines (days to decades)
• Bibliography for research and citations

Universal Attachments

• Add Notes, web Links, and Media (images/audio/video) to any entity
• Attach reference materials directly to scenes, characters, locations, or events

Professional Features

• WYSIWYG editor with formatting support
• Import/export: DOCX, Markdown, Fountain, Final Draft, EPUB
• Word count tracking and targets
• Story templates with structural beats
• Automatic revision history

AI Assistance (Optional)

• Ollama integration (runs locally on your machine)
• Optional cloud providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google)
• Granular control: mark individual items to exclude from AI
• Local-only mode for complete privacy

Your Data Stays Yours

• Local-first: Projects are folders on your computer
• No cloud sync: Your stories never leave your machine unless you choose
• Zero telemetry: No usage data collected, ever
• Open source: Audit the code yourself

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For Developers

Technology Stack

Backend

• Python 3.13+
• PostgreSQL with pgvector (for semantic search)
• SQLAlchemy + Alembic (ORM and migrations)
• ChromaDB fallback for vector storage

Frontend

• PySide6 (Qt for Python) for native desktop UI
• QWebEngineView hosting ProseMirror/TipTap for rich text editing

AI Integration

• Ollama (local models, primary)
• OpenAI / Anthropic / Google APIs (optional)
• Embedding generation for semantic search

Packaging

• PyInstaller or Briefcase for cross-platform builds
• Auto-update framework (TBD)

Architecture

Nico follows clean architecture principles:

• Domain layer: Core entities and business logic
• Application layer: Use cases and services
• Infrastructure layer: Database, AI providers, file I/O
• Presentation layer: Qt UI components

See ARCHITECTURE.md (in development) for detailed design decisions.

Project Structure

nico/
├── nico/                  # Main application package
│   ├── domain/           # Entities, value objects, domain services
│   ├── application/      # Use cases, DTOs
│   ├── infrastructure/   # Database, AI clients, file handling
│   └── presentation/     # Qt UI, web editor bridge
├── migrations/           # Alembic database migrations
├── tests/               # Test suite
├── docs/                # Additional documentation
└── pyproject.toml       # Project dependencies

Project-as-Folder Layout

Each user project is a directory containing:

my-novel/
├── project.db           # PostgreSQL connection or embedded SQLite
├── media/              # Referenced images, audio, video
├── chroma/             # ChromaDB vector storage (if used)
├── exports/            # Generated output files
└── project.json        # Project manifest

Getting Started (Development)

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+ (managed via pyenv)
• PostgreSQL 15+ with pgvector extension
• Qt6 development libraries

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone git@github.com:applebiter/nico.git
cd nico

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Set up database
# (Instructions coming soon)

# Run the application
python -m nico

Current Status

🚧 Early Development 🚧

We're currently focusing on:

1. ✅ Core database schema design
2. ⏳ SQLAlchemy models and migrations
3. ⏳ Basic Qt UI skeleton
4. ⏳ Project creation and management

See ROADMAP.md for planned features and timeline.

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Privacy Commitment

Nico disables telemetry from all third-party libraries (ChromaDB/PostHog, Hugging Face) on startup. No data is collected or transmitted unless you explicitly configure and use AI providers.

When AI features are used:

• Data sent only when you invoke AI features
• Respects project-wide "Local-only AI" setting
• Honors per-item "Exclude from AI" flags
• Full transparency over what's sent

See PRIVACY.md for complete details.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md (coming soon) for guidelines.

Development Philosophy

• Privacy is non-negotiable
• Local-first always
• Clean architecture and clear module boundaries
• Comprehensive tests for critical paths
• Document design decisions

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License

MIT License - see file for details.

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Acknowledgments

Built for writers, by developers who respect the creative process. Inspired by Scrivener, enhanced for the AI age, designed for privacy.

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Contact

• GitHub Issues: github.com/applebiter/nico/issues
• Repository: github.com/applebiter/nico

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Status: Pre-alpha development | Python: 3.13+ | License: MIT