Parse a scene's summary as a real list of bullet points

A frontmatter `summary:` list written as a multi-line flow sequence
(one bullet per line, closing bracket on its own line — the natural
way to hand-write several sentences) used to vanish: no line in it
has a colon or a leading `-`, so the parser read none of the lines
after the opening `summary: [` and the field ended up holding a
literal "[". Even written on one line, `flow_list_items` split on
every comma, which cuts a prose bullet in two if it has one of its
own.

`Header` now has a `summary: Vec<String>`, read by a parser that
joins a flow sequence's continuation lines before splitting it on
commas outside of quotes, so each bullet survives whole. Also added
`summary: []` to the bundled scene template and the in-app default
new-file template, so new scenes offer the field.

No new UI surfaces this yet (corkboard/synopsis still show only the
slug) — out of scope for the parsing fix itself.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/app/editor.rs

@@ -5,6 +5,32 @@ use super::*;
 
 impl App {
     pub(super) fn editor(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) {
+        // The bundled scene template is a reference writers copy from by
+        // hand, not something the app reads — so an edit to it just sits
+        // there, invisible, until someone notices the scene they copied from
+        // it looks wrong. Lock it against typing until explicitly unlocked.
+        let is_template = self
+            .selected
+            .and_then(|i| self.files.get(i))
+            .is_some_and(|f| workspace::is_template_file(f));
+        let locked = is_template && !self.template_unlocked;
+        if is_template {
+            ui.horizontal(|ui| {
+                if locked {
+                    ui.label("🔒 This is the scene template — locked to prevent accidental edits.");
+                    if ui.button("Unlock").clicked() {
+                        self.template_unlocked = true;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    ui.label("🔓 Unlocked for editing.");
+                    if ui.button("Lock").clicked() {
+                        self.template_unlocked = false;
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+            ui.add_space(4.0);
+        }
+
         // Base monospace size scaled by the zoom percentage. `desired_width` stays
         // infinite and the scroll area is vertical-only, so text wraps to the pane
         // width at any zoom (no horizontal scrolling).
@@ -113,6 +139,7 @@ impl App {
                     .desired_width(f32::INFINITY)
                     .desired_rows(rows)
                     .layouter(&mut layouter)
+                    .interactive(!locked)
                     .show(ui);
                 if output.response.changed() {
                     self.dirty = true;

src/app/mod.rs

@@ -209,6 +209,11 @@ pub struct App {
     /// The editorial header lifted out of `buffer` while it is collapsed.
     header_stash: Option<String>,
     dirty: bool,
+    /// Whether the currently open `_template.md` has been unlocked for
+    /// editing this session. Not persisted and not file-specific — it resets
+    /// to locked whenever a different file is selected, so re-opening the
+    /// template always starts protected again.
+    template_unlocked: bool,
     /// Byte offset of the primary cursor in `buffer`, as of the last frame.
     /// Used by typewriter mode to notice the cursor moved (and re-center it)
     /// versus the writer scrolling the view manually, and to find the current
@@ -509,6 +514,7 @@ impl App {
             buffer: String::new(),
             header_stash: None,
             dirty: false,
+            template_unlocked: false,
             cursor_pos: 0,
             new_name: String::new(),
             rename_input: String::new(),

src/app/workspace.rs

@@ -615,6 +615,8 @@ impl App {
         self.selected = Some(idx);
         self.dirty = false;
         self.pending_delete = false;
+        // A lock earned on one file doesn't carry over to the next.
+        self.template_unlocked = false;
         // Update Story Bible references for the newly selected file
         self.update_current_references();
         // The rename box holds the whole workspace-relative path, so it doubles
@@ -1914,6 +1916,16 @@ pub(super) fn render_template(template: &str, stem: &str, marker: &str, date: &s
     out
 }
 
+/// Whether `path` is the bundled scene template (`_template.md`): a reference
+/// file writers open to see the expected header fields and copy from by hand,
+/// not something the app reads from — "New from template" instead pulls from
+/// [`Config::new_file_template`](crate::config::Config::new_file_template).
+/// Easy to edit by mistake while skimming it, so the editor locks it against
+/// changes until explicitly unlocked — see [`App::editor`](super::App::editor).
+pub(super) fn is_template_file(path: &str) -> bool {
+    base_name(path).eq_ignore_ascii_case("_template.md")
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -2097,6 +2109,21 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(render_template("a\n{{marker}}\nb\n", "n", "", "d"), "a\n\nb\n");
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn is_template_file_matches_only_the_scene_template_by_name() {
+        assert!(is_template_file("_template.md"));
+        assert!(is_template_file("05-First Draft/_template.md"));
+        // Case-insensitive, like the file system it's read from.
+        assert!(is_template_file("05-First Draft/_TEMPLATE.MD"));
+        // A chapter folder could have its own copy — still matches by name.
+        assert!(is_template_file("Act 1/Chapter 2/_template.md"));
+        // Other underscore-prefixed files (chapter info, notes) aren't it.
+        assert!(!is_template_file("_chapter.md"));
+        assert!(!is_template_file("_notes.md"));
+        assert!(!is_template_file("scene01.md"));
+        assert!(!is_template_file("template.md"));
+    }
+
     /// The point of the default template is that the app's own header parser
     /// understands what it produces — otherwise the seeded fields are just text.
     #[test]

src/config.rs

@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ pub fn default_new_file_template() -> String {
         "status: draft",
         "pov: ",
         "characters: []",
+        "summary: []",
         "word_count_target: ",
         "---",
         "",

src/preprocess.rs

@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ pub struct Header {
     pub pov: Option<String>,
     /// Word-count target from a `Word Count Target:` line, if present and parsable.
     pub goal: Option<WordGoal>,
+    /// Bullet points from a frontmatter `summary` list, in writing order. Each
+    /// item keeps its own punctuation intact — unlike a generic [`field`]'s
+    /// comma-joined value, nothing here is lost if a bullet has a comma of its
+    /// own. Empty when there's no frontmatter or no `summary` key (YAML-only;
+    /// the legacy marker-based header has no list syntax to borrow).
+    pub summary: Vec<String>,
     /// The prose body, with comments, the header block, and metadata lines removed.
     pub body: String,
 }
@@ -207,7 +213,8 @@ fn yaml_fields(frontmatter: &str) -> Vec<Field> {
     // Only a key written with nothing after it can be opening a block list, so
     // a stray `- ` cannot append itself to a scalar above it.
     let mut collecting = false;
-    for line in frontmatter.lines() {
+    let mut lines = frontmatter.lines();
+    while let Some(line) = lines.next() {
         if line.trim() == "---" {
             continue;
         }
@@ -223,6 +230,7 @@ fn yaml_fields(frontmatter: &str) -> Vec<Field> {
             continue;
         }
         if let Some((name, value)) = parse_yaml_field(line) {
+            let value = join_flow_continuation(value, &mut lines);
             let value = flow_list_items(&value);
             collecting = value.is_empty();
             out.push(Field { name, value });
@@ -231,6 +239,79 @@ fn yaml_fields(frontmatter: &str) -> Vec<Field> {
     out
 }
 
+/// Net count of un-quoted `[`/`]` in `s`, positive while a flow sequence begun
+/// on an earlier line is still open.
+fn bracket_depth(s: &str) -> i32 {
+    let mut depth = 0;
+    let mut in_quote = false;
+    let mut quote_char = '\0';
+    for c in s.chars() {
+        match c {
+            '"' | '\'' if !in_quote => {
+                in_quote = true;
+                quote_char = c;
+            }
+            c2 if in_quote && c2 == quote_char => in_quote = false,
+            '[' if !in_quote => depth += 1,
+            ']' if !in_quote => depth -= 1,
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+    depth
+}
+
+/// Pull in whatever further lines a flow sequence needs to balance its
+/// brackets, so `key: [\n  "a",\n  "b",\n]` — how a multi-line list is often
+/// hand-written, one bullet per line — reads the same as `key: [a, b]` on one
+/// line. A value that was already balanced (or never opened a list) passes
+/// through untouched, and an unterminated one is returned as far as it got.
+fn join_flow_continuation<'a>(mut value: String, lines: &mut impl Iterator<Item = &'a str>) -> String {
+    while bracket_depth(&value) > 0 {
+        match lines.next() {
+            Some(cont) => {
+                value.push(' ');
+                value.push_str(cont.trim());
+            }
+            None => break,
+        }
+    }
+    value
+}
+
+/// Split a flow sequence's inner text on commas that are not inside a quoted
+/// item, so `"a, b"` keeps its own comma rather than being cut in two by it —
+/// unlike a bare name, prose can't be trusted to never contain one. A trailing
+/// comma (the only way to end a list spread one item per line, and a habit
+/// many writers bring from other languages) leaves no empty item behind.
+fn split_flow_items(inner: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+    let mut items = Vec::new();
+    let mut current = String::new();
+    let mut in_quote = false;
+    let mut quote_char = '\0';
+    for c in inner.chars() {
+        match c {
+            '"' | '\'' if !in_quote => {
+                in_quote = true;
+                quote_char = c;
+                current.push(c);
+            }
+            c2 if in_quote && c2 == quote_char => {
+                in_quote = false;
+                current.push(c2);
+            }
+            ',' if !in_quote => {
+                items.push(current.trim().to_string());
+                current.clear();
+            }
+            _ => current.push(c),
+        }
+    }
+    if !current.trim().is_empty() {
+        items.push(current.trim().to_string());
+    }
+    items.into_iter().map(|s| unquote(&s)).filter(|s| !s.is_empty()).collect()
+}
+
 /// Look one frontmatter key up, trying each alias in turn. Empty reads as absent,
 /// the same way [`field`] treats an unfilled `## POV:`.
 fn yaml_value(fields: &[Field], names: &[&str]) -> Option<String> {
@@ -260,12 +341,7 @@ fn flow_list_items(value: &str) -> String {
     let Some(inner) = value.strip_prefix('[').and_then(|v| v.strip_suffix(']')) else {
         return value.to_string();
     };
-    inner
+    split_flow_items(inner).join(", ")
-        .split(',')
-        .map(|item| unquote(item.trim()))
-        .filter(|item| !item.is_empty())
-        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-        .join(", ")
 }
 
 /// Strip one pair of matching surrounding quotes.
@@ -399,6 +475,7 @@ pub fn parse(markdown: &str, marker: &str) -> Header {
             slug: yaml_value(&fields, &["slug"]),
             pov: yaml_value(&fields, &["pov"]),
             goal,
+            summary: summary_items(frontmatter),
             body: body.trim().to_string(),
         };
     }
@@ -457,10 +534,50 @@ pub fn parse(markdown: &str, marker: &str) -> Header {
         slug: slug.filter(|s| !s.is_empty()),
         pov: pov.filter(|s| !s.is_empty()),
         goal,
+        summary: Vec::new(),
         body: body_lines.join("\n").trim().to_string(),
     }
 }
 
+/// Every bullet of a frontmatter `summary` list, in writing order — see
+/// [`Header::summary`]. Supports both YAML list forms, including a flow
+/// sequence spread over several lines (`summary: [\n  "...",\n]`).
+fn summary_items(frontmatter: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+    let mut lines = frontmatter.lines().peekable();
+    while let Some(line) = lines.next() {
+        if line.trim() == "---" {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if block_list_item(line).is_some() {
+            continue; // belongs to some other key's block list; keep scanning
+        }
+        let Some((key, value)) = parse_yaml_field(line) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+        if !key.eq_ignore_ascii_case("summary") {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if value.is_empty() {
+            // A bare `summary:` opens a block list on the following lines.
+            let mut items = Vec::new();
+            while let Some(next) = lines.peek().copied() {
+                let Some(item) = block_list_item(next) else {
+                    break;
+                };
+                items.push(item);
+                lines.next();
+            }
+            return items;
+        }
+        let value = join_flow_continuation(value, &mut lines);
+        let Some(inner) = value.strip_prefix('[').and_then(|v| v.strip_suffix(']')) else {
+            return Vec::new(); // a scalar, not a list
+        };
+        return split_flow_items(inner);
+    }
+    Vec::new()
+}
+
 /// Parse a YAML field line like `key: value` or `key: "value"`.
 /// Returns (key, value) if the line looks like a YAML field.
 /// Strips inline comments (everything after # that's not in quotes).
@@ -708,6 +825,67 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(field(empty, "", "characters"), None);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn a_flow_list_item_keeps_its_own_comma() {
+        // `flow_list_items`' old naive `split(',')` cut "a, b" into two items;
+        // prose can't promise to never contain a comma the way a name can.
+        let md = r#"---
+summary: ["First, then second.", "Third."]
+---
+
+Prose.
+"#;
+        assert_eq!(parse(md, "").summary, ["First, then second.", "Third."]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_summary_list_spread_over_several_lines_is_read_whole() {
+        // The shape a hand-written multi-line flow sequence actually takes:
+        // the opening `[` ends its line, one bullet per line after that, the
+        // closing `]` alone on the last. Each line used to vanish (no colon,
+        // so `parse_yaml_field` ignored it, and it doesn't start with `-` so
+        // `block_list_item` ignored it too) and `summary` read as a literal "[".
+        let md = "---\n\
+                  title: \"A Title\"\n\
+                  summary: [\n\
+                  \t\"Jonah is waiting for the bus.\",\n\
+                  \t\"We see the loneliness of his existence.\",\n\
+                  \t\"Jonah goes to the lab and does a favour for a co-worker\",\n\
+                  ]\n\
+                  pov: \"Jonah\"\n\
+                  ---\n\n\
+                  Prose.\n";
+        let h = parse(md, "");
+        assert_eq!(
+            h.summary,
+            [
+                "Jonah is waiting for the bus.",
+                "We see the loneliness of his existence.",
+                "Jonah goes to the lab and does a favour for a co-worker",
+            ]
+        );
+        // A key after the multi-line list is still read correctly.
+        assert_eq!(h.pov.as_deref(), Some("Jonah"));
+        assert_eq!(h.title.as_deref(), Some("A Title"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_block_style_summary_list_is_read_too() {
+        let md = "---\nsummary:\n  - First point.\n  - \"Second, with a comma.\"\nsetting: kitchen\n---\n\nProse.\n";
+        let h = parse(md, "");
+        assert_eq!(h.summary, ["First point.", "Second, with a comma."]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn summary_is_empty_when_absent_or_a_bare_empty_list() {
+        assert!(parse("---\ntitle: x\n---\n\nProse.\n", "").summary.is_empty());
+        assert!(parse("---\nsummary: []\n---\n\nProse.\n", "").summary.is_empty());
+        // Legacy marker-based header: no list syntax exists there.
+        assert!(parse("# Title: x\n### Rough Draft:\n\nProse.", "### Rough Draft:")
+            .summary
+            .is_empty());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn frontmatter_keys_may_carry_underscores() {
         // `field_line`'s bare form allows only letters, so snake_case keys were

templates/snowflake/{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}/05-First Draft/_template.md

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ status: draft
 pov: ""
 characters: []
 setting: ""
+summary: []
 date: ""
 time: ""
 conflict: ""