Template Categories

Template Categories let you organize and discover entity types by their purpose. StudioBrain ships with a curated set of categories — entity, document, rule, and skill — and the activation system lets you opt in to only the types your project actually needs.

What Are Template Categories?

Every entity type in StudioBrain carries a category field that classifies what kind of content it represents:

Category	Purpose	Examples
`entity`	Characters, locations, props, and other in-world objects	Character, Location, Asset, Creature
`document`	Structured narrative documents with outline and rich-text views	Game Design Doc, Story Bible, Style Guide
`map`	Spatial visualizations with pins, layers, and canvas editing	World Map, Floor Plan, Pinboard
`rule`	AI generation rules that guide content creation	Style guides, tone rules
`skill`	Agent skill definitions used by the AI workshop	Character Writer, World Builder

Categories determine more than just display grouping. They also control:

Which capabilities are available (e.g., outline_view and export_pdf are enabled for document types, spatial editing for map types)
How the entity appears in the sidebar navigation (documents and maps get their own sections)
Whether the rich-text editor, field editor, or map canvas is the default view

Activating Entity Types

StudioBrain uses an opt-in activation model: entity types are available in the template library but are not added to your project’s navigation until you activate them. This keeps the UI focused on what your project actually uses.

Core Types (Always Active)

Four entity types are always available regardless of plan or activation settings:

Dialogue — Conversation and voice-over content
Assembly — Composite scenes and chapter assemblies
Quest — Mission and quest structures
Timeline — Chronological event sequences

These core types bypass the activation table entirely and appear in every project automatically.

Standard Types (Opt-In)

All other entity types (Character, Location, Script, etc.) are Standard types that you activate per-project. Activation limits depend on your plan:

Plan	Max Activated Standard Types
Free	5
Indie	15
Team	Unlimited
Enterprise	Unlimited

Core types do not count against this limit.

Starter Packs

When you create a new project, StudioBrain offers starter packs — curated bundles of entity types for common project types:

Game Project — Character, Location, Quest, Asset, Creature, Faction
Screenplay — Character, Location, Script, Act, Scene
Novel — Character, Location, Chapter, Scene, Timeline
World-Building — Character, Location, Faction, Organization, Creature

Selecting a starter pack activates the included types automatically. You can always add or remove types later from Settings > Entity Types.

Managing Categories in the UI

Browsing by Category

The Template Library (Settings > Templates) groups templates by category. Use the category tabs at the top to filter:

All — shows every available template
Entity — in-world objects and NPCs
Document — narrative documents and scripts
Map — spatial maps and pinboards
Rule — AI generation rule files
Skill — agent skill definitions

Filtering by Capability

Templates also carry capability flags. Use the Capabilities filter to find templates that support specific features:

Capability	What It Enables
`outline_view`	Visual outline tree in the editor
`export_pdf`	Export entity as formatted PDF
`rich_text`	Full rich-text editor (TipTap) as primary editor
`relationships`	Entity relationship graph sidebar
`production_status`	Production status tracking panel

Category-Based Discovery

From the New Entity dialog, you can browse by category to find the right type:

Click + New Entity in the sidebar
Select a category tab (Entity, Document, etc.)
Browse available types with their descriptions
Click a type to create a new entity with that template

Types that are not yet activated appear dimmed with an Activate button. Clicking Activate checks your plan limit and adds the type to your project.

Template Organization Best Practices

When to Create Custom Categories

Custom categories are not supported in the current release. All templates use the five system categories: entity, document, map, rule, skill. If you have a type that doesn’t fit neatly into one of these, choose based on the primary editing experience:

If the primary editor is field-by-field —> entity
If the primary editor is a rich-text document —> document
If the primary editor is a spatial canvas —> map

Marketplace Eligibility

Templates must meet these criteria to be shared on the StudioBrain Marketplace:

Category set to one of the five valid values (entity, document, map, rule, skill)
At least 5 fields defined in the YAML frontmatter
A non-empty description field in the frontmatter
Version field present (template_version: "2.0" or higher)
No references to private or project-specific entity types

See Template Marketplace for the full submission workflow.