Tags & Metadata
Categorize scenes with tags and custom metadata fields.
Tag categories
Braidr organizes tags into five categories, each designed for a different kind of story element:
| Category | What it tracks | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| People | Characters who appear in the scene | #frodo, #gandalf, #gollum |
| Locations | Where the scene takes place | #rivendell, #mordor, #the_shire |
| Arcs | Plot threads and thematic arcs | #ring_quest, #romance, #betrayal |
| Things | Objects, MacGuffins, artifacts | #the_ring, #sting, #palantir |
| Time | Temporal markers and periods | #third_age, #flashback, #dawn |
Creating tags
There are two ways to create tags:
Tag Manager
Open the Tag Manager from the toolbar (click “Tags”). Here you can:
- See all tags organized by category.
- Create new tags with a name and category.
- Rename or delete existing tags.
- See how many scenes use each tag.
Inline creation
When editing a scene card, click the + button in the tags area and start typing. Braidr shows an autocomplete dropdown with matching existing tags. If your text doesn't match any existing tag, you can create a new one — Braidr will ask you to choose its category.
💡 Tip
#tag_name format in your markdown files. Underscores become spaces in the UI (e.g., #the_shire displays as “The Shire”).Filtering by tags
Tags become powerful when used for filtering. In both the POV View and Braided View, click any tag category in the toolbar to open a filter:
- Single tag — show only scenes containing that tag.
- Multiple tags — combine tags across categories. For example, filter for scenes with
#gandalfAND#rivendellto find every Gandalf scene in Rivendell. - Cross-POV filtering — in the Braided View, filtering shows all characters' scenes that match, letting you track a subplot across the entire novel.
Custom metadata
Beyond tags, Braidr supports custom metadata fields that you can add to any scene. These appear in the Properties panel of expanded scene cards and in the Editor.
Field types
- Text — a free-text field. Good for one-line notes like “Tone” or “Weather.”
- Dropdown — a single-select from predefined options. Good for “POV Type” (First Person, Third Limited, Omniscient) or “Pacing” (Slow, Medium, Fast).
- Multi-select — choose multiple options from a predefined list. Good for “Themes” or “Moods.”
Creating custom fields
Open Settings → Custom Fields to define new metadata fields. Each field has:
- A name (shown in the Properties panel).
- A type (text, dropdown, or multi-select).
- Options (for dropdown and multi-select) — the list of possible values.
Color coding
For dropdown and multi-select fields, you can assign colors to each option. These colors appear as subtle background tints on scene cards, making it easy to visually scan for patterns.
For example, if you have a “Pacing” dropdown with Slow (blue), Medium (gray), and Fast (red), scene cards get a faint colored tint based on their pacing value.
ℹ️ Info
timeline.json. The fields and their values travel with your project. See File Format for details.Tags in the Table View
The Braided View's Table mode can display tag columns, letting you sort and filter scenes by tag. Add tag columns from the column picker to see tags for each category in their own column.