Koto
A screenwriting tool that thinks with you.
Free to write. Pro for $15/month.
It never writes for you.
Most AI tools generate text and call it help. Koto does something different. It reads your pages, learns how you write, and helps you think through the hard parts—structure, character, tone, intent.
The words on the page are always yours. The thinking behind them gets sharper.
Koto's brainstorm panel doesn't start from zero. It reads your scenes—your dialogue rhythms, your scene structure, your instincts—and uses that as context. Notes from someone who's read your script are better than notes from someone who hasn't.
As you write, Koto builds a voice profile—observations about your patterns, your tendencies, your style. Short dialogue or long? Sparse action lines or dense? Hard cuts or slow dissolves?
You can read it, edit it, shape it. It's not a black box. It's a mirror.
Scenes tend to end abruptly, often mid-dialogue. Action lines are visual and sparse — describes what the camera sees, not internal states. Dialogue runs short. Characters deflect rather than confront directly. Tone balances dry humor with genuine vulnerability.
When a suggestion doesn't fit your project, Koto notices. Over time it stops reaching for the obvious and pushes toward the specific—the choices only you would make.
Every writer gets stuck. You know the feeling—staring at a scene that isn't working, knowing something's off but not what. Koto's brainstorm panel is that conversation.
The second act break isn't landing. Maya's decision to leave feels unmotivated.
Right now Maya's choice comes out of nowhere because the audience hasn't seen what staying costs her. What if we've already seen a scene where she sacrifices something to keep the peace—and the audience is tracking that resentment before she is?
/stuck — What's not working in this scene?
Give me 20 specific external goals for Mandy in this pilot.
1. Get her mother's signature on the DNR 2. Return the borrowed truck before Gio notices 3. Make the 4pm court filing deadline 4. Hide the bruise before the school pickup 5. Convince the landlord the dog is a "service animal" ...
Explore character—specific, not generic.
/audience
At this point the audience knows:
— The letter exists (shown in scene 3)
— Maya hasn't read it (she was interrupted)
— Ray knows what's in it (his reaction, scene 5)
Active questions the audience is holding:
— Will Maya find the letter?
— Does Ray know she hasn't read it?
— What was in the envelope Gio pocketed?
/audience — Track dramatic irony across your script.
/wants
In this scene:
— Maya wants to get through dinner without a confrontation
— Ray wants Maya to acknowledge what happened
— Gio wants to leave before either of them notices what he took
The friction: Maya and Ray are avoiding the same conversation from opposite sides, while Gio is running a clock nobody else knows about.
/wants — What does each character want here?
/stuckWhat's not working in this scene?/toneWhat tone is this scene hitting?/wantsWhat does each character want here?/audienceWhat does the audience know at this point?Everything else, just ask.
Write in plain text. Scene headings, dialogue, transitions—formatted as you type. What you see is what you export.
Industry-standard screenplay PDF. Courier 12pt, proper margins, correct page breaks. The script your agent expects.
Your scripts live in folders on your machine. No cloud, no databases, no lock-in. Your project is a directory.
The Sumi palette was designed for long writing sessions. Warm paper tones on dark backgrounds. Low eye strain, high focus.
Plain text files. Version control, branching, diffs—they all just work. Never lose a draft.
We know the conversation around AI and writing. We're writers too, and we take it seriously.
Koto is local-first. Your files live in folders you control. There is no cloud sync, no server holding your work.
Not ours. Not anyone else's. Your scripts are yours.
Everything Koto learns about your writing is stored as a readable document in your project folder. No black box. No hidden data. Open it in any text editor.
A micro-series. Leone meets Shaw Brothers meets grandma comedy.
We wrote this with Koto. Every word.
Fountain—an open, plain-text screenplay format. Your scripts are .fountain files you can open in any text editor. No lock-in, no proprietary formats.
Yes. Everything except the brainstorm panel works without an internet connection. Your scripts live on your machine—you can write anywhere.
No. The brainstorm panel is a thinking tool. It helps you work through story problems, explore characters, and find your way into a scene. The writing is yours.
Never. Your scripts stay on your machine. They are never sent to any server for training purposes.
Koto is a different approach. If you love your current tool, keep using it. Koto is for writers who want a fast, local-first editor with a brainstorm panel built in—and who care about owning their files as plain text.
Yes. Your scripts are local files—they don't disappear if you cancel. You can always use the free tier to edit and export.
Mac-only at launch. Other platforms are on the roadmap.