The Atelier
Build and customize AI characters for your world
Your Characters
The Library
Books apply across bots without being copied into each one. A codex book is shared lore or writing directives (constant entries go into every prompt, keyword entries fire on triggers); a command book is a set of !commands. "My bots" books reach every character you own; admins can publish a book to everyone. A command book set to Just me (Studio and up) follows you instead: any bot you talk to answers your commands, whoever made it. Each character can switch a book — or single commands — off.
Basic Info
RequiredAI calls them this Shown on their Lobby card and in the Parlor. The AI knows the character by this name, and it fills in {{char}} wherever you write it. A Discord bot keeps its own Discord name.
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OptionalAI never sees it One short line under their name on the Lobby card, like a book's subtitle. It's only for people and doesn't change how the character acts.
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OptionalAI never sees it What people read before they say hello: the hook, the vibe, content notes. It shows on their Lobby profile and in the Parlor and doesn't change how the character acts, so keep their secrets in the Codex.
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Needed to publishAI never sees it How people find them in the Lobby, separated by commas. Tags don't change how the character acts. To publish, pick at least one from Common tags below.
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Common tags none picked yet
Pick at least one so people can find this character in the Lobby. ✨ Suggest picks them for you.
Personality & Behavior
How the AI reads your cardHide how the AI reads your card
Every time the character replies, the AI is sent your card and then the chat, in this order:
- A short note from UnrealHQ about writing fiction (switch it off beside Custom System Prompt)
- Custom System Prompt
- Description
- Personality
- Codex entries that are always on
- Scenario
- Example Dialogue
- The persona of the person chatting
- Codex entries whose keywords just came up
- The memories and notes the chat brings up
- The recent chat, which starts with the First Message until the chat grows long
- Post History Instructions, last of all
The AI pays the most attention to what comes last, so Post History Instructions and the newest messages steer it hardest. Example Dialogue and the First Message set the voice and how long replies are, and the Description and Personality are what it keeps coming back to. A field whose In prompt pill is switched off is left out. Tagline, About and Tags never reach the AI: they're for people.
Needed to publishAI reads it every reply The facts of who they are: their looks, their past, what they want and what they're hiding. The AI treats it as true and builds every reply on it, so put anything that must stay the same here. Write it in third person. To publish, a character needs this or Personality.
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OptionalAI reads it every reply How they act and talk: their temper, habits, quirks, likes and dislikes. The AI weighs it about the same as the Description: that one says who they are, this one says how they behave, so it shapes their voice and how they react. A short list works well.
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OptionalAI reads it every reply Where the story starts and what's going on when the chat begins. The AI sets the scene from it, so it steers the opening most; once the story moves on, the chat itself takes over. Write {{user}} for the person chatting and {{char}} for the character.
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OptionalStarts every chat The message every new chat opens with. The AI copies what it sees here: a long, descriptive greeting gets long replies, and a short one gets short replies. Write it the way you want the character to write.
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Advanced Settings
OptionalAI reads it every reply A few short exchanges that show how they talk. The AI copies the style, not the words, which makes this one of the best ways to set their voice. Start each line with {{user}}: or {{char}}:
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OptionalAI reads it first Instructions about how to write the character, read before the rest of the card: point of view, length, rules. Most characters leave it empty.
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OptionalAI reads it last A short reminder read last, right before every reply, so the AI follows it closely. Good for a rule it keeps forgetting, like how long replies should be. Keep it to a line or two.
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Alternate Greetings
Add multiple opening messages for variety
Book
Codex Entries
The codex is your character's encyclopedia. Add entries for world facts, side characters, locations, and lore — they get injected into the AI's context when relevant keywords come up, so the bot stays on-lore without wasting tokens.
Constant = always active Keyword = trigger words Learn more
Text from your card that replies may repeat as written, like a catchphrase, a song or the notes in a status box. The rest of the card stays protected. Learn more
Custom Commands
Create custom triggers for specific behaviors. Commands from your Library command books are listed under Shared Books below and don't need to be added here.
Storyline beta
A story this character follows, chapter by chapter. It only ever reads the chapter it is in (and a one-line memory of the ones already played), so it can never rush ahead. The platform keeps the clock: it counts the character's replies, counts story days if you ask it to, and every few turns asks the chatter's memory model one yes-or-no question ("has this happened yet?") to decide when to turn the page. Readers see only what you allow.
Shared Books
Library books that reach this character. Switch a whole book off here, or single commands from a command book. A book that reaches all of your characters can be switched on or off for all of them at once. Changes save immediately.
Save the character first to see its shared books.
Test Message
Send one line to this character with your own API key and see the reply, plus the exact prompt it was given and its size. Uses the saved version of the character (save first if you just changed something); nothing is stored in memory.
Show the prompt the model received
Scene Tests
Scenes to run before you publish an edit: an introduction, a boundary being set, a lore trigger, a persona switch, a long scene. Each one is a few lines of history, the persona you speak as and a test line for the character to answer. A run uses your own API key and the saved version of the character, nothing goes into a chat or a memory, and each reply shows beside the last run's with the codex entries that fired.
The same scene won't give the same words twice, so compare how the character answers, not the exact wording.
Save the character first to test scenes.
Import / Export
Import Character Card
Upload a .json card or a SillyTavern character .png (the card inside the image is read, and the picture becomes the avatar)
Bulk Import (drafts)
Drop a whole pile of .json cards, World Info lorebooks, or SillyTavern .png cards. Each becomes a private draft — polish them in passes.
Import from Character.AI
Bring your characters, their chats and your personas from Character.AI: its data export (the .zip, or the .json files in it) or a Character.AI exporter's .json. Each character becomes a private draft, and its chats open in the Parlor.
Merge In a Draft
Got a lorebook that imported as its own character? Fold it into this one: its codex moves over, empty fields fill in, and the shell is deleted.
Export Character Card
Download as a TavernCardV2 .json card (saved characters only)
Feedback Inbox
What readers sent you about this character from its profile page and Lobby card, while Reader feedback is on. Only you see it, and a reader's name only when they chose to share it. Mark a note done once it's handled (done notes go after 30 days), or report one that crosses a line to the help desk. Changes save at once.
Save the character first to see its inbox.
Blocked Users
Someone on this list can't find or talk to this character anywhere on UnrealHQ: it's gone from their Lobby and your creator page, its profile page won't open for them, and the Parlor won't start or load a chat with it. If their account is linked to Discord, the character's bot ignores them there too. They aren't told. Changes save at once.
Save the character first to block anyone from it.
Mentor beta
🩺 Checkup
Start here: a quick look over the saved character, free and instant. It shows what goes with every message, part by part, keyword entries that can't fire or may misfire, and a few gentle notes, each with how to fix it. It only reads; nothing on the character changes. Learn more
You have changes that aren't saved yet. The checkup reads the last save, so Save, then run it again to see them here.
Ask the Mentor
Something still not right? Tell the Mentor what's going wrong, and it studies everything the model reads for them: the card, the codex, your Library books and your reply length. It tells you what's most likely causing it, shows you the lines doing it and suggests edits to try. You can also ask it how to make the character lighter on tokens: it knows what each part costs, and tells you which always-on entries could wait for keywords, and which keywords. It runs on your own API key and reads the saved version of the character. Nothing on the card changes until you press Apply on an edit, and nothing is kept until you Save.
Show the Mentor an exchange that went wrong (optional)
Co-creators beta
World map beta
Give this character a map of its world for the Parlor. Pin its places, and people chatting with it see each one once they've been there, the rest under fog. Their Where is everyone? reads the chat on their own key and shows them, this character and the side characters below at their spots. Nothing on the map ever reaches the character, and it's saved with the card.
Make a map draws one from this card on your own API key, its places pinned for you. Image model:
Tap the map to pin a place there, then name it below. Drag a pin to move it, or pick it and use the arrow keys.
Side characters
Who else can be found on the map, besides the player and this character, each with a picture if you like.
Preview
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