See your whole story.

A free writing app that shows you the structure of your book (its scenes, threads and characters) over the files you already write in. Made by a novelist who is also a software engineer.

The app speaks English and Portuguese. More languages are coming.
The plot grid in Leathercase, with a whole story open

Three things it does

The plot grid in Leathercase, with the gauge beside the scenes

Your book on one grid

Every scene, its point of view and the threads that run through it, laid out so the sag in chapter twelve shows itself.

The threads view in Leathercase, one lane per thread

Threads you can follow

Each subplot traced across the book, so nothing goes missing and nothing arrives unearned.

A character's sheet in Leathercase

Characters that change

What each character carries from scene to scene, and where they turn.

How it works

From the first note to the finished manuscript.

Five views for the five things writers do. Use all of them, or only the one you need this week.

Keep references, lines, images and half-ideas in one library. It belongs to you, not to one story.

The Writer board in Leathercase, on the sample story
The views

Each view answers one question about your story.

Open the one that fits the question you have today. They all read from the same story, so a change in one shows up in the others.

What inspires me?

Writer board

Every reference, line, image and idea you keep, shared across all your stories. Tag them, search them, and link them into any story.

The Writer board in Leathercase, on the sample story
How is it built?

Beat board

Cards in lanes named after your structure: acts, parts, chapters, or your own. Drag ideas in before a single scene is written.

The Beat board in Leathercase, on the sample story
Where is each thread?

Plot grid

Scenes across the top, threads down the side. See what you planted, where it returns, and where a thread goes quiet.

The Plot grid in Leathercase, on the sample story
Does it pay off?

Threads

Follow one storyline from first mention to last. Plants, payoffs and reversals are marked, and a broken link is flagged.

The Threads in Leathercase, on the sample story
Who meets whom?

Map

Characters and places, joined by the scenes they share. Spot the loners and the pairs that never meet.

The Map in Leathercase, on the sample story
What did I write?

Manuscript

The whole draft as one scroll, first line to last. Select a passage to see its threads, then open it in your own app.

The Manuscript in Leathercase, on the sample story

Three promises

  1. Your files, your computer.

    Leathercase reads the files you write in and never changes them. What it adds is markdown and JSON beside your stories, readable without it, today or in twenty years.

  2. No AI writing your book.

    Connect your own assistant if you want one. You see everything it touches, and it never writes prose.

  3. Free, for good.

    No trial, no account, no locked features.

André Amnc on a hillside above the sea

Who made this

I’m André Amnc. I write novels, and I’ve spent my career building software. I made Leathercase to see my own books whole, and I’m giving it away because writers shouldn’t rent access to their own manuscripts.

André AmncThe Software Engineer for Writers

Leathercase is free and stays free. If it helps your writing, you can keep it growing: patrons fund new features and get a vote on what comes next.

Questions writers ask

Is it really free?
Yes. Patrons fund it, and nothing is held back.
Does it use AI?
Not to write. It reads your story’s structure with plain rules, and you can connect your own AI assistant if you choose.
Where are my files?
Where they are now. Leathercase reads them in place and keeps its own notes beside your stories. If it disappeared tomorrow, your book would still open.
Does it read Scrivener or Word files?
Yes. It reads Scrivener projects and Word documents as they are, and Markdown, Obsidian vaults and Fountain screenplays too. It never changes them.
Which languages does the app speak?
English and Portuguese today. Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese are in progress and will come in future releases. This website's translations are written by AI.
Who’s behind it?
One person, André Amnc.

See your whole story.

No trial, no account, no locked features.

The Windows version is in testing. It will be offered here when it is ready.Updating from a version before 0.30 on a Mac? The app's identity changed in 0.30, so the updater cannot carry it across: download 0.30 once from this page. Windows and Linux update in place.