What’s new
What has changed in Drafter, newest first. After a big change or a security update, the writing screen says so once, in a line at the top, with a link here.
Each change is marked New, Improved, Fixed, or Security. The changelog has every change in detail.
Drafter 0.27.0
- NewProduction: locked pages and revisions. For a script going into production: lock page and scene numbers and revise in colors, with asterisks where words changed. Export revised pages, a breakdown of every scene, and sides for one actor; it is free. Production.
Drafter 0.26.2
- ImprovedPlainer warnings, and nothing stops your typing. The status bar says Autosave: on, not guaranteed, or off. A script whose file can’t be checked yet stays editable, and Reload for a new version no longer asks about changes autosave already has. Autosave.
- ImprovedDrafter’s settings block is out of sight. The lines at the end of a script where Drafter keeps its template and settings are hidden in the editor and kept from being deleted by accident. The file still has them, for other apps to skip. What Drafter saves.
Drafter 0.26.1
- NewSend your novel out as a standard manuscript. Export a novel as the manuscript agents and editors expect, as a PDF or a Word file, with a title page, a running header, and a chapter on each new page. A short box asks for the title page’s details once and keeps them in the book. Sending it out.
Drafter 0.26.0
- NewNovel: a place to draft a book. Chapters and sections in plain Markdown, an Outline and Cards with a status and synopsis for each, focus on one chapter at a time, and word targets. Your file stays Markdown any app opens. Novel.
Drafter 0.25.1
- NewTypewriter sounds, if you like them. Turn on Typewriter sounds in Settings to hear a typewriter’s key as you type and its bell at each new line. It’s off unless you turn it on. Typewriter sounds.
- NewA contrast slider for each pane. The Contrast button in the top bar has a slider for the Source and one for the Script, in light and dark, each showing its WCAG 2.1 contrast ratio as you slide. Both start near the highest. Contrast.
- SecurityYour script stays with you, and an audit shows it. A privacy audit checked that nothing about your script is stored in the cloud and that Drafter uses no AI. It found that a bug report’s text could reach drafter.dev’s visit counter, which now gets page views only. Your script stays with you.
- ImprovedBug reports and ideas carry your setup. Report a problem… and Suggest an idea… now add your Drafter version, system, browser, screen, and a few settings, never your script. Help → Copy technical details copies them for a GitHub issue. What a report includes.
Drafter 0.25.0
- NewClassic Mode: type the way many screenwriters expect. Enter and Tab move through the script, names and places fill themselves in, and your file stays Fountain. Classic Mode.
Drafter 0.24.3
- NewRun Drafter from your own computer or server. A Docker setup now serves the web app yourself, with drafter.dev’s security rules and no analytics. It stores no scripts: your work stays in your browser and your files. Self-hosting.
Drafter 0.24.2
- NewDrafter for Claude: let your AI app read your scripts. Drafter for Claude lets Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another AI app read the scripts, drafts, and cuts in folders you choose, for storyboards, reader’s notes, and insights across a series. It only reads, and Drafter itself never calls an AI. Drafter for Claude.
- Newdrafter.dev measures visits with Plausible. The website now counts visits with Plausible, privacy-focused analytics with no cookies and nothing that identifies you; it never sees your script. The downloaded desktop app has no analytics at all. Privacy.
- ImprovedA click on a note shows where it is. Clicking a note in the Notes list scrolls the Source to its line and marks it for a moment, with line numbers on or off. Check for updates also shows that it’s working, and says when a new version is downloading.
Drafter 0.24.1
- NewStory map: a picture of your script to send to anyone. Export → Story map… makes one page that shows a non-writer your story’s shape, its people, and every scene so far, with a few lines of dialogue. It works on a phone and holds no notes. Story map.
Drafter 0.24.0
- NewDrafts and Cuts: numbered drafts, and everything you cut, kept for good. Start new draft keeps your script as Draft 01, 02, and so on, and Cuts keeps everything you cut (a whole speech or paragraph, or 12 or more words) for you to browse for ideas, in place of Deleted scenes. In the desktop app, and in Chrome or Edge, both are saved beside your script as well. Drafts and cuts.
- ImprovedCuts replaces Deleted scenes; nothing you cut ages out. Deleted scenes could show a scene only while a snapshot still held it. Cuts keeps every cut with its own text, for good, in Markdown documents too. Drafts and cuts.
- NewReport a problem or suggest an idea. Help → Report a problem… and Suggest an idea… fill in a GitHub issue for you to check and submit, with your version info if you like, and never your script. Without a GitHub account, copy it, or email it from your own email app. Reporting a problem.
Drafter 0.23.3
- NewWhat is Drafter?, and this page. A new help page says what Drafter is for anyone you show it to: why writers pick it over Final Draft, what producers and directors get, whether you can trust it, and, for technical people, how it works and how many tests it passes. This What’s new page keeps every change, newest first. What is Drafter?.
Drafter 0.23.2
- SecurityDrafter is now tested against 244 hostile files. Drafter now runs 244 deliberately broken and hostile files through every way a file comes in, and checks that none of them crashes it, hangs it, runs anything, or fetches anything. What they found is fixed. Can I trust Drafter?.
- SecurityHow Drafter keeps you safe, said plainly. The README and the Technical details page have a Security section, and SECURITY.md says how to report a problem privately. Security, in Technical details.
Drafter 0.23.1
- NewExports Drafter can open again. Turn on Let Drafter reopen this file, and an HTML or EPUB export carries the whole script, so Drafter can open it again exactly as it was. It’s off unless you turn it on. Open formats.
- ImprovedDark by default. Drafter opens dark on a first visit again, whatever your computer is set to. Pick light with the theme button, or turn on Match system appearance in Settings.
Drafter 0.23.0
- ImprovedA fresh look. The script sits on paper pages, the status bar is quieter, and dialogs, menus, and Settings share one style. On a phone, one pane at a time, with tabs along the bottom. Drafter 0.23.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.22.2
- NewWhy Drafter, and a Download page. A Why Drafter page says what Drafter is and how it compares with other screenwriting apps, and a Download page has the Windows and Linux apps. Why Drafter.
Drafter 0.22.1
- FixedReload lands on the new version. Choosing Reload on “A new version of Drafter is ready” now loads the new version, and says so. Drafter 0.22.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.22.0
- NewExport as a web page or an e-book. A script exports as one web page that opens in any browser with no connection, or as an EPUB for an e-reader or a tablet. Open formats.
Drafter 0.21.1
- FixedDrafter’s own icon on every desktop window. The desktop app’s windows no longer show Electron’s icon on Linux or in Windows’ title bar. Drafter 0.21.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.21.0
- NewScaffold, and Stats as a tab. Scaffold shows who is in the scene you’re writing, with a page for every character and place. The Stats tab has each character’s screen time and share of the dialogue, and a grid of who is in every scene. Stats and Scaffold, in Help.
Drafter 0.20.0
- NewA whole folder to Fountain at once. The command line’s drafter convert turns Final Draft, Highland, and Fade In files into Fountain, a folder at a time. Markdown documents get footnotes. Drafter 0.20.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.19.1
- FixedTwo rare Markdown lines export as written. Two unusual lines in a Markdown export now come out as you wrote them, and a heading with a very long run of spaces no longer slows Stats. Drafter 0.19.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.19.0
- NewHighland and Fade In files open. Drafter opens Highland and Fade In files as new scripts, exports a script as Markdown, and says plainly what a file is when it isn’t a script. Drafter 0.19.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.18.0
- NewDeleted scenes, and what you changed. Deleted scenes lists the scenes you cut, with Put back. Show changes marks the pages, Compare shows what changed scene by scene, and History of this scene has every version of one scene. Drafter 0.18.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.17.0
- NewA guided first screenplay, and running times. A guided first screenplay and stage play teach each element as you read. Export options are kept for each script, and the running time uses your own minutes a page. Drafter 0.17.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.16.0
- NewMarkdown documents as a PDF. Notes, treatments, and outlines export as a clean PDF, offline. Any export that takes a moment shows a progress bar. Drafter 0.16.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.15.1
- FixedFinal Draft shooting scripts import cleanly. An omitted scene’s lines come in as notes after its OMITTED heading, hidden text comes in as a note, and All Caps text comes in in capitals. Drafter 0.15.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.15.0
- NewThe Structure strip. Your whole script at a glance: a band across the top shows your acts and scenes as blocks as wide as their pages. Click one to go there. Drafter 0.15.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.14.0
- NewSpellcheck that knows a screenplay. Drafter checks your spelling as you write, in US or British English, offline. Character names, places, and the craft’s own words are never marked. Drafter 0.14.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.13.1
Drafter 0.13.0
- NewHistory and Compare. Drafter keeps earlier versions of your script as you work. Restore any one in one undo, or compare two to see what changed. Drafter 0.13.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.12.0
- NewCards and Notes. The Cards tab shows your scenes as index cards to move around. The Notes tab lists every note in the script, filed by who wrote it or what it’s about. Drafter 0.12.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.11.0
- NewFinal Draft files in and out. Open a Final Draft (.fdx) file and it comes in as a new Fountain script, with nothing lost silently. Export as Final Draft for anyone who works in it. Drafter 0.11.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.10.0
- NewThe Outline. Your sections and scenes as a tree, each with its synopsis, color, and length. Move a scene by dragging it or with the keys, and one undo puts it back. Drafter 0.10.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.9.0
- ImprovedThe accessibility pass. Every major state of Drafter is checked with axe in both themes, at desktop and phone width, and what the checks found is fixed. Skip to the editor is the first Tab stop. Drafter 0.9.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.8.0
- NewDrafter for Windows. An installer that installs for you alone, with no administrator. A .fountain file opens in Drafter with a double-click. Download Drafter.
Drafter 0.7.0
- NewDrafter on a Mac, built on your own Mac. One command builds the desktop app on a Mac. A signed download comes once Drafter has an Apple developer account. Download Drafter.
Drafter 0.6.1
- SecurityModules run only as you agreed to them. In the desktop app, any change to a module from the modules folder turns it off until you turn it on again, and a module folder that links somewhere else is skipped. Drafter 0.6.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.6.0
- NewScript modules from a folder. The desktop app loads script modules from a folder of its own. Each runs sandboxed, off until you turn it on. Drafter 0.6.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.5.0
- NewThe element bar, and writing stats. The element bar writes Fountain for you and teaches it as you go, with a Fountain cheat sheet in Help. A Stats window has today’s writing and the last 30 days. Fountain cheat sheet.
Drafter 0.4.1
- FixedTypewriter scrolling without the gap. Turning on typewriter scrolling no longer leaves an empty half-pane above the title page. Drafter 0.4.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.4.0
- NewDrafter for Linux. The same editor as drafter.dev, as an app you install: real files, a menu bar, and updates that always ask first. Download Drafter.
Drafter 0.3.1
- ImprovedScroll sync, and samples to start from. The source and the pages stay at the same place as you scroll. Your first stage play or Markdown document starts with a sample, with Start blank. Drafter 0.3.1 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.3.0
- NewFocus mode, goals, sprints, and offline. Focus mode, typewriter scrolling, a daily goal, and sprints. A welcome and a short tour on a first visit, and Drafter works with no connection once it has loaded. Drafter 0.3.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.2.0
- NewThe full editor. The command palette, Settings, the Problems pane, PDF export, stage plays, and Markdown documents. Drafter 0.2.0 on GitHub.
Drafter 0.1.0
- NewWrite at drafter.dev. The first version you can write a script in: the editor, the pages laid out as you type, a recovery copy in your browser, and Save and Open for .fountain files. Drafter 0.1.0 on GitHub.