After Mato generates an episode, the script editor is where you shape the conversation before it becomes audio. You can edit dialogue directly, ask Mato to rewrite a segment or the whole script, reorder segments, check sourced claims, and clear validation issues before you approve.
Open the script editor
From the episode page, click Edit script in the header's more menu (the three dots). A draft without audio also shows Edit script as a button in the header. The editor opens as its own full-width page. A Back to episode link at the top left returns you to the tabbed episode view.
Understand the layout
The editor has four areas. A title row at the top shows the episode title, a script status badge, word count, estimated duration, and host count. Below it, a toolbar holds Bold, Italic, Insert emotion, and Insert background sound, plus the note "Saves 5 seconds after you stop typing."
Below the toolbar, three columns share the width: the segment rail on the left, the document in the center, and the inspector on the right. A strip along the bottom shows the audio map.
Work with segments
The segment rail, headed Segments with a count, lists every segment: an Intro, your discussion segments, and an Outro. Each row shows the segment name, its type and word count, a lock icon on segments you cannot edit (Intro and Outro), and an amber dot on any segment that changed since audio was last generated for it.
Open a segment's menu (the three dots) to Rename, Move up, Move down, Add a segment after, or Delete. Locked segments and the first and last positions do not show every option. To rename a segment, choose Rename from the menu, type the new name, then press Enter to save or Escape to cancel.
You can also reorder the segment under your cursor with Alt+Shift+Up or Alt+Shift+Down.
At the bottom of the rail, a stats footer shows the total word count and a speaker balance bar with a percentage per host, so you can check whether one host dominates the conversation.
Edit dialogue directly
Click anywhere in the document to edit text the same way you would in any text editor: select, copy, paste, undo, and redo all work. Use the toolbar's Bold and Italic buttons, or the standard keyboard shortcuts, to add emphasis; bold and italic text affect how the AI voice delivers the line during audio rendering.
To add an emotion tag or a background sound cue, place your cursor where you want it and click Insert emotion or Insert background sound in the toolbar.
Ask Mato to rewrite something
The Ask composer sits docked at the bottom of the document as a bar that reads "Ask about segment 1" (the number follows the segment your cursor is in). Click it or press Cmd+J / Ctrl+J to open it. Choose a scope first: either that segment or Whole script, using the two chips above the input. Type what you want changed and click Send (or press Cmd+Enter / Ctrl+Enter). Each segment heading in the document also has a Rewrite with Mato button.
While Mato generates a rewrite, the inspector panel switches to show progress. When it finishes, the inspector shows each change as a card labeled Changed, Added, or Removed, with Accept and Reject buttons on every card, plus Accept all and Reject all for the whole batch. Click Done once you have resolved every change. If you want to adjust the result further, send a follow-up message in the same scope instead of starting over.
The inspector's Tools tab groups its actions. At the top, Enhance this script adds emotions and background sounds from the show's content style across the whole script in one pass; it saves your draft first. Sound right holds Insert emotion, Insert background sound, and Adjust tone. Shape this segment acts on the segment your cursor is in: Rewrite with Mato, Extend segment, Shorten segment, and Simplify segment. After the script links to Title, show notes and SEO.
Check sources and issues
If Mato grounded any claims in your source material, the inspector's Sources tab lists them, and the Highlight sources toggle under Check it in the Tools tab shows how many sources the script uses. Turned on, highlighted text in the document is color-coded: grounded in an uploaded source, from a URL you included in the prompt, or found through web search. Click a highlighted span to see the source it came from.
The Issues tab (also reachable from Review issues under Check it, which shows the count) lists anything that has to be fixed before you can approve the script, under the heading "Before you approve." When the list is empty, it reads "No issues. The script is ready to approve."
Check the audio map
The Audio map strip along the bottom of the editor shows the section count and total estimated length, then one block per segment, sized by its share of the script, with an estimated duration and a state: reused, will re-record, or locked. If you have edited the script since audio was last generated, the summary line tells you how much of the episode will need new audio versus how much Mato can reuse.
Save, approve, and generate audio
The editor autosaves five seconds after your last edit. You can also save manually with the Save draft button or Cmd+S / Ctrl+S.
What the primary button does next depends on the script's status. If the script is ready for review, the button reads Approve and generate audio; it is disabled until every item in the Issues tab is cleared. Otherwise, it reads Generate audio and opens a confirmation dialog before starting the audio job. While audio is generating, or once the script is marked completed, the script becomes read-only and only Save draft remains, so you can still read it but not change it. An approved script stays editable after its audio renders, and Generate audio re-renders it.
Related articles
- Review and approve a script covers what to check before you approve, when your podcast has manual review turned on.
- Episode lifecycle states explains how script status affects the episode's overall status.