critic

critic

A Claude Code plugin for multi-agent fiction critique. Runs structured reviews using independent AI reviewers (Claude, Codex, and Gemini), cross-model disagreement, and synthesis into human-readable feedback.

How it works

The plugin provides a Go MCP server that exposes review tools, and Claude Code skills that orchestrate them. You interact through cowork — the skills dispatch tools in parallel, run cross-review with session continuity, synthesize results, and save the output to your vault.

Review pipeline (chapter)

1. Four independent reviewers run in parallel, each with a constrained role and limited context
2. Cross-review — reviewers challenge each other's claims in pairwise rebuttals
3. Synthesis — all outputs are combined into a readable critique

Two reviewers see only the chapter text (reader perspective). Two see the full world state and plot (author perspective). Two run on Claude, two on Codex. Diversity is enforced at every level.

Manuscript pipeline

1. Three independent reviewers (Claude, Codex, Gemini) read the full manuscript — text only, no world context
2. Cross-review — each model resumes its session and rebuts the others with full context from its own original analysis
3. Synthesis — combined into a readable report
4. Saved to review/manuscript-critic-<timestamp>.md

Prior review summaries are automatically loaded so reviewers can assess whether previous issues were addressed.

Model assignment (chapter review)

Role	Perspective	Model
Analytical reader	Text-only	Claude
Immersive reader	Text-only	Codex
Structural analyst	Full context	Claude
Adversarial critic	Full context	Codex

Vault structure

The plugin expects an Obsidian vault with this layout:

vault/
  story/
    chapter-01.md
    chapter-02.md
    ...
  world/           (optional)
    *.md            (any nesting — characters/, locations/, etc.)
  plot/            (optional)
    outline.md
    arcs/
    timeline.md
  review/          (created automatically)
  system/          (created automatically)
    reviewer-memory/

Requirements

• story/ — One markdown file per chapter. Files are sorted alphabetically to determine chapter order. Name them with zero-padded numbers (chapter-01.md, chapter-02.md) or any scheme that sorts correctly.
• world/ — World-building notes. Any directory structure, any markdown format. No frontmatter required. These are read as plain text and passed to full-context reviewers and the canon extraction tool.
• plot/ — Plot outlines, arc descriptions, timelines. Same rules as world/. Optional — if missing, full-context reviewers work without it.
• review/ — Created by the plugin. Reviews are saved as timestamped markdown files.
• system/ — Created by the plugin for reviewer memory files.

No frontmatter is required on any file. The plugin reads all markdown files as plain text.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Claude Code 1.0.33+
• Go 1.21+ (for building the server)
• codex CLI installed and logged in (for Codex reviewer — uses subscription auth)

Setup

# Build the server
cd critic/server
go build -o ../bin/critic .

# Load the plugin (development)
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/critic

Configuration

Run /critic:settings to configure the plugin:

/critic:settings vault_path /path/to/vault
/critic:settings gemini_api_key AIza...
/critic:settings claude_model claude-sonnet-4-6
/critic:settings codex_model gpt-5.4-codex
/critic:settings gemini_model gemini-2.5-flash

To disable a provider:

/critic:settings codex_enabled false

To view current settings:

/critic:settings

Settings are stored in the plugin data directory and persist across sessions. API keys can also be provided via environment variables (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY) or the plugin's userConfig if running from the CLI.

Default model and review settings are in config.yaml — the settings skill overrides these.

Skills

/critic:review <chapter>

Run a multi-agent review on a single chapter.

Dispatches all four reviewers in parallel, runs cross-review, and synthesizes into a readable critique. Runs non-interactively through all steps.

/critic:extract <chapter>

Extract ground truth from a chapter and diff against the world state.

Pulls every factual assertion (character states, relationships, locations, timeline events, rules) and classifies each as confirmed, new, or contradictory relative to existing canon.

/critic:downstream <chapter>

Assess downstream effects after editing a chapter.

Reads from the edited chapter through the end of the manuscript. Flags continuity breaks, invalidated setups, character state errors, dialogue references to removed content, and timeline issues in all subsequent chapters.

/critic:manuscript

Review the full manuscript at the book level.