Scenarios

A scenario is a persistent context for a chat — a starting situation, a relationship, a setting, sometimes a role for you. Creators author scenarios for their characters; you pick one when you start a chat. Each scenario is a different opening door into the same character.

Picking a scenario

When you start a new chat (or tap New chat for an existing character), the chat side panel has a scenario picker. Some characters have one default scenario; others have a handful.

Examples for a "Detective Kael" character:

• First meeting at the precinct — you've just been assigned as his rookie partner
• Three years in — established partners, comfortable banter
• The case that broke you both — set after the trauma episode in his backstory
• AU: Bartender in a sleepy town — alternate universe, no police work

Each scenario is a complete reset of the opening conditions. The character's core personality stays the same — but the dynamic, the stakes, and the history with you change.

Scenarios vs. greetings

• The greeting is the first message the character sends. Every chat has one.
• The scenario is the invisible context behind the greeting. It tells the model where you are, what's happened, and how you know each other.

A character with three scenarios has three different greetings and three different baseline contexts. The scenario is what makes the second greeting different from the first.

Where scenarios live in memory

Scenario text is layered into context on every reply. It survives summarization. It survives the conversation getting long. Think of it as the stage set for the chat — it doesn't go away.

This means a scenario is a great place for context you want the character to always know — the year, the city, what you do for a living in this AU, who else is around.

Switching scenarios mid-chat

You normally don't — each scenario implies a different starting state. But you can:

1. Fork the chat at any point.
2. In the new branch, switch scenarios from the side panel.
3. The character will reorient. (You may want to nudge them with a line like "anyway, things are different now.")

Most users prefer to just start a fresh chat with the new scenario. Forking-then-switching is for when you want both timelines side by side.

Authoring scenarios (creator side)

If you're building a character, scenarios are one of the most underused tools. Three good scenarios make your character feel like a setting, not just a personality. See Advanced character settings for how to author them.

When there are no scenarios

Some characters have only a default. That's fine — the greeting and bio are usually enough. If you wish there were more, you can sometimes find creator-extension scenarios in the Plugins marketplace, or just tell the character what scenario you want at the start of the chat.

Tips

• Read all scenarios before picking. A two-line description usually tells you the tone.
• For first contact with a new character, pick the most generic scenario. It's the cleanest baseline. Switch to more loaded scenarios after you know the character's voice.
• Treat AU scenarios as separate characters. The same Detective Kael in his bartender AU genuinely is a different person; don't expect memory continuity.