OpenStoryline Install

Use this skill when the task is to install or repair a local source checkout of FireRed-OpenStoryline.

Keep the workflow deterministic:

1. Confirm the repo path and read the current README.md and config.toml.
2. Detect local prerequisites before changing anything.
3. Prefer a local venv install unless the user explicitly asks for Docker or conda.
4. Download resources only after Python dependencies succeed.
5. Validate imports and config loading before claiming success.
6. This skill assumes macOS, Linux, or WSL with a POSIX shell.

What This Skill Covers

• Clone the GitHub repo if needed
• Create a Python environment
• Install Python dependencies
• Download .storyline models and resource/ assets
• Fill config.toml model settings
• Start MCP and web servers
• Explain common installation/documentation gaps

Preconditions

Check these first:

• git
• Python >= 3.11
• ffmpeg
• wget
• unzip

Optional:

• docker
• conda

If ffmpeg, wget, or unzip are missing, install them through the OS package manager before continuing.

Examples:

• macOS with Homebrew:

  brew install ffmpeg wget unzip
  

• Debian/Ubuntu:

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg wget unzip
  

If no supported package manager or permission is available, stop and report the missing system dependency clearly.

Interpreter selection

First prefer any interpreter that already exists and passes version checks:

1. A system Python >= 3.11
2. An already available conda Python >= 3.11
3. An already available pyenv Python >= 3.11, but only if basic stdlib modules work

Validate candidate interpreters before using them:

/path/to/python -c "import ssl, sqlite3, venv; print('stdlib_ok')"

If no supported interpreter already exists, peferr conda fallback:

conda create -y -n openstoryline-py311 python=3.11
conda run -n openstoryline-py311 python --version
conda run -n openstoryline-py311 python -m venv .venv

After a supported interpreter is found, always create a repo-local .venv and continue using .venv/bin/python for install, config validation, and service startup.

Do not duplicate the rest of the workflow for pyenv or conda unless the user explicitly asks to stay inside a conda environment.

Preferred Install Path

From the repo root:

/path/to/python -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install --upgrade pip
.venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
bash download.sh

Notes:

• download.sh pulls both model weights and a large resource archive. It can take a long time and may resume after network drops.
• The resource download is required for a full local run, not just the Python package install.

Configuration

Before starting the app, update config.toml.

You can use scripts/update_config.py.

At minimum, fill:

.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set llm.model=REPLACE_WITH_REAL_MODEL
.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set llm.base_url=REPLACE_WITH_REAL_URL
.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set llm.api_key=sk-REPLACE_WITH_REAL_KEY

.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set vlm.model=REPLACE_WITH_REAL_MODEL
.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set vlm.base_url=REPLACE_WITH_REAL_URL
.venv/bin/python scripts/update_config.py --config ./config.toml --set vlm.api_key=sk-REPLACE_WITH_REAL_KEY

Optional but common:

• [search_media] pexels_api_key
• TTS provider keys under [generate_voiceover.providers.*]

After editing config, validate it with:

PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -c "from open_storyline.config import load_settings; s=load_settings('config.toml'); print(s.llm.model, s.vlm.model)"

Verification

Run these checks before saying installation is complete:

.venv/bin/pip check
PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -c "import agent_fastapi; print('fastapi_app_ok')"
PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -c "from open_storyline.config import load_settings; load_settings('config.toml'); print('config_ok')"

Also confirm key resources exist:

test -f .storyline/models/transnetv2-pytorch-weights.pth
test -f .storyline/models/all-MiniLM-L6-v2/model.safetensors
test -d resource/bgms

Start Services

There are two common paths. These are long-running processes. Do not wait for them to exit normally. Treat successful startup log lines or confirmed listening ports as success, and keep the services running in separate shells/sessions as needed.

Manual start:

PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -m open_storyline.mcp.server

In a second shell:

PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -m uvicorn agent_fastapi:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8005

Combined start:

HOST=127.0.0.1 PORT=8005 PATH="$(pwd)/.venv/bin:$PATH" bash run.sh

Expected Outputs

After a successful install:

• .venv/ exists
• MCP listens on the configured local port (commonly 127.0.0.1:8001)
• Web listens on the configured web port (commonly 127.0.0.1:8005, though run.sh defaults may differ)

Common Problems

download.sh is slow or interrupted

Symptom:

• Large downloads stall or reconnect

Fix:

• Let wget continue; it supports resume behavior here
• Verify extracted outputs instead of trusting the progress meter

Web/MCP server fails to bind

Symptom:

• operation not permitted while binding 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0

Fix:

• In agent sandboxes, request permission to open local listening ports
• Prefer 127.0.0.1 over 0.0.0.0 unless external access is required

Response Pattern

When reporting status to the user, separate:

• what is installed
• what is still downloading
• what config is still missing
• what address the service is listening on

Do not say "installation complete" if only the Python packages are installed but the resource bundle is still missing.