# PanelWave Docs

> Index of the PanelWave Docs documentation.

## Documentation

- [Introduction](https://docs.panelwave.org/introduction.md): PanelWave is an open format, player, and CMS for interactive graphic novels built as directed graphs of panels — and AI assistants can author them with you. Start here to find your path.
- [Quickstart](https://docs.panelwave.org/quickstart.md): Fast paths into PanelWave — validate a manifest with the CLI, embed the player in an Angular app, create your first work in the CMS, or let an AI assistant build it with you.
- [Architecture](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/architecture.md): How the PanelWave ecosystem fits together — the schema as contract, the player as renderer, the CMS as authoring tool, the MCP gateway for AI assistants, and open-core licensing.
- [The Manifest](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/manifest.md): The panelwave.json manifest at a glance — top-level structure, string IDs and references, and a small annotated example of the PanelWave format.
- [Graph Navigation](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/graph-navigation.md): How PanelWave models reading flow as a directed graph — entry panels, edges, JSON Logic conditions, transitions, and variable mutations.
- [The Infinite Canvas](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/infinite-canvas.md): Why PanelWave treats the screen as a window instead of a page — the infinite canvas, distance-as-time, and how the story graph becomes the camera's trail.
- [Localization](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/localization.md): PanelWave's localization model — LocalizedString objects, BCP-47 locales, fallback chains, and per-locale asset variants shared by schema, player, and CMS.
- [Variables](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/variables.md): PanelWave's typed variable system — five scopes from global to persistent, and how variables drive conditions, panel variants, and hotspot logic.
- [Assets](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/assets.md): The PanelWave asset catalog — catalog items vs variants by resolution, format, and locale, how the player picks variants, and how the CMS manages them.
- [Monetization](https://docs.panelwave.org/concepts/monetization.md): The PanelWave paywall model end to end — paywall rules in the manifest, products and pricing in the CMS, and entitlement checks in the player.

## Schema

- [Schema Overview](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/overview.md): Introduction to the PanelWave manifest format — an open JSON Schema for interactive graphic novels with panels, layers, branching, and localization.
- [Versioning](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/versioning.md): How PanelWave manifests declare their format version, what the version numbers mean, and how to upgrade older manifests with the CLI.
- [Validating Manifests](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/validation.md): Validate a PanelWave manifest with AJV in Node.js or the PanelWave CLI, and learn how to read the most common validation errors.
- [Manifest Structure](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/manifest-structure.md): Anatomy of a PanelWave manifest — top-level sections, a minimal valid example, shared primitive types, and how IDs connect the pieces.
- [Meta](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/meta.md): The Meta section of a PanelWave manifest — work identity, creators, locales, cover, character roster, content warnings, and rights info.
- [Settings](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/settings.md): The Settings section — typography defaults, reader UI defaults, preload strategy, and per-output-format presets in a PanelWave manifest.
- [Assets](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/assets.md): The Assets catalog — registering images, audio, video, subtitles, vectors, JSON, and plugin payloads with variants and localized resolution.
- [Variables](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/variables.md): The Variables section — typed variable definitions with five scopes, defaults, visibility, and persistence for branching PanelWave stories.
- [Chapters & Pages](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/chapters-and-pages.md): Chapter, Page, and PageLayout — how PanelWave organizes panels into chapters, optional print-style page layouts, and panel placements.
- [Graph](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/graph.md): The chapter flow graph — entry panels, directed edges with transitions, JSON Logic conditions, priorities, and variable mutations.
- [Infinite Canvas](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/canvas.md): Schema 1.4 reference for the infinite canvas — world-space panel placements, camera moves on graph edges, reveal modes, decorations, and the canvasView format toggle.
- [Panels](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/panels.md): The Panel object — layers, speech bubbles, hotspots, audio, video, format views, accessibility hints, variants, and performance hints.
- [Layers](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/layers.md): The Layer union — image, vector, video, audio, text, and plugin layers, shared LayerCommon properties, positioning, z-order, and opacity.
- [Speech Bubbles](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/speech-bubbles.md): Reference for SpeechBubble, BalloonConfig, TailConfig, HideBorderConfig, and BoundingBox — the 10 balloon types and the styling cascade.
- [Hotspots](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/hotspots.md): Reference for Hotspot and HotspotAction — interactive shapes on panels, the five action types, mutations, and visibility conditions.
- [Animations & Transitions](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/animations.md): Reference for PanelAnimations (layer keyframes and viewport moves) and the Transition object — the seven transition types, directions, timing, and easing.
- [Audio](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/audio.md): Reference for AudioTrack, SequenceAudioTrack, and AudioLayer — background music, ambience, SFX, voice-over, mixing gains, and chapter-spanning tracks.
- [Video Panels](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/video.md): Reference for VideoLayer, VideoVariant, and VideoPoster — playback modes, start triggers, reverse variants, and format 1.1 legacy mapping.
- [Panel Variants](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/variants.md): Reference for PanelVariant and PanelPartial — conditional panel content selected at read time by JSON Logic over variables.
- [Extras](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/extras.md): Reference for Extras, ExtraBlock, and ExtraCharacterSheet — covers, character sheets, bonus art, interviews, and gated bonus content.
- [Paywall](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/paywall.md): Reference for Paywall and PaywallRule — scopes, entitlement requirements, preview panels, age gates, and rule constraints.
- [Tracking](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/tracking.md): Reference for the Tracking section — enabling analytics, consent requirements, the event whitelist enum, and the ingest endpoint.
- [UI Settings](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/ui.md): Reference for the UISettings section — per-work branding colors and logo, plus toggles for the player's reader controls.
- [Extensions & Plugins](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/extensions.md): Reference for x- extension fields, PluginInstance, PluginLayer, AssetCatalogItemPluginPayload, and the JsonValue type.
- [Example Manifests](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/examples.md): Guided tour of the seven sample manifests (01_simple to 07_video) — what each demonstrates, with key excerpts you can copy.
- [CLI (@panelwave/cli)](https://docs.panelwave.org/schema/cli.md): Install and use the panelwave command line — validate, bundle, diff, and upgrade manifests, with all options, exit codes, and example runs.

## Player

- [Player Overview](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/overview.md): What the PanelWave Player is — an MIT-licensed Angular library that renders interactive graphic novels from PanelWave manifests.
- [Installation](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/installation.md): Install @panelwave/player from npm into an Angular application — supported Angular and ngx-translate versions, peer dependencies, required providers, UI translation files, and balloon fonts.
- [Quickstart: Embed the Player](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/quickstart-embed.md): Load a PanelWave manifest and render it with pw-player-shell — a minimal, working Angular embed based on the demo application.
- [Demo App](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/demo-app.md): The PanelWave Player demo — try bundled works or your own manifest, preview phone/tablet/desktop frames, and inspect variables, events and performance in the dev-tools drawer.
- [Reader Interface](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/reader-interface.md): What readers see and can do in the PanelWave Player — viewport, toolbar controls, navigation, autoplay, modals, keyboard and touch input.
- [Canvas View](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/canvas-view.md): The player's infinite-canvas view mode — camera glides over a continuous plane, guided and free-roam input, reveal modes, performance, and accessibility.
- [Configuration](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/configuration.md): How to configure the PanelWave Player — component inputs set by the integrator versus settings the manifest itself provides.
- [Inputs & Outputs](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/inputs-outputs.md): Complete API reference for pw-player-shell — every @Input and @Output with types and semantics, plus public methods and other exported components.
- [Audio](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/audio.md): How audio works in the PanelWave Player — the WebAudio engine, its four channels, browser autoplay policy handling, volumes, and sequence tracks.
- [Saving Progress](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/saving-progress.md): How the PanelWave Player persists state — variable scopes and lifetimes, localStorage keys, and how integrators implement resume.
- [Localization](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/localization.md): How the PanelWave Player resolves locales — fallback chains for text and assets, runtime language switching, and the separate UI language.
- [Paywall & Entitlement](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/paywall-entitlement.md): How the PanelWave Player gates content — manifest paywall rules, the entitlement snapshot you supply, the paywall overlay and age gate, and the lower-level adapter interfaces.
- [Tracking](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/tracking.md): Analytics in the PanelWave Player — consent-aware TrackingService, event whitelisting, batching, the endpoint payload, and player events.
- [Plugins](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/plugins.md): Extend the PanelWave Player with sandboxed iframe plugins — the manifest, capability model, lifecycle, and postMessage protocol.
- [Player Architecture](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/architecture.md): How the PanelWave Player library is layered internally — types, utilities, services, and components — and how data flows from manifest load to a rendered panel.
- [Core Services](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/services.md): Reference of the injectable services inside the PanelWave Player — what each one owns, its key public methods, and how the services interact at runtime.
- [Component Tree](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/components.md): The PanelWave Player's Angular component hierarchy — shell, viewport, layer renderers, overlays, modals, toolbar, and helper components, and what each one renders.
- [Balloon Renderer (ComicBalloon)](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/balloon-renderer.md): How the ComicBalloon SVG engine draws speech bubbles — the ten balloon types, tail geometry, the mergeBalloonConfig cascade, and how the engine stays identical to the CMS editor's.
- [State, Conditions & Navigation](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/state-and-conditions.md): How the player evaluates variables, JSON Logic conditions, graph edges, mutations, and panel variants at runtime, and how graph traversal decides the next panel.
- [Performance](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/performance.md): The player's performance machinery — priority-based preloading, LRU image caching with a memory budget, asset variant selection, and memory management.
- [Development & Contributing](https://docs.panelwave.org/player/development.md): Contributing to the PanelWave Player — repository layout, building the library, the demo app, unit and E2E tests, CI checks, releases to npm, and the pull-request process.

## CMS

- [CMS Overview](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/overview.md): What the PanelWave CMS is, how the app is organized, and the typical workflow from a blank work to a published interactive graphic novel.
- [Account & Team](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/account.md): Sign up and sign in to the PanelWave CMS, manage your profile, security, and sessions, and collaborate with team members and roles.
- [Plans & Limits](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/plans.md): How PanelWave plans work — the free tier, the one-time Work Pass, the Creator and Studio subscriptions, and Publisher/Enterprise agreements — and what each one is for.
- [Works](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/works.md): Manage your projects on the My Works page — create works with the wizard, filter and sort, change statuses, use the Trash, and edit work-level defaults.
- [Editor Layout](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/layout.md): Tour of the PanelWave editor screen — header bar, structure tree, canvas, inspector, and timeline — plus view switching and how saving works.
- [Canvas](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/canvas.md): How to work on the editor canvas — zooming, panning, selecting, moving and resizing elements, snapping and guides, and page vs panel view.
- [Pages & Panels](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/pages-panels.md): Create and organize chapters, pages, and panels with the structure tree, set up page layouts, and edit panel properties in the inspector.
- [Layers](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/layers.md): Work with image, video, audio, text, and plugin layers in the PanelWave editor — stacking order, visibility, opacity, transforms, and multi-selection.
- [Speech Bubbles](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/speech-bubbles.md): Add and style speech balloons in the PanelWave editor — ten balloon types, narrator caption boxes, inline text editing, tail control, character styles, and per-locale dialogue.
- [Hotspots](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/hotspots.md): Draw rectangle, circle, and polygon hotspots, attach actions and mutations, and gate them with variable conditions in the PanelWave editor.
- [Animations & Timeline](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/animations.md): Animate panel layers with keyframes, choose easing curves, watch the result in the preview, and control panel timing and transitions in PanelWave.
- [Audio](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/audio.md): Add music, ambience, voiceover, and sound effects to panels or across whole chapters, control volume, fades, and looping, and preview the mix in the timeline.
- [Video Panels](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/video-panels.md): Put video inside panels — add a video layer, choose play and start modes, loop from any point, play forward–backward, and track transcoding status.
- [Graph Editor](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/graph.md): Design branching stories in the PanelWave CMS Graph Editor — connect panels with edges, add JSON Logic conditions, simulate the flow, and fix validation issues.
- [Canvas Layout Board](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/canvas-layout.md): Arrange a chapter's panels on the infinite canvas — spatial placement, camera moves with path ghosting, enter framing, gap calipers, reveal modes, and decorations.
- [Variables & Conditions](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/variables.md): Define and test story variables in the PanelWave CMS — variable types and scopes, setting values from hotspots, building conditions, and preview overrides.
- [Keyboard Shortcuts](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/editor/shortcuts.md): Complete keyboard shortcut reference for the PanelWave CMS editor — canvas, structure tree, timeline, and Graph Editor shortcuts, plus undo and redo.
- [Assets](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/assets.md): Upload, organize, and manage images, audio, video, and fonts in the PanelWave CMS asset library, with automatic processing into optimized variants.
- [Characters](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/characters.md): Manage your cast in the Characters Manager — portraits, roles, localized bios, per-character speech balloon styles, and voice assignment.
- [Extras](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/extras.md): Add bonus content to your work — covers, character sheets, interviews, bonus art, and more — with draft status, gating, and a reader preview.
- [Localization](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/localization.md): Translate your work in the Localization Workshop — extract strings, edit translations, catch stale text, and add per-language voice audio and TTS.
- [Import](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/import.md): Bring existing PanelWave graphic novels into the CMS — from a self-contained work archive with all media, or from a JSON manifest file.
- [Script Import (Fountain)](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/script-import.md): Turn a screenplay in Fountain format into a PanelWave work — AI-suggested chapters, panels, and speech bubbles, reviewed and reorganized by you before anything is created.
- [Page Import (AI panel splitting)](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/page-import.md): Turn finished comic pages into a PanelWave work — AI detects the panels on each page image, you review and correct them, and every panel becomes its own asset placed at its original position.
- [Validation & Preflight](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/validation.md): Check your work before publishing with Preflight Validation — what is checked, how errors and warnings are presented, auto-fixes, and how to resolve issues.
- [Validation Code Reference](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/validation-codes.md): Every Preflight Validation issue code explained — what triggers it, whether it blocks publishing, and how to fix it in the PanelWave CMS.
- [Preview](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/preview.md): Test your interactive graphic novel in the embedded PanelWave Player — device frames, locales, entitlements, variable overrides, and saved scenarios.
- [Publishing](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/publishing.md): Move a work from draft to published — work statuses, the guided publish flow, the three publish targets, and what readers receive.
- [Publishing and Sharing](https://docs.panelwave.org/guides/publishing.md): Publish your work to a public reader page, send a private review link, set your public address, embed the work on your own site, and share it with a QR code or on social media.
- [Export](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/export.md): Turn a PanelWave work into a PDF, PowerPoint deck, video, or a portable work archive — export options, presets, batch export, job progress, and downloads.
- [Monetization](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/monetization.md): Configure paywall rules, products, price points, and coupons in the PanelWave CMS — and test what free and paying readers will see.
- [Analytics](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/analytics.md): Read the PanelWave analytics dashboard — reads, completion, reading time, audience breakdowns, the reading funnel, per-panel engagement, the click heatmap, and CSV export.
- [Community](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/community.md): PanelWave's community features — team comments live in the CMS today, plus the reader-facing toolkit (reactions, likes, watchlists, sharing) that is still on its way.
- [AI Assistants (MCP)](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/mcp-overview.md): Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI assistants to PanelWave through the Model Context Protocol, and let them build, edit, translate and publish your works for you.
- [Connect Claude](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/connect-claude.md): Add PanelWave as a custom connector in claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Cowork, sign in once, and start working on your graphic novels with Claude.
- [Connect ChatGPT](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/connect-chatgpt.md): Add PanelWave as a custom MCP connector in ChatGPT, sign in to PanelWave, and let ChatGPT read and edit your works.
- [Claude Code, Cursor & other clients](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/connect-cursor-and-code.md): Connect Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and any other MCP client to PanelWave, with browser sign-in or a personal access token.
- [Local Bridge](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/local-bridge.md): Use the PanelWave local bridge so desktop assistants can read your scripts and upload whole folders of panel artwork from your computer into a work.
- [Access Tokens & Connected Apps](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/access-tokens.md): Control which AI assistants and scripts can work with your PanelWave account — approve connections, choose permissions, create personal access tokens, and disconnect apps.
- [MCP tool reference](https://docs.panelwave.org/cms/integrations/tool-reference.md): Every tool the PanelWave MCP server offers to AI assistants — what it does, the permission it needs, and whether it changes your work.

## Help Center

- [Help Center](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center.md): Find answers to common questions about the PanelWave format, player, and CMS, plus troubleshooting guides and step-by-step tutorials.
- [General FAQ](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/faq/general.md): Common questions about PanelWave — what it is, what it costs, how the open format, player, and CMS relate, and who owns the content you create.
- [Creators FAQ](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/faq/creators.md): Answers for graphic novel creators working in the PanelWave CMS — editing, speech bubbles, branching, media, publishing, and monetization questions.
- [Developers FAQ](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/faq/developers.md): Answers for developers working with the PanelWave format and player — validation, schema versions, embedding, entitlements, and asset resolution.
- [Validation Errors](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/troubleshooting/validation-errors.md): Decode and fix the most common PanelWave manifest validation errors — from AJV setup problems to schema violations and CMS preflight failures.
- [Player Embedding Issues](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/troubleshooting/player-embedding.md): Fix the most common problems when integrating the PanelWave Player into an Angular app — blank screens, load errors, untranslated labels, fonts, audio, and paywalls.
- [CMS Upload & Media Issues](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/troubleshooting/cms-uploads.md): Fix asset upload and media processing problems in the PanelWave CMS — stuck processing states, rejected or failed uploads, archive and import limits, and "too many requests" errors.
- [Your First Graphic Novel](https://docs.panelwave.org/help-center/guides/first-graphic-novel.md): A beginner tutorial for the PanelWave CMS — create a work, upload art, build panels, add speech bubbles, connect the story graph, preview, and publish.

## Changelog

- [Changelog](https://docs.panelwave.org/changelog.md): Release notes for the PanelWave format and this documentation site — format versions, notable additions, and documentation updates.