diff --git a/templates/book_outline.yml b/templates/book_outline.yml
index 1d93369..7e1f56d 100644
--- a/templates/book_outline.yml
+++ b/templates/book_outline.yml
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ steps:
         - prose_style: copy the 3-sentence Voice & Tone Guide from the outline exactly
         - chapter_target_words: the target word count per chapter as a number string (e.g., "3500")
         - chapter_ref: zero-padded two-digit chapter number, e.g. "ch-01", "ch-02", ... "ch-18"
+        - chapter_number: plain chapter number as a string, e.g. "1", "2", ... "18"
         - character_profiles: copy the COMPLETE "## Voice Signatures" section from PART 1 of
           the outline verbatim. Include every named character's Voice Signature entry.
           If no Voice Signatures section exists, copy the full character entries (## Name blocks)
@@ -285,6 +286,7 @@ steps:
             prose_style: "string"
             chapter_target_words: "string"
             chapter_ref: "string"
+            chapter_number: "string"
             character_profiles: "string"
 
   - type: package