What is ScriptCraft and what is it like to use?

Answer

ScriptCraft is a free, open-source screenwriting app for people who write films, TV and plays. You type, and Enter and Tab pick the screenplay format for you. It lays out standard script pages, saves Final Draft or Fountain files and exports PDF. It is working software, not a plan.

  1. It follows the Final Draft way of typing: Enter after a scene heading gives Action, Tab gives a Character, Enter after a Character gives Dialogue.1
  2. Pages use the US industry layout: Letter, 12-point Courier, (MORE) and (CONT'D) when dialogue breaks across pages.2
  3. It opens and saves .fdx and .fountain files and exports PDF, so a script can move to and from other tools.2
  4. Its own checklist counts 62 of 68 Final Draft 13 features as implemented; 6 are not done yet.3

Applies toScriptCraft at commit d7f6b76 (v0.4 done)desktop app on macOS, Windows, Linux, plus a browser buildFinal Draft behaviour taken from public documentation, not checked against Final Draft 13 yet

1

What does a writer do, step by step?

A writer's path through ScriptCraft
Diagram structure
  • Open or start a script open
  • Type with Enter and Tab type
  • See real pages pages
  • Rearrange scenes organize
  • Check reports reports
  • Save or export save
  • open → type
  • organize → reports
  • pages → organize
  • reports → save
  • type → pages · formats
  1. Open or start a script

    Start blank, from a template (feature, TV single-camera, multi-camera, stage play), or open an existing .fdx or .fountain file. The app ships with an original sample, Night Signal.

  2. Type with Enter and Tab

    Type int. diner - night, press Enter for Action, Tab for a Character, Enter for Dialogue. Headings and names capitalise themselves; SmartType offers names and locations already used.

  3. See real pages

    The page view shows Letter pages in Courier with page numbers, (MORE) and (CONT'D). The status bar shows the element, page, scene and word count.

  4. Rearrange scenes

    The Navigator lists scenes; index cards hold a summary per scene and can be dragged to reorder; an Outline view, story map and beat board help plan structure.

  5. Check reports

    Character, scene and location reports come from the same pagination as the PDF.

  6. Save or export

    Save as Final Draft (.fdx) or Fountain, or export a PDF with embedded Courier Prime. Autosave and backups keep work safe.

2

One scene, typed for real

These are the keys from the README's own example, run through scriptcraft-cli run on the clone. Each row shows the element the app chose.4

You type or pressScriptCraft makes it
int. diner - nightScene Heading: INT. DINER - NIGHT
Enter, then Rain on the glass.Action
Tab, then margoCharacter: MARGO
Enter, then Coffee?Dialogue

The same run saved this Fountain file and a one-page PDF:

scene.fountain (real output)text
INT. DINER - NIGHT

Rain on the glass.

MARGO
Coffee?
3

What does it look like?

ScriptCraft page view: a Courier script page with dialogue and a scene list on the left
Page view with the Navigator, rendered by the app's own screenshot harness (README).
Index cards view: four scene cards with coloured bands, scene headings, page, length in eighths, a summary and the cast
Index cards: one card per scene, with summary, page, length and cast.
4

What goes in, and what comes out?

Goes inComes out
Files.fdx (Final Draft XML) or .fountain.fdx, .fountain, PDF
WritingYour typing, keys and menu choicesFormatted pages with scene numbers and a title page
PlanningScene summaries, colours, tags, beatsNavigator, index cards, outline, story map
NumbersThe script itselfReports: speeches and words per character, scene lengths in eighths, locations
ProductionRevision mode, locked pages, tagsColoured revision pages, A/B pages, breakdown reports

For the sample Night Signal, scriptcraft-cli report prints 4 pages, 4 scenes and 699 words; NELL has 12 speeches.4

5

How finished is it?

Stage
v0.4 (structure and collaboration) done; v0.2 and v0.3 done
Final Draft 13 checklist
62 implemented · 0 partial · 6 not yet (of 68)
Runs on
macOS, Windows, Linux (desktop) and in a browser (WebAssembly)
Licence
MIT OR Apache-2.0; clean-room, no Final Draft code or assets
6

Who else can drive it?

Every action is a command with an id, and the same commands drive the menus, keyboard, a command-line tool, a JSON control channel and an MCP server. The CLI lists 185 engine commands. So a script, a test or an AI agent can write, convert and report on screenplays without the window.2

Try it (needs Rust 1.95+)bash
git clone https://github.com/NoJuanNobody/scriptcraft && cd scriptcraft
cargo run --release -p scriptcraft            # opens the sample script
cargo run --release -p scriptcraft -- --new   # blank script

Opening diagram…