Create and manage episodes

Create a complete workspace

Choose File → New Episode, press ⌘N, or use the toolbar. The sheet suggests the next number separately for each series and for Singles.

1. Enter a clear title. The title helps form a portable, collision-safe folder name.
2. Choose Series Episode or Single. A series supplies its own template, defaults, and checklist. A Single uses the channel’s Singles template.
3. Review episode number and recording date. The app proposes the next number; you remain in control of it.
4. Review the publishing description. Leaving it empty uses the selected series default when one exists.
5. Keep Create production folders now enabled. Inspect the workspace preview, then choose Create Episode.

What creation writes

A normal new series episode receives:

• the declared episode folders, such as Footage, Audio, Project Files, Graphics, Exports, and Notes;
• everything inside the series copy-template folder;
• fresh checklist items copied from the series definition;
• the default description and a standard notes document; and
• a portable manifest that identifies this exact episode.

The complete folder is assembled in a hidden staging location and becomes visible with one final rename only after validation. A conflicting destination is preserved; the new episode receives a unique safe name.

Use the episode browser

The episode slate can show All, Active, Ready, Published, or Archived. Sort by recent update, recording date, episode number, title, or status. Search covers title, description, tags, and series.

Selecting an episode opens its persistent workspace:

The Episode Details sidebar remains available across these tabs. Changes there require Save Details; Overview notes save separately as you work.

Move status deliberately

Normal workflow is Idea → Script → Filming → Editing → Ready → Published. The status picker offers the current stage and adjacent valid steps, which prevents accidental leaps that make the slate less useful.

• Moving to Published confirms external publication and supplies a planned release when missing.
• Clearing external-publication confirmation returns the episode to Ready.
• Archived is not a normal picker choice; the verified Archive files operation applies it.
• Restoring an archived folder returns the episode to Editing for rework.

Use Next Action and the checklist together

Next Action interprets the current status and incomplete checks to suggest the most useful move. It does not complete work for you. Mark checklist items only when the underlying work is genuinely finished. Items labelled Required must all be complete for publishing readiness; optional items remain useful without blocking the packet.

Delete an episode safely

Use the destructive action in Episode Details only when the whole production should be removed. Deletion requires the configured storage to be online and writable, verifies that the folder’s manifest belongs to this episode, and checks that another episode does not depend on files inside it.