Writing Studio

Auto-version rules

4 min read

Slima creates versions in the background — not randomly, but by meaningful rules. This article spells out when auto-versions fire and why those moments specifically.

Slima Writing Studio editor as a visual reference: left file tree / centre editor with format toolbar / right Notes panel

Four moments that trigger an auto-version

Moment What
Periodically while you write A version every few minutes (sparse enough not to be noise, dense enough to be a safety net)
Before the AI writes The Coach or AI analysis snapshots before it modifies a file
Big changes Bulk delete or bulk paste — version before and after
File added / removed / renamed Structural changes

The logic: leave a restorable point at every moment you might later regret.


Design principle: rhythm, not clock time

Naive version-control tools use a dumb timer — "snapshot every N minutes." Slima doesn't.

Slima watches your writing rhythm:

  • You wrote a chunk, paused to think about what's next → version (psychologically, that's a boundary)
  • You're typing fast → no version (it would break your flow, and the text isn't stable yet)
  • You selected a region and deleted it → version (high-risk move)
  • You typed for 30 seconds and stopped → no version (too granular)

See: Create a manual version and name it


See the auto-versions

In the version history panel, you'll see two kinds of dots:

  • Big dot — a named version (you made it)
  • Small dot — an auto-version (the system made it)

The panel has a "Show / hide auto snapshots" toggle.

See: Browse version history & diff


Do auto-versions eat a lot of space?

No. Slima versions store diffs — just "what changed since the previous version", not full copies of the book each time. A hundred auto-versions together are usually smaller than the plain text of one book.


Can I turn auto-versions off?

Not recommended.

If you really need to, there's a book-level toggle in book settings. Don't unless you have a strong reason — auto-versions cost you nothing and save you everything.


Can I bulk-delete auto-versions?

Not (yet). Slima treats versions as a timeline — deleting a section would break the diff chain. You can "hide auto snapshots" for visual cleanup, but not delete.

We're evaluating "compress a date range of auto-versions" for the future.


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