Seria

Multimodal serialized-data editor for game writers and narrative designers. Seria lets you work directly with primitive data files (CSV and TSV, with JSON coming soon) while viewing and editing their content in writer-friendly formats like Screenplay and Corkboard views, as well as data-friendly views like Graph and Record editors. Changes made in any view sync instantly across all views - no import/export step, no duplication, just your raw data in whatever format feels best for what you're doing.

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Screenshot from dev build 2026-03-11

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The Problem

Game writing workflows benefit from primitive data sources, but the tools available force painful trade-offs:

Spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets, Unreal Data Tables)

What's great for games:

• ✅ Primitive, text-based data formats play nicely with version control
• ✅ Easy integration into game engines and build pipelines
• ✅ Bulk editing and analysis is super simple (that's what sheets are for, after all)
• ✅ Team collaboration (either RTC or VCS) is built-in or easy to implement
• ✅ Makes you feel like a power user and keeps you tethered to developer-space

What's hard for writers:

• 🚫 Working in cells (or worse, struct rows) doesn't always feel natural
• 🚫 Difficult to feel pacing and flow, especially for cinematics and long conversations
• 🚫 The medium is the message: cellular editing shapes your writing (sometimes in a bad way)
• 🚫 Constant context-switching between "data mode" and "writer mode" can burn you out
• 🚫 I mean, you know, it just feels sad sometimes

Writing Tools (Final Draft, FadeIn, Scrivener)

What's great for writers:

• ✅ Rich, writer-friendly composition experience, especially for dialogue
• ✅ Much easier to read linearly for editing and proofreading
• ✅ Proper screenplay/dialogue formatting to read aloud or share with actors
• ✅ Card views and organizational tools to zoom out for plot and pacing
• ✅ Like a warm, cozy blanket to curl up and write in

What's hard for games:

• 🚫 Proprietary or complex data sources that lock you into specific tools
• 🚫 Not friendly to integration or version control
• 🚫 Even tools that exporting to CSV/JSON open the door to errors and multiple points of authority
• 🚫 Difficult-to-impossible to integrate directly into game engine pipelines
• 🚫 You'll be happy; everyone else will be sad

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The Seria Solution

Seria sits directly on top of your data files. no import/export step, no conversion, no duplication. Your data file stays the single source of truth while you view and edit it through a rich cellular editor and multimodal rendered views (what I call Prints) that accommodate far more ways writers actually think.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Excel/Sheets	Final Draft/Scrivener	Seria
Primitive data format (CSV/TSV, JSON)	✅	🚫	✅ (JSON soon)
Git-friendly / version control	✅	🚫	✅
Screenplay formatting	🚫	✅	✅
Card/corkboard view	🚫	✅	✅
Edit directly in formatted view	🚫	✅	✅
Bidirectional sync	🚫	🚫	✅
Game engine integration	✅	🚫	✅
Formulas, calculations, validations	✅	🚫	💡 (soon)
Real-time collaboration / cloud sync	✅	Limited	🚫 (not yet)
Custom print templates	🚫	Limited	✅

Seria gives you the data discipline and flexibility of sheets with the fluid experience of dedicated writing tools.

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Key Features

Cell View (Spreadsheet Editor)

Traditional CSV editing with powerful features:

• Filter and sort to focus on specific content
• Find and replace across your data
• Multi-cell selection and bulk operations
• Column summaries (count, average, min, max, etc.)
• Drag-and-drop row/column reordering
• Full undo/redo support

→ Complete Cell View Guide

Print Views (Writer-Friendly Formats)

View and edit your CSV data in rich formats:

• Screenplay - Industry-standard screenplay format
• Corkboard - Card-based view for story beats and planning
• Record - Database-style forms for detailed editing
• Graph - Visual data representations for relationships and flow
• Custom Prints - Create your own formats specific to your workflow

→ Print View Guide

Bidirectional Editing

The killer feature: edit in any view, changes sync everywhere.

• Change dialogue in Screenplay view → CSV updates instantly
• Reorder cards in Corkboard view → row order updates in CSV
• Edit a cell in spreadsheet view → Print views update
• Always working with the same data, just different views

→ Bidirectional Editing Explained

Multi-Platform & Local-First

• Windows & Linux - Native desktop app (macOS support planned for future release)
• Local-first - Your data stays on your machine, works offline
• Fast & lightweight - Small installer (~10-15MB), native performance
• No vendor lock-in - Plain CSV files you own forever

→ Installation Guide

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Installation

Current release: v0.0.3 - Download from GitHub Releases

Download Options

Formats available on GitHub Releases:

• Linux: .AppImage (universal), .deb (Debian/Ubuntu), .rpm (Fedora/RHEL)
• Windows: .msi or _setup.exe

Note: macOS builds are planned for a future release.

→ Detailed installation instructions for all platforms

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Documentation

Getting Started:

• Installation - Install on Windows or Linux
• Is This App for You? - See if Seria fits your workflow

Using Seria:

• Cell View Guide - CSV editing features
• Print View Guide - Using Print views
• Print Recipes - Creating custom formats

Reference:

• Keyboard Shortcuts - All shortcuts
• FAQ - Frequently asked questions
• Current Limitations - Known issues and missing features

Developer Docs:

• Developer Quick Start - Get started developing Seria
• Development Guide - Development setup and workflow
• Building and Distribution - Building from source
• Cross-Compilation - Building Windows installers on Linux
• Contributing - How to contribute to Seria

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Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/parkerhdavis/Seria
• Releases: GitHub Releases

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Technology

Tauri 2.0 + React 18 + TypeScript + Bun + TailwindCSS + daisyUI

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Inspiration

I was inspired to create Seria not only by my experiences as a game director, writer, and designer, but also as a proud user of Obsidian, which demonstrates what's possible with local-first experiences built on top of simple, portable file formats. Just as Obsidian provides a powerful editing environment while keeping notes as plain markdown files, Seria provides rich writing views while keeping your data as plain CSV/TSV/JSON files.

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License

Covered under the AGPL License, see LICENSE

Beyond that, I only have one rule: First, do no harm. Then, help where you can.

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Financial Support

If you have some cash to spare and are inspired to share, that's very kind. Rather than sharing that kindness with me, I encourage you to share it with your charity of choice.

Mine is the GiveWell top charities fund , which does excellent research to figure out which causes can save the most human lives for the money, and put their funds there.

Their grant to the Against Malaria Foundation was shown to deliver outcomes at a cost of just $1,700 per life saved.