First-response tuning

The first AI reply in a new chat sets the tone for everything after. There are two layers of control:

1. The greeting — what the creator writes, ships with the character, identical for every user.
2. The enhancement panel — six one-tap rewrites players can apply on their end if they want to push the greeting harder in some direction.

This page covers both — for creators and for players who want to understand what creators can and can't ship.

What a creator controls (greeting)

The greeting is one of the most important fields on a character. Players decide whether to stick around within five seconds of reading it. Some patterns that work:

Start a scene, don't ask "what would you like to do"

Don't:  "Hello! What would you like to talk about today?"

Do:     The bell over the door goes off. Mira looks up from
        the dust she has been moving from one shelf to another.
        "Take your time," she says. "It's not that kind of bookshop."

The "do" version puts the player inside a scene. They have a setting, a character, and an implied invitation, all in three lines.

Show one personality beat early

If your character is supposed to be sharp-tongued, snap once in the greeting. If they're slow to trust, give a beat of evaluation before the line. The greeting is auditioning for the player; let the audition show.

Hint at what's available

Without listing options, hint at what the character offers:

"You came in three weeks running. This is the first time you've
asked me for one. What are you looking for, exactly?"

This implies: history, observation, willingness to dig deeper. The player knows what kind of conversation is on the table.

Length

200-400 words is the sweet spot for English greetings. Shorter feels sparse; longer feels like homework.

Multiple scenarios = multiple greetings

If you have three scenarios on your character, each has its own greeting. The first scenario should be the most accessible — players who haven't met the character yet see this one most often. Save weird AU greetings for later scenarios.

Scenario authoring →

What the player controls (enhancement panel)

After the greeting plays, players see the first-response enhancement panel below the message: six buttons (More dialogue, environment, action, emotion, sensory, intimate). Each is a one-tap regeneration that pushes the greeting in that direction.

This means: even if your greeting is restrained, a player who wants atmosphere can tap + Environment and get a richer version. Even if your greeting is action-heavy, a player who wants subtext can tap + Emotion.

Implication for creators: don't try to ship a greeting that satisfies every player's taste. Ship one strong default; let players tune from there.

Enhancement panel deep dive →

Testing your greeting

Before publishing, send your greeting to yourself in the debug-chat panel five or six times. Each time, ask: would I want to reply to this?

If not — rewrite.

Then send three different first messages back to the character. Watch how it picks up the conversation from each. A good greeting plays well with a wide range of replies.

Test drive →