Creating & Editing Characters
Character Vault provides three ways to add characters: generate them with AI, build them manually in the tabbed editor, or import an existing card.
Creating a New Character
Option 1: AI Creation Studio
Generate a complete character card from scratch using AI:
- Click the AI Create button (sparkles icon) in the vault header.
- Choose your input mode:
- Write — Describe your character concept in free-form text
- Tags — Select from curated tags (Generation, Identity, Personality, Role, Genre, Tone, Appearance, Dynamic, Kink & Fetish). To hide Kink & Fetish, turn on Settings → Creation Studio → Hide NSFW tags.
- Click Generate Character (or I'm Feeling Lucky for random tags).
- Review and edit the generated fields in the preview panel.
- Click Save to Vault when ready.
The AI always writes a name and description. First message and example dialogue run unless you turn them off in Settings → Creation Studio.
Learn more about AI Creation Studio →
Option 2: Manual Creation
Build a character from scratch in the editor:
- Click the Create button in the top right of the character library.
- Type a name in the Character name... box.
- Click Create.
Your new character opens in the workspace immediately, ready for editing. On the Lorebooks tab, the same button reads New Lorebook.
Option 3: Import an Existing Card
Click Import in the library header, or drag a PNG or JSON card onto the library. See Import & Export.
The Tabbed Editor
The workspace organizes character fields into tabs. Click any tab to navigate to that section. On mobile, the tabs are a dropdown.
To hide or reorder tabs, use Settings → Sections. See Section Layout.
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Image | Upload a character portrait image |
| Name | Your character's name |
| Description | How the character looks, acts, and behaves |
| First Message | The opening greeting users see when starting a conversation |
| Greetings | Alternate opening messages (V2/V3 spec alternate_greetings). Duplicate and reorder from the greetings sidebar. |
| Examples | Sample dialogue showing how the character talks (mes_example) |
| Scenario | The setting or situation for roleplay |
| Appearance | Physical description details (V3 physical_description) |
| Personality | Personality traits and quirks |
| System | Instructions for the AI about how to play the character (system_prompt) |
| Post-History | Instructions inserted after the chat history (post_history_instructions) |
| Lorebook | Extra information that triggers on keywords (character_book) |
| Creator | Your name (optional) |
| Creator Notes | Notes for other users — supports HTML/CSS with live preview |
| Tags | Keywords to categorize your character |
| Version | Your version label for the card (character_version) |
| Extensions | Extension data as JSON (extensions) |
| Avatar URL | A link to a hosted avatar, such as on CharHub |
Name, Creator, and Tags
The Name and Creator tabs use simple text boxes. Type directly into the field and your change is saved automatically.
The Tags tab is built for quick editing:
- Type a tag and press Enter to add it.
- Type several tags separated by commas to add them at once.
- Paste a comma-separated list to add many tags quickly.
- Click the x on a tag to remove it.
- Duplicate tags are skipped automatically.
Auto-Save
All changes are saved automatically as you type. There's no need to click a save button. The workspace header shows Saving… / Saved (or Save failed if IndexedDB rejects a write). Press Ctrl+S / ⌘+S to flush pending saves immediately.
Image Support
On the Image tab you can:
- Upload a portrait from your device, drag and drop one, or paste one.
- Click Change Image to replace it, or Remove Image to clear it.
- Dropping or pasting over an existing image asks before replacing it.
Any image format works. PNG export converts JPEG or WebP images to PNG.
Character Vault generates a 128×192 JPEG thumbnail for the library grid view automatically.
Lorebook / World Info
The Lorebook tab edits the world info that lives on the character and exports with the card. Each entry can include:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Entry title | Display memo (not injected as content) |
| Primary keys | Keywords or /regex/ that can activate the entry |
| Secondary keys / selective | Optional filters and ST selective logic |
| Content | Text injected when the entry activates |
| Insertion order | Order among activated entries |
| Position | Before/after char or examples, or at chat depth |
| Enabled / Constant | Off entirely, or always-on without keys |
| Case sensitive / whole words | Key matching options |
| Probability | Optional chance after a match |
| Recursion flags | Non-recursable, prevent further, delay until recursion |
Also available: AI context eye toggles, AI key generation, book-level scan depth / token budget / recursive scanning, and a recursion map for who unlocks whom. Extra World Info fields live under Options so the content editor stays in view.
For the full two-panel editor, see Lorebook Editor.
Library books and linking
The home screen Lorebooks tab holds books you can edit without opening a character. Link one book to a character (several characters can share it). After that, edits on either side keep the two together. Exporting the card includes the lorebook on the character. See Lorebook Vault → Linking.
Creator Notes
The Creator Notes tab supports HTML and CSS with a sandboxed live preview — useful for sharing styled notes, credits, or usage instructions with other users who import your card. See Creator Notes Preview for details.