Outline mode

What this accomplishes

Draft long documents section by section from an outline you approve before each step.

Start with an outline, let the agent draft one section at a time, and review each section before moving on. Suited to essays, research briefs, and other structured long-form work.

The editor is in document editor; citations in citation system; export in export to PDF and DOCX.

Current availability

This page documents behaviour verified in Miton development builds. Miton is still pre-release and is not publicly downloadable; invited beta users will receive a signed desktop build with automatic updates.

Before you start

• A Miton development build, an active project and Writer open.
• A connected model; keep the source material or existing document in the same project.

The outline panel

The outline panel is a CoW panel in the right side of the editor. The panel shows the document’s headings as a tree. The panel supports:

• Click to navigate — the user clicks a heading in the outline; the editor jumps to the heading.
• Drag to reorder — the user drags a heading in the outline; the editor reorders the headings in the document.
• Right-click to edit — the user right- clicks a heading in the outline; a menu appears with options to add a child heading, add a sibling heading, delete the heading, change the heading’s level, change the heading’s text.
• Search — the user types in the search input at the top of the outline; the outline filters to the headings that match the search.

The outline panel is per-document. The user can close the outline without losing the navigation; the user can reopen the outline with the panel menu.

The agent’s outline

The agent can produce an outline for a topic. The user enters the topic in the chat input; the user asks “outline this”; the agent produces an outline; the user accepts the outline; the outline is inserted into the document.

The agent’s outline is a list of headings. The outline includes:

• A title heading — the document’s title.
• Section headings — the document’s main sections. The agent picks the section headings based on the topic and the user’s preferences.
• Sub-section headings — the document’s sub-sections. The agent picks the sub- sections based on the section’s content.

The agent’s outline is editable. The user can edit the outline before the agent drafts the document; the user can add a section, remove a section, rename a section. The agent drafts the document based on the user’s edited outline.

The section-by-section drafting flow

The section-by-section drafting flow is the workflow the user follows after the agent produces the outline. The user clicks “Draft section by section”; the agent drafts the first section; the user reviews the first section; the user accepts or revises; the agent drafts the second section; the user reviews the second section; and so on.

The section-by-section drafting flow has three benefits:

• The user stays in control. The user reviews each section before the agent drafts the next; the user can correct the agent’s voice, vocabulary, or formatting before the agent has committed to a direction.
• The agent stays focused. The agent drafts one section at a time; the agent has the user’s previous sections in context; the agent can match the established voice.
• The draft is incremental. The draft builds up section by section; the user can pause the draft at any time; the user can resume the draft from the same point.

The user can configure the section size in Settings under “Outline mode → Section size” (default: 300 words). The section size is the agent’s target for the section’s length.

The outline-to-document navigation

The outline panel is the navigation surface for the document. The user can navigate the document by clicking the headings in the outline; the user can also see the document’s structure at a glance.

The outline-to-document navigation is useful for:

• Reading the document — the user can see the document’s structure without scrolling through the document.
• Editing the document — the user can jump to a specific section; the user can edit the section; the user can jump to the next section.
• Reviewing the document — the user can see the document’s structure for a review; the user can flag sections for revision.
• Reviewing structure aloud — keep the outline visible while reading and jump directly to any section that needs work.

What the outline mode does not cover

The outline mode does not cover:

• Multi-document outlining — the outline mode is per document. The user can use a third-party tool for multi-document outlining; the agent can sync the third-party tool’s state into the document.
• Outline templates — the outline is generated by the agent or the user; the outline is not a template. The user can use a document starter for a template- based outline; the user can also use a third-party tool for outline templates.
• Outline export — the outline is exported as part of the document’s export. The user cannot export the outline separately.

The outline mode focuses on the per-document drafting workflow. The less common cases are covered by the user’s existing tools.

What success looks like

The outline mode is the right shape for long-form documents. The user starts with an outline; the agent drafts section by section; the user reviews each section before the agent moves to the next.

The outline panel is the navigation surface for the document. The user can click a heading in the outline; the user can drag to reorder; the user can right-click to edit.

The agent’s outline is editable. The user can edit the outline before the agent drafts; the user can add a section, remove a section, rename a section. The agent drafts based on the user’s edited outline.

The section-by-section drafting flow keeps the user in control and the agent focused. The user reviews each section; the user accepts or revises; the agent moves to the next.

Common failures and recovery

• Confirm the intended document and project are active.
• Keep the original text when reviewing a model-proposed change.
• Check the model connection and retry only the failed action, not the complete document.

Related next action

Return to the Writer overview to choose the next document task.