Package Exports

Readme

@echoes-io/utils

Utilities and types for Echoes - a multi-POV digital storytelling platform.

Overview

This package provides shared utilities used across the Echoes ecosystem:

Web application (Next.js)
CLI tools
MCP server
LaTeX/PDF builder

Installation

npm install @echoes-io/utils

Features

Markdown Parser

Parse markdown files with YAML frontmatter to extract chapter metadata and content.

import { parseMarkdown, stripMarkdown } from '@echoes-io/utils';

const markdown = `---
pov: "alice"
title: "First Meeting"
date: "2024-01-01"
timeline: "main"
arc: "introduction"
episode: 1
part: 1
chapter: 1
excerpt: "Alice meets Bob for the first time"
location: "coffee shop"
outfit: "red dress"
kink: "slow burn"
---

# Chapter 1

Alice walked into the coffee shop...`;

const { metadata, content } = parseMarkdown(markdown);
console.log(metadata.pov); // "alice"
console.log(content); // "# Chapter 1\n\nAlice walked..."

// Remove markdown syntax
const plainText = stripMarkdown(content);
console.log(plainText); // "Chapter 1\n\nAlice walked..."

Functions:

parseMarkdown() - Extract frontmatter and content from markdown
stripMarkdown() - Remove markdown syntax from text

Metadata Fields:

pov - Point of view character
title - Chapter title
date - Chapter date
timeline - Timeline identifier
arc - Story arc
episode, part, chapter - Numeric identifiers
excerpt - Brief description
location - Setting location
outfit - Character outfit (optional)
kink - Content tags (optional)

Text Statistics

Calculate word count and reading statistics from markdown content.

import { getTextStats } from '@echoes-io/utils';

const markdown = `
# Chapter Title

This is **bold** and *italic* text with [a link](https://example.com).
`;

const stats = getTextStats(markdown);
console.log(stats);
// {
//   words: 9,
//   characters: 52,
//   charactersNoSpaces: 43,
//   paragraphs: 1,
//   sentences: 1,
//   readingTimeMinutes: 1
// }

Features:

Automatically removes markdown syntax using stripMarkdown()
Removes HTML tags and comments
Removes frontmatter YAML
Counts words, characters (with/without spaces), paragraphs, sentences
Calculates reading time (based on 200 words/minute)

Path Utilities

Generate chapter files following Echoes naming conventions.

import { generateChapterFile } from '@echoes-io/utils';

const metadata = {
  pov: 'Alice',
  title: 'First Meeting',
  date: '2024-01-01',
  timeline: 'main',
  arc: 'Introduction Arc',
  episode: 1,
  part: 1,
  chapter: 5,
  excerpt: 'Alice meets Bob for the first time',
  location: 'Coffee Shop',
  outfit: 'Red dress',
  kink: 'Slow burn'
};

const file = generateChapterFile(metadata, 'Alice walked into the coffee shop...');

console.log(file.path);
// → content/introduction-arc/ep01-first-meeting/ep01-ch005-alice-first-meeting.md

console.log(file.content);
// → ---
//   pov: "Alice"
//   title: "First Meeting"
//   episode: 1
//   chapter: 5
//   ...
//   ---
//   
//   Alice walked into the coffee shop...

File Structure Convention:

content/
├── <arc-name>/
│   └── <ep01-episode-title>/
│       └── <ep01-ch001-pov-title>.md

Features:

Automatic path generation from metadata
Complete file with frontmatter and content
Handles special characters in titles (slugification)
Proper padding for episode (01) and chapter (001) numbers

Content Publishing Workflow

This repository provides a reusable GitHub Actions workflow for processing and publishing timeline content.

Usage in Timeline Repositories

Create workflow file in your timeline repo at .github/workflows/publish.yml:

name: Publish Timeline Content

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths: ['content/**/*.md']
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  publish:
    uses: echoes-io/utils/.github/workflows/publish-content.yml@main
    with:
      timeline-name: 'main'  # Change this for each timeline
      content-path: 'content/'
      web-app-url: 'https://your-web-app.com'
    secrets:
      WEB_APP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.WEB_APP_TOKEN }}

Add secret in your timeline repo:
- Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
- Add WEB_APP_TOKEN with your web app authentication token
Organize content in your timeline repo:

timeline-repo/
├── content/
│   ├── arc1/
│   │   ├── chapter1.md
│   │   └── chapter2.md
│   └── arc2/
│       └── chapter3.md
└── .github/workflows/publish.yml

What the Workflow Does

Processes all .md files in the specified directory
Extracts frontmatter metadata using parseMarkdown()
Calculates text statistics using getTextStats()
Uploads processed content to your web app via API
Triggers automatically on content changes or manually

API Payload Format

The workflow sends processed content as JSON:

[
  {
    "file": "content/arc1/chapter1.md",
    "metadata": {
      "pov": "alice",
      "title": "First Meeting",
      "timeline": "main",
      "arc": "introduction",
      "episode": 1,
      "part": 1,
      "chapter": 1
    },
    "content": "# Chapter 1\n\nContent here...",
    "stats": {
      "words": 150,
      "readingTimeMinutes": 1
    },
    "lastModified": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
]

Project Structure

utils/
├── lib/              # Source code
│   ├── index.ts      # Public API exports
│   ├── types.ts      # TypeScript interfaces
│   ├── markdown-parser.ts  # Markdown parsing & stripping
│   ├── text-stats.ts # Text statistics calculation
│   └── path-utils.ts # Chapter file generation
├── test/             # Tests
│   ├── index.test.ts
│   ├── markdown-parser.test.ts
│   ├── text-stats.test.ts
│   └── path-utils.test.ts
└── package.json

Development

Scripts

# Run tests
npm test

# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverage

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Fix linting issues
npm run lint:fix

# Release (automated via GitHub Actions)
npm run release

Commit Convention

This project uses Conventional Commits for automated versioning:

feat: - New features (minor version bump)
fix: - Bug fixes (patch version bump)
feat!: or BREAKING CHANGE: - Breaking changes (major version bump)
docs:, style:, refactor:, test:, chore: - No version bump

Examples:

git commit -m "feat: add stripMarkdown function"
git commit -m "fix: handle empty frontmatter correctly"
git commit -m "feat!: change parseMarkdown return type"

Tech Stack

Language: TypeScript (strict mode)
Testing: Vitest
Linting: Biome
Git Hooks: Husky + lint-staged

Adding New Utilities

Create file in lib/
Create test in test/
Export from index.ts
Run tests: npm test
Lint: npm run lint:fix

Dependencies

Runtime

gray-matter - Parse YAML frontmatter from markdown
remove-markdown - Strip markdown syntax for text analysis

Development

typescript - Type checking and compilation
vitest - Testing framework
@biomejs/biome - Linting and formatting
husky - Git hooks
lint-staged - Pre-commit linting

License

MIT