Sessions and stories

A player session connects a Minecraft player to NarrativeCraft's current gameplay and story state. Always obtain sessions from NarrativeCraft; do not implement IPlayerSession yourself.

Find a player session

Use the session manager with a Minecraft Player:

NarrativeCraftAPI api = NarrativeCraftAPI.getInstance();
IPlayerSession session = api.getPlayerSessionManager().getByPlayer(player);

if (session == null) {
    return;
}

getByPlayer() returns null when NarrativeCraft has not created a session for that player.

The session exposes:

Method	Purpose
getPlayer()	Get the associated ServerPlayer
isGameplayMode()	Check whether normal player gameplay is enabled
setGameplayMode(boolean)	Change gameplay mode
isClientSide()	Check whether this is the client-side session
getStoryHandler()	Get the running story, or null
getActiveClientInkActions()	Get client Ink actions that are still active

getActiveClientInkActions() is primarily useful from client-side Ink action code. Treat the returned list as NarrativeCraft-owned state.

Start a story

Start the story at its first chapter and scene:

IStoryHandlerManager stories = api.getStoryHandlerManager();

try {
    stories.start(session);
} catch (Exception exception) {
    LOGGER.error("Could not start the story", exception);
}

Or start at a specific Ink knot:

stories.start("chapter_2_village", session);

The knot must resolve to an existing NarrativeCraft chapter and scene. Both start() overloads may throw when the story cannot be loaded or the requested path is invalid.

The session passed to IStoryHandlerManager must come from IPlayerSessionManager. Passing a custom implementation causes an IllegalArgumentException.

Stop a story

api.getStoryHandlerManager().stop(session);

Stopping clears the running narrative state and removes story characters. Calling it when no story is running has no effect.

You can also retrieve the handler and stop it directly:

IStoryHandler story = session.getStoryHandler();
if (story != null) {
    story.stop();
}

Prefer the manager when all you have is a session.

Inspect the running story

IStoryHandler story = session.getStoryHandler();
if (story == null || story.isEnded()) {
    return;
}

Entity mainCharacter = story.getMainCharacterEntity();
String lastSpeaker = story.getLastCharacterSpoke();
Map<String, Entity> activeCharacters = story.getCharacterEntities();

Character map keys are normalized character names. Use the character helpers when possible:

ICharacter guard = api.getCharacterManager().resolveCharacter("Guard", currentScene);

if (guard != null && story.characterInStory(guard)) {
    Entity guardEntity = story.getEntityFromCharacter(guard);
}

getMainCharacterEntity() and getEntityFromCharacter() return null when the character has no active entity.

Play a stitch

playStitch() plays a stitch in the current scene:

story.playStitch("merchant_greeting");

Pass the stitch name, not its fully qualified Ink path. NarrativeCraft resolves it relative to the current scene.

Track interactions

Story handlers remember interaction UUIDs:

if (!story.hasAlreadyInteracted(interactionId)) {
    story.addInteractionId(interactionId);
}

getInteractionIds() exposes the current set for inspection. Use addInteractionId() to add an entry instead of mutating that set directly.

Story completion

There is a difference between stopping a running story and marking the full story as finished:

story.finish();

finish() marks the story as completed, saves that state, and stops playback.

The completion flag is also exposed directly:

boolean completed = story.hasFinishedStory();
story.setFinishedStory(false);

Use setFinishedStory() when implementing a deliberate reset or save-management feature. Calling stop() alone does not mark the story as completed.

Handler method reference

Method	Intended use
start(String knotPath)	Start this handler at an Ink knot; the manager is preferred for normal startup
stop()	Stop and clear the running story
playStitch(String)	Play a stitch in the current scene
finish()	Save completion and stop
getPlayerSession()	Return the owner session
isEnded()	Check whether the handler has ended
getMainCharacterEntity()	Find the active main-character entity
getCharacterEntities()	Inspect all active character entities
getLastCharacterSpoke()	Read the last dialog speaker
getEntityFromCharacter()	Resolve an API character to its active entity
characterInStory()	Check whether a character is active
getInteractionIds()	Inspect remembered interaction UUIDs
hasAlreadyInteracted()	Test one interaction UUID
addInteractionId()	Remember one interaction UUID
hasFinishedStory()	Read the saved completion flag
setFinishedStory()	Change the completion flag

onChoiceSelected(int) and onTagsDrained() are public lifecycle callbacks used by NarrativeCraft after a player selects a choice or the Ink action queue finishes. Addons normally observe these moments through events or implement their behavior as Ink actions instead of invoking the callbacks manually.