Get started
Start with your project and the AI companion you already use in a terminal. Quirework gives that collaboration a memory and a method.
What you need
You need Git, Python 3.11 or later, and an AI companion that can read files and run commands in your project’s repository. Quirework supplies the tools. Your companion operates them. You judge the writing and make the decisions.
A book can use Quarto to render its editions. A site can keep its own publisher, such as Hugo. The installation guide lists the rendering dependencies for each format.
Install in your project
Quirework is under heavy development. Its commands and settings still change between releases, and a new project can find rough edges in it. So install it inside your project, as a checkout your companion can fix or improve while it works.
Quirework needs Python 3.11 or later. In your book’s or site’s repository, add it as a submodule and install it from there:
git submodule add https://github.com/adereis/quirework.git vendor/quirework
python3 -m venv --system-site-packages .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install -e 'vendor/quirework[quarto]'
The quarto extra installs what a book needs to render; leave it out
for a site. Then open your companion there and ask it to start a book,
or a site, by the authoring guide. The
configuration guide connects a project you
already have.
The released package is on PyPI as quirework, for running the commands
yourself or trying the tool out. The
install instructions cover both, and a clone
for working on Quirework itself.
Give your companion a first job
For a new project, open your companion in the repository and ask:
Help me set up this writing project with Quirework. Read vendor/quirework/docs/authoring.md first. Ask me what the work is for and what it needs to stay true to before drafting its spec.
For an existing project, start with the configuration guide. Keep the first task small: one chapter or post, one question, and a change you can judge. The workflow guide explains the commands your companion uses.
Know what to review
The spec and trail keep the work’s commitments and the decisions behind them. Procedures set the method for a draft, a blind read or an independent review. Checks catch structural errors. Editorial judgment stays with you.
Ask your companion to return the proposed change, the checks it ran, and the decisions that need your attention. Start the next task after you have read what came back.