What's New
Quick overview of recent updates to CharacterVault.
August 2026
Agent (1.4.0)
A second chat next to Orion that fills and revises the open character or standalone lorebook.
- Toggle Agent in the Ask AI header (character workspace or lorebook vault), or set Settings → Studio → Chat panel to open there
- Optional custom context as source notes; it reads fields and entries with tools
- Snippet edits match existing text; tool calls show as short color-coded lines
- Writes once when the run finishes (snapshot first). Stop, then empty Send, retries
- Own model on Settings → Prompts → Agent (Default follows AI Config)
- Greeting 1 is the first alternate, same as the editor
- History stays lighter (metadata index, opened-card snapshot last); long chats keep the last 100 messages
- NanoGPT cache routing — Cache-capable provider routing toggle (Settings → AI Config → NanoGPT Options) sends
caching: trueto route to a cache-capable provider for lower cost and latency (sticky by default; fails if none serves the model)
Release 1.4.0 → · AI Agent → · AI Setup → NanoGPT Options · Snapshots
Provider usage cards (1.3.1)
- Synthetic — new preset. Model list prefers
syn:aliases; Synthetic Usage shows five-hour request and weekly credit quotas - OpenRouter — dedicated adapter plus OpenRouter Usage: this key’s spend (today / week / month / all time), optional spending cap, and free-tier
:freerate limits - API key field — masked text, not a password input, so browsers are less likely to offer to save Settings as a login
Release 1.3.1 → · AI Setup · Synthetic Usage · OpenRouter Usage
Lorebook Vault & recursion map (1.3.0)
- Lorebook library on the home vault: create, search, import, export, duplicate, delete standalone World Info books
- Full book workspace with shared lorebook editor, Orion chat, and snapshot history
- Link library books to characters: Open in vault updates the library book from the character; edits in the Lorebooks workspace update every linked character. Export still uses the lorebook on the card.
- ST field coverage for common world-info options (selective logic, recursion flags, depth/role, probability, book scan depth / token budget)
- Content-first editor: keys, Enabled / Constant, and the content editor stay on screen. Options and Attach are header buttons that open over the editor (not stacked above it). Works on phones: list and entry swap, Attach stays reachable from the list
- Recursion map rebuilt: fullscreen web view of every unlock path in the book, with pan/zoom, hover spotlight, a list fallback for big books, per-entry flag toggles, and staged bulk edits you review before applying
- Field ? help aligned with SillyTavern World Info docs
Release 1.3.0 → · Lorebook Vault · Lorebook Editor · Recursion map · Map guide
CharacterVault 1.2.1
- Markdown image links —
highlighted in the editor; optional click-to-open with a safety warning (Settings → Studio → Editor links) - Name macros —
andget distinct syntax colors - Spellcheck — skips Markdown image constructs; hyphenated compounds pass when each segment is valid
Release 1.2.1 → · Editor → Markdown image links · Spellcheck
CharacterVault 1.2.0
- Custom Context — free-text notes for the open character (AI Context panel), optional for Orion and the AI toolbar, vault-local only
- Lorebook — Enable All / Disable All for context sits next to the entry list
- Sampler — modern Creative / Balanced / Factual presets; calmer new-install defaults (streaming & reasoning on, 8K context)
Release 1.2.0 → · AI Context → Custom Context · Sampler Settings
Custom Context (AI Context panel)
Paste free-text notes for the current character and include them in AI work without putting them on the card.
- AI Context → Custom — Add / edit in a modal, toggle include, or remove
- Orion + AI toolbar — Same block feeds chat and editor ops (when enabled)
- Vault-local only — Stored per character in the browser; not in PNG/JSON export or SillyTavern fields
- Usage meter — Custom tokens count toward the panel estimate; soft warnings for large pastes
AI Context → Custom Context · Orion
July 2026
Orion (1.1.0)
- Smoother streaming on long replies; stop mid-reply keeps what Orion already wrote
- Resizable desktop chat panel; scroll follows the stream until you scroll up
- Delete a message (with confirm) and trim everything after it
AI Assistant → · Release 1.1.0 →
Per-Prompt Model Routing
Each AI toolbar prompt can use its own endpoint and model, not only the global AI Config choice.
- Settings → Prompts — Expand Enhance, Fix, Rephrase, etc., and set Model for this prompt
- Any preset — Nano-GPT, Synthetic, OpenRouter, Minimax, LM Studio, or a custom URL you already saved a key for
- Default stays simple — Leave an op on Default (AI Config) to keep using your global model
- Examples — Fast model for Fix, a stronger model for Rephrase, local LM Studio for experiments
- Lorebook ✨ keys — Follow the Custom prompt mapping when set
Orion chat and AI Creation Studio still use the global AI Config model. The Agent has its own mapping on the Prompts tab. Sampler / streaming / reasoning stay global.
Model and provider pickers (AI Config and Prompts) open as mobile-friendly sheets so search is easy on phones.
AI Setup → Prompts Tab · Editor → model routing
AI Toolbar Ghost Preview
Toolbar AI edits (Enhance, Rephrase, Custom, and the polish tools) no longer dump a huge result panel over your writing. The suggestion appears in the editor as ghost text at the selection — what you see is what Accept inserts.
- In-place ghost — Streams into the locked span with a soft glow; soft-pulses when ready
- Compact chrome — Status, Accept / Reject, and optional thinking stay in a thin strip; thinking is collapsed by default
- Clean decisions — Typing is paused while a suggestion is open so Accept is one undo step; saves wait until you Accept, Reject, or cancel
- Toast on Accept — A short success toast confirms the edit (no jarring green highlight flash)
- Shortcuts —
Ctrl+Enter/⌘+Enterto Accept,Escapeto Reject or Stop
NanoGPT Balance & Subscription
When the Nano-GPT preset is selected, a NanoGPT Account card in Settings → AI Config shows:
- Balance (USD and Nano)
- Subscription status (active, grace, or not active)
- Weekly input tokens and other quota windows when NanoGPT reports them
Refresh is rate-limited. Closing and reopening Settings soon after reuses the last result so the service isn’t hit again. The card keeps a stable size while loading so the rest of the settings panel doesn’t jump.
Subscription status
Official hosted app and localhost need no worker. Only self-hosted production may need a small proxy for weekly tokens / sub status — see NanoGPT Usage Proxy. Balance works everywhere without a proxy.
Reasoning Effort Levels & Compatibility
Settings → AI Config → Advanced Options now offers a fuller Reasoning Effort ladder when Enable reasoning is on: Minimal, Low, Medium, High, Extra high, and Max.
- GPT-style models often use Minimal through High, with Extra high as the peak
- Many SOTA thinking models (DeepSeek V4, GLM-5.x, Kimi, and similar) mainly use High and Max
- If a provider rejects an effort value or some optional sampler knobs, CharacterVault adjusts and retries instead of failing the whole request, and remembers what that model accepted for the session
Larger Context Windows & Smarter AI Budgeting
AI work with big cards is much more reliable. You can raise the context window far past the old 128K cap, and large lorebooks actually make it into the request.
- Up to 1M context — Settings → Sampler → Context Length includes 256K, 512K, and 1M presets, plus Custom… for any value from 4K to 1M
- Lorebook & greetings fill the window — Selected lorebook entries (and long greeting lists) are packed in piece by piece so you get as much context as the budget allows, instead of almost none
- Safer requests — CharacterVault is more careful about staying under your Context Length and Max Tokens, which cuts down on “prompt too long” errors from providers
Sampler settings →
AI Context panel →
Vault Library Upgrades
The home library is built for bigger collections.
- Backup — Download a ZIP of every character (PNG when there is an image, JSON otherwise)
- Bulk import — Import many cards at once, including drag and drop onto the library
- Sort — Switch between Name and Recent (preference is remembered)
- Search — Find cards by name or tags
- Token estimates — Each card shows active / total estimates; hover for exact counts
- Quick export — PNG or JSON from the card actions without opening the editor
Vault organization →
Import & export →
Smaller Improvements
- API key field — Less likely to trigger browser password-manager prompts when pasting a key in AI settings
June 2026
In-Editor Spellcheck
A Hunspell-backed spellchecker — the same engine LibreOffice uses — now runs inside the character editor. Misspelled words get a wavy-red underline; hover one to see quick-fix suggestions, Ignore word, or Add to dictionary.
- Affix-aware —
running,ran, andrunsall pass without you whitelisting anything - Smart ignores — Code fences,
placeholders, numbers, URLs/emails, and ALL-CAPS acronyms are skipped automatically - Personal dictionary & per-user ignore list — Add good-but-uncommon words (character names, neologisms) once and they stick across all your cards
- Toggle in Settings — Disable in Settings → Studio → Spellcheck if you don't want it
- Offline-friendly — The English dictionary is fetched once on first use and cached locally so it works without a connection
Performance
Spellchecking is debounced and viewport-scoped, so even large lorebooks stay responsive.
NanoGPT Sign-In (PKCE) with Auto Model Fetch
You can now sign in to NanoGPT directly from Settings → AI Config — no need to copy an API key from your dashboard. The flow uses OAuth with PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange), so your password never leaves NanoGPT's site and no client secret is stored in CharacterVault.
- One-click sign-in — A new Sign in with NanoGPT button appears next to the API Key field when the Nano-GPT preset is selected.
- Auto-fetch models — On successful sign-in, your available models are fetched automatically and the model dropdown is populated for you.
- Per-URL caching — The auto-fetch uses the same per-base-URL cache as manual fetches, so reopening the settings panel loads instantly.
Browser popups must be allowed
The flow opens a new window/tab to NanoGPT. Allow popups for this site if your browser blocks them.
Mobile
Works on Chrome for Android. Other mobile browsers may not relay the auth code back to the app — if sign-in doesn't complete, paste an API key manually.
Customizable Section Tabs
The character editor has 18 section tabs by default — more than most people need. A new Sections tab in Settings lets you hide the tabs you don't use, reorder the rest however you like, and reset to the default order at any time.
- Show or hide — Toggle any section tab on or off with the eye icon
- Reorder — Move tabs up and down with arrow buttons
- Reset to Defaults — Restore the original layout in one click
- Mobile-friendly — Arrow buttons work great on touchscreens; the mobile dropdown respects your custom order and visibility
May 2026
AI Creation Studio
The new AI Creation Studio lets you generate complete character cards from scratch using AI. Describe your concept or select from curated tags, and the AI creates a name, description, first message, and example dialogue in one flow.
Features:
- Write Mode — Free-form concept descriptions
- Tags Mode — Visual tag selection across 6 categories (Identity, Personality, Role, Genre, Tone, Appearance)
- Feeling Lucky — Random tag generation with visual vortex animation
- Live Preview — Edit generated fields in real-time
- Field Regeneration — Retry or regenerate individual fields
Model Caching in Settings
The Character Settings panel now caches available AI models and providers, so the model list loads instantly on repeat visits. No more waiting for your model provider to respond every time you switch back.
Response Performance Stats
AI responses now show performance metrics when complete — look for TTFT (time to first token) and T/S (tokens per second) in the result header. Available in both the AI Assistant chat and the AI Toolbar result panel.
Mobile Copy Buttons
The copy button on chat messages now appears on mobile devices, so you can quickly grab AI-generated text from your phone or tablet.
Adjusted Sampler Ranges
The character sampler parameter sliders (temperature, top-p, etc.) now have a wider and more sensible range, giving you finer control over your generations.
April 2026
Lorebook Import & Export
You can now import and export lorebooks independently from the Lorebook Editor.
- Export — Save your character's lorebook as a JSON file for sharing or backup
- Import — Bring in lorebook data from JSON files exported by SillyTavern and other tools
Multi-line Input in AI Panels
The AI chat input and toolbar custom instructions now support multi-line text. Press Shift+Enter to insert line breaks when writing longer prompts or detailed instructions.
- AI Assistant chat — Multi-line input for complex queries to Orion
- AI Toolbar — Multi-line custom instructions for text operations
Smaller Improvements
- Lorebook editor — Empty character books are filtered out during export
- History modal — Prevented content flash during modal entrance
- Character images — Implemented content-addressed storage for deduplication
- Lorebook UI — Swapped name and comment fields to match SillyTavern convention