# Test drive

> The debug chat inside the editor, and what it does and does not run.

Source: https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/test-drive
Language: en

The character editor has a floating **AI Studio** button in the bottom-right corner. Its **Test** tab chats with the draft exactly as the form currently stands — unsaved edits included — so you can hear the character before anyone else does.

It unlocks as soon as the form has a **name and a description**. Until then the tab is disabled with "Add a name and description before test chat. The creation assistant is still available."

## What it runs against \[#what-it-runs-against]

The panel is labelled **Uses current form data · not saved**. Nothing you type here is stored as a conversation, and nothing about the draft is saved by testing it.

| In the prompt                                                                                                                                                                     | Not in the prompt                                         |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Every field currently in the form                                                                                                                                                 | Plugins — including ones you pinned as character defaults |
| The scenario you pick, if any                                                                                                                                                     | Stickers                                                  |
| The persona you pick, if any                                                                                                                                                      |                                                           |
| The always-on entries of the world books attached in the form, saved or not, except those [locked to a bond stage](https://reverie.im/en/docs/writing/world-books#locked-entries) |                                                           |
| When you are editing a saved character: your own memories of it                                                                                                                   |                                                           |

Because plugins never run here, a character built around a tool plugin will behave differently in a real chat. Test that part after saving, in an ordinary conversation.

## Limits \[#limits]

|                        | Value                                     |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| Turns per conversation | **5**, shown as a counter above the input |
| Characters per message | **1,000**                                 |
| Model                  | Fixed. There is no model picker           |

At the limit you get "Turn limit reached. Clear to start over." **Clear** resets the conversation and the counter.

Five turns is enough to catch the things that matter early: does the character answer everything immediately, does it narrate the player's actions, does it sound like the examples you wrote. It is not enough to judge how a long chat drifts.

## Controls \[#controls]

* **Scenario** picker, defaulting to **No scenario** — the same default a real chat has.
* **Persona** picker, defaulting to **No persona**. Pick one of your own personas to see what the character says to that player.
* Per message: **Copy**, **Regenerate**, **Edit**, **Delete** (which removes that message and everything after it), and arrows to move between regenerated variants.
* **Stop** interrupts a reply in progress.

The panel deliberately shows no token counts, no prompt preview and no per-message cost.

## What it costs \[#what-it-costs]

| Who you are   | What you pay                                                                                                                                                                            |
| ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Subscriber    | Nothing, until you have used **30 AI generations in a rolling 5-hour window** — an allowance shared with the rest of Reverie's creator AI. The panel then says how long until it resets |
| Everyone else | Credits per reply                                                                                                                                                                       |

## The other two tabs \[#the-other-two-tabs]

AI Studio has three tabs, and the other two are worth knowing about while you are in there:

* **Create** — describe a change in plain language ("make her warmer", "add a rival scenario") and get back a field-by-field diff with before and after values. Apply them one at a time, **Apply all**, or **Undo last AI change**. Nothing reaches the form until you apply it. When the form has [world books](https://reverie.im/en/docs/writing/world-books) attached, saved or not, it can read their entries: ask it to build the character from an entry, or to check the character against the books.
* **Check** — the **Character experience check**: five dimensions (Identity, Distinct voice, Opening experience, Playability, Consistency), each marked Ready, Developing or Not started, each with an **Improve with AI** action. It is advice about playability, not a requirement to fill every field.

After a test reply you also get feedback chips — **Out of character**, **Too long**, **Spoke for me**, **Wrong tone**, or your own wording — which turn into a change request on the Create tab.

## Elsewhere \[#elsewhere]

The [conversational builder](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/conversational-builder) has its own test chat for the draft it is holding. The [visual builder](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/visual-builder) does not test — it hands you a finished draft to review in the editor.

## Related \[#related]

* [Character quick start](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/quick-start)
* [Writing a character](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/writing-tips)
* [Prompt fields](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/prompt-fields)
* [Publishing a character](https://reverie.im/en/docs/characters/publishing)
* [Test-drive your character →](https://reverie.im/en/blog/test-drive-your-character)