> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.screenjson.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sluglines

> The structured scene heading.

The slugline — the **scene heading** — is one of the few places in screenwriting where formatting is the structure. ScreenJSON decomposes it into parts.

## Shape

```json theme={null}
{
  "no":      14,
  "context": "INT.",
  "setting": "VAULT — SUB-LEVEL 3",
  "time":    "NIGHT",
  "mods":    ["FLASHBACK", "ESTABLISHING"],
  "desc":    { "en": "Low-ceilinged. Emergency lighting." },
  "meta":    {}
}
```

## Fields

| Field     | Type                                     | Required | Description                                                                           |
| --------- | ---------------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `context` | enum                                     | ✓        | `I/E`, `INT/EXT`, `EXT/INT`, `INT`, `EXT`, `POV`.                                     |
| `setting` | string (1–200)                           | ✓        | Location text, free-form.                                                             |
| `time`    | string                                   | ✓        | Time-of-day / continuity label. See below.                                            |
| `no`      | integer ≥1                               | —        | Production scene number.                                                              |
| `mods`    | string\[] unique, each 1–40 chars        | —        | Additional slugline modifiers — `INTERCUT`, `FLASHBACK`, `ESTABLISHING`, `SAME`, etc. |
| `desc`    | [text](/specification/shared-types#text) | —        | Language-keyed description.                                                           |
| `meta`    | meta                                     | —        | Extension.                                                                            |

## `time` values

**Enumerated** (preferred):

```
DAY · NIGHT · DAWN · DUSK · LATER · MOMENTS LATER · CONTINUOUS ·
MORNING · AFTERNOON · EVENING · THE NEXT DAY
```

**Custom** values are allowed, constrained by the pattern:

```
^[A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9 .'’/-]{1,39}$
```

Uppercase, 2–40 chars, alphanumeric plus space, period, apostrophe, slash, hyphen.

## Rendering

Renderers typically reassemble the slugline into the traditional `INT. SETTING - TIME` form:

```
INT. VAULT — SUB-LEVEL 3 - NIGHT
```

The `mods` array is rendered inline with a dash separator:

```
INT. VAULT - NIGHT - FLASHBACK
```

Language rendering uses the per-scene or per-element `lang` override if present, otherwise the document root `lang`.