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 # Claude Custom Instructions
 
+## Project Context and Index
+Before starting any coding task, you MUST always read the `ai_blueprint.md` file in the root directory. This file serves as the project index, architecture plan, and contains the actionable steps and versions designed by the Architect. Do not start modifying files until you have read and understood the context provided in `ai_blueprint.md`.
+
+## Managing Documentation
+Whenever you complete an implementation step outlined in `ai_blueprint.md` or make notable architectural changes, you MUST update the `README.md` and/or `ai_blueprint.md` to reflect those changes and bump version numbers if appropriate.
+
 ## Git Workflow
 Every time you complete a task or make changes to files, you MUST automatically commit those changes to Git before waiting for the user's next prompt.
 
diff --git a/ai_blueprint.md b/ai_blueprint.md
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+# AI Context Optimization Blueprint (v2.5)
+
+This blueprint outlines architectural improvements for how AI context is managed during the writing process. The goal is to provide the AI (Claude/Gemini) with **better, highly-targeted context upfront**, which will dramatically improve first-draft quality and reduce the reliance on expensive, time-consuming quality checks and rewrites (currently up to 5 attempts).
+
+## 0. Model Selection & Review (New Step)
+
+**Current Process:**
+Model selection logic exists in `ai/setup.py` (which determines optimal models based on API queries and fallbacks to defaults like `gemini-2.0-flash`), and the models are instantiated in `ai/models.py`. The active selection is cached in `data/model_cache.json` and viewed via `templates/system_status.html`.
+
+**Actionable Review Steps:**
+Every time a change is made to this blueprint or related files, the following steps must be completed to review the models, update the version, and ensure changes are saved properly:
+1.  **Check the System Status UI**: Navigate to `/system/status` in the web application. This UI displays the "AI Model Selection" and "All Models Ranked".
+2.  **Verify Cache (`data/model_cache.json`)**: Check this file to see the currently cached models for the roles (`logic`, `writer`, `artist`).
+3.  **Review Selection Logic (`ai/setup.py`)**: Examine `select_best_models()` to understand the criteria and prompt used for model selection (e.g., favoring `gemini-2.x` over `1.5`, using Flash for speed and Pro for complex reasoning).
+4.  **Force Refresh**: Use the "Refresh & Optimize" button in the System Status UI or call `ai.init_models(force=True)` to force a re-evaluation of available models from the Google API and update the cache.
+5.  **Update Version & Commit**: Ensure the `ai_blueprint.md` version is bumped and a git commit is made reflecting the changes.
+
+## 1. Context Trimming & Relevance Filtering (The "Less is More" Approach)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+`story/writer.py` injects the *entire* list of characters (`chars_for_writer`) into the prompt for every chapter. As the book grows, this wastes tokens, dilutes the AI's attention, and causes hallucinations where random characters appear in scenes they don't belong in.
+
+**Solution:**
+- **Dynamic Character Injection:** ✅ Only inject characters who are explicitly mentioned in the chapter's `scene_beats`, plus the POV character. *(Implemented v1.5.0)*
+- **RAG for Lore/Locations:** ⏳ Instead of forcing all world-building into a static style block, implement a lightweight retrieval system (or explicit tagging in beats) that pulls in descriptions of *only* the locations and specific items relevant to the current chapter. *(Planned v2.5 — see Section 8)*
+
+## 2. Structured "Story So Far" (State Management)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+`prev_sum` is likely a growing narrative blob. `prev_content` is truncated blindly to 2000 tokens, which might chop off the actual ending of the previous chapter (the most important part for continuity).
+
+**Solution:**
+- **Smart Truncation:** ✅ Instead of truncating `prev_content` blindly, take the *last* 1000 tokens of the previous chapter, ensuring the immediate hand-off (where characters are standing, what they just said) is perfectly preserved. *(Implemented v1.5.0 via `utils.truncate_to_tokens` tail logic)*
+- **Thread Tracking:** ⏳ Refactor the `Story So Far` into structured data: *(Planned v2.5 — see Section 9)*
+  - `Active Plot Threads`: What are the characters currently trying to achieve?
+  - `Immediate Preceding Action`: A concise 3-sentence summary of exactly how the last chapter ended physically and emotionally.
+  - `Resolved Threads`: Keep hidden from the prompt to save tokens unless relevant.
+
+## 3. Pre-Flight Scene Expansion (Fixing it before writing)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+The system relies heavily on `evaluate_chapter_quality` to catch bad pacing, missing beats, or "tell not show" errors. This causes loops of rewriting.
+
+**Solution:**
+- **Beat Expansion Step:** ✅ Before sending the prompt to the `model_writer`, use an inexpensive, fast model to expand the `scene_beats` into a "Director's Treatment." This treatment explicitly outlines the sensory details, emotional shifts, and entry/exit staging for the chapter. *(Implemented v2.0 — `expand_beats_to_treatment` in `story/writer.py`)*
+
+## 4. Enhanced Bible Tracker (Stateful World)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+`bible_tracker.py` updates character clothing, descriptors, and speech styles, but does not track location states, time of day, or inventory/items.
+
+**Solution:**
+- ✅ Expanded `update_tracking` to include `current_location`, `time_of_day`, and `held_items`. *(Implemented v1.5.0)*
+- ✅ This explicit "Scene State" is passed to the writer prompt so the AI doesn't have to guess if it's day or night, or if a character is still holding a specific artifact from two chapters ago. *(Implemented v1.5.0)*
+
+## 5. UI/UX: Asynchronous Model Optimization (Refresh & Optimize)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+Clicking "Refresh & Optimize" in `templates/system_status.html` submits a form that blocks the UI and results in a full page refresh. This creates a clunky, blocking experience.
+
+**Solution:**
+- ✅ **Frontend (`templates/system_status.html`):** Converted the `<form>` submission into an asynchronous AJAX `fetch()` call with a spinner and disabled button state during processing. *(Implemented v2.2)*
+- ✅ **Backend (`web/routes/admin.py`):** Updated the `optimize_models` route to detect AJAX requests and return a JSON status response instead of performing a hard redirect. *(Implemented v2.2)*
+
+## 6. Eliminating AI-Isms and Enforcing Genre Authenticity (v2.3)
+
+**Current Problem:**
+Despite the existing `style_guidelines.json` and basic prompts, the AI writing often falls back on predictable phrases ("testament to," "shiver down spine," "a sense of") and lacks true human-like voice, especially failing to deeply adapt to specific genre conventions.
+
+**Solution & Implementation Plan:**
+1. ✅ **Genre-Specific Instructions:** `story/writer.py` now calls `get_genre_instructions(genre)` to inject genre-tailored mandates (Thriller, Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Historical, General Fiction) into every draft prompt. *(Implemented v2.3)*
+2. ✅ **Deep POV Mandate:** The draft prompt in `story/writer.py` includes a `DEEP_POV_MANDATE` block that explicitly bans summary mode and all filter words, with concrete rewrite examples. *(Implemented v2.3)*
+3. ✅ **Prose Filter Enhancements:** The default `ai_isms` list in `story/style_persona.py` expanded from 12 to 33+ banned phrases. *(Implemented v2.3)*
+4. ✅ **Enforce Show, Don't Tell via Evaluation:** `story/editor.py` `evaluate_chapter_quality` now includes a `DEEP_POV_ENFORCEMENT` block with automatic fail conditions for filter word density and summary mode. *(Implemented v2.3)*
+
+## 7. Regular Maintenance of AI-Isms (Continuous Improvement) — v2.4
+
+**Current Problem:**
+AI models evolve, and new overused phrases regularly emerge. The static list in `data/style_guidelines.json` will become outdated. The `refresh_style_guidelines()` function already exists in `story/style_persona.py` but has no UI or scheduled trigger.
+
+**Solution & Implementation Plan:**
+1. **Admin UI Trigger:** ⏳ Add a "Refresh Style Guidelines" button to `templates/system_status.html` (near the existing "Refresh & Optimize"). Use the same async AJAX pattern from Section 5.
+2. **Backend Route:** ⏳ Add a `/admin/refresh-style-guidelines` route in `web/routes/admin.py` that calls `style_persona.refresh_style_guidelines(model_logic, folder)` and returns JSON status.
+3. **Logging:** ⏳ Log changes to `data/app.log` so admins can see what was added or removed.
+
+## 8. Lore & Location Context Retrieval (RAG-Lite) — v2.5
+
+**Current Problem:**
+The remaining half of Section 1 — `prev_sum` and the `style_block` carry all world-building as a monolithic blob. Locations, artifacts, and lore details not relevant to the current chapter waste tokens and dilute the AI's focus, causing it to hallucinate setting details or ignore established world rules.
+
+**Solution & Implementation Plan:**
+1. **Tag Beats with Locations/Items:** ⏳ Extend the chapter schema in the blueprint JSON to support optional `locations` and `key_items` arrays per chapter (e.g., `"locations": ["The Thornwood Inn"]`, `"key_items": ["The Sunstone Amulet"]`).
+2. **Lore Index in Bible:** ⏳ Add a `lore` dict to `tracking_*.json` (managed by `story/bible_tracker.py`) that maps location/item names to short canonical descriptions (max 2 sentences each).
+3. **Retrieval in `write_chapter`:** ⏳ In `story/writer.py`, before building the prompt, scan the chapter's `locations` and `key_items` arrays and pull matching entries from the lore index into a `lore_block` injected into the prompt — replacing the monolithic style block lore dump.
+4. **Fallback:** If no tags are present, behaviour is unchanged (graceful degradation).
+
+## 9. Structured "Story So Far" — Thread Tracking — v2.5
+
+**Current Problem:**
+The remaining half of Section 2 — `prev_sum` is a growing unstructured narrative blob. As chapters accumulate, the AI receives an ever-longer wall of prose-summary as context, which dilutes attention, buries the most important recent state, and causes continuity drift.
+
+**Solution & Implementation Plan:**
+1. **Structured Summary Schema:** ⏳ After each chapter is written, use `model_logic` to extract structured state into a `story_state.json` file:
+   ```json
+   {
+     "active_threads": ["Elara is searching for the Sunstone", "The Inquisitor suspects Daren"],
+     "immediate_handoff": "Elara escaped through the east gate. Daren was left behind. Dawn is breaking.",
+     "resolved_threads": ["The tavern debt is paid"],
+     "chapter": 7
+   }
+   ```
+2. **Prompt Injection:** ⏳ In `story/writer.py`, replace the raw `prev_sum` blob with a formatted injection of the structured state — active threads first, then the `immediate_handoff`, hiding resolved threads unless they are referenced in the current chapter's beats.
+3. **State Update Step:** ⏳ After `write_chapter` completes and is accepted, call a `update_story_state(chapter_text, current_state, folder)` function in `story/bible_tracker.py` (or a new `story/state.py`) to update `story_state.json` with the new chapter's resolved/active threads.
+4. **Continuity Guard:** ⏳ The `immediate_handoff` field from the previous chapter must always appear verbatim in the prompt as the first context block, before `prev_sum`, so the AI always sees the most recent physical/emotional state of the POV character.
+
+## Summary of Actionable Changes for Implementation Mode:
+1. ✅ Modify `writer.py` to filter `chars_for_writer` based on characters named in `beats`. *(Implemented in v1.5.0)*
+2. ✅ Modify `writer.py` `prev_content` logic to extract the *tail* of the chapter, not a blind slice. *(Implemented in v1.5.0 via `utils.truncate_to_tokens` tail logic)*
+3. ✅ Update `bible_tracker.py` to track time of day and location states. *(Implemented in v1.5.0)*
+4. ✅ Add a pre-processing function to expand chapter beats into staging directions before generating the prose draft. *(Implemented in v2.0 — `expand_beats_to_treatment` in `story/writer.py`)*
+5. ✅ **(v2.2)** Update "Refresh & Optimize" action in UI to be an async fetch call with a processing flag instead of a full page reload, and update `admin.py` to handle JSON responses.
+6. ✅ **(v2.3)** Updated writing prompts and evaluation rubrics across `story/writer.py`, `story/editor.py`, and `story/style_persona.py` to aggressively filter AI-isms, enforce Deep POV via a non-negotiable mandate, add genre-specific writing instructions, and fail chapters that rely on "telling" rather than "showing" via filter-word density checks in the evaluator.
+7. ⏳ **(v2.4)** Add "Refresh Style Guidelines" button + backend route to trigger AI review of `data/style_guidelines.json`, keeping the AI-isms list current. *(See Section 7)*
+8. ⏳ **(v2.5)** Implement Lore & Location RAG-Lite: tag chapter beats with locations/items, build a lore index in the bible tracker, inject only relevant lore into each chapter prompt. *(See Section 8)*
+9. ⏳ **(v2.5)** Implement Structured Story State (Thread Tracking): replace the raw `prev_sum` blob with a structured `story_state.json` containing active threads, a precise immediate handoff, and resolved threads. *(See Section 9)*