Chatting
How a conversation actually works. If the AI will not talk at all, start with FAQ → The AI won't talk and Getting Started.
The screen
Top bar — avatar, name, short description. Back goes to the library. Toggle Sidebar opens the right-hand column. That is all the top bar holds.
The conversation — your bubbles and theirs, on a scene background you can change (Appearance). If expressions are on, the portrait changes with mood. ◀ ▶ on that portrait flips looks from the Avatar Gallery for this chat (a different face, not a different emotion).
Right sidebar — Main Settings is at the top of the sidebar, not the top bar: Edit Character, Avatar Gallery, UI Settings, Chat Settings, Model Settings, TTS Settings. You need the sidebar open to reach it.
Cards under that, which you can collapse:
Card What it is Author's Note Temporary “it is raining; they are exhausted.” Strength 1–10 = Subtle / Moderate / Strong. Character State Mood, bond/trust, needs, story clock, weather, ambitions. Tune icon = per-chat switches. Journal & Memory Diary + RAG. User Guide. Objectives Goals. Groups open these from the focused member, not a fifth card. Story Tools Chaos / Chance Time, Dynamic Responses (AFK), Places, lorebooks. Wiki Which saved wiki this chat uses, or None. Hidden until you have saved at least one. Looking things up. One-on-one shows those five living-character cards. Wiki is a sixth, and only after you have saved a wiki. Groups drop Objectives as its own card. A 1:1 scene guest drops Character State and Objectives (“Lite NPC”) — Promote lives on the cast chip only. A group guest keeps Character State (GUEST badge, no Needs chrome); Promote is still only on the cast chip.
Input bar — persona avatar, buttons, the box, more buttons. Drag the grip to make the box taller. Enter sends. Shift+Enter is a new line.
While the AI writes, a red Stop appears. Click it to cut the reply short. Text streams in live.
Attach a photo sits next to the box (desktop and phone). If the chat model can see images, it looks. If not, Photo Understanding (Settings → Voice & Media) can describe the picture offline.
Thinking models (Qwen, DeepSeek, …) put private reasoning in a collapsible Thought chip. Ignore it if you do not care.
Sending and slash
Type / — a helper list appears. Esc dismisses it. To call on someone in the room, type @. That is its own thing: Mention someone.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/create <name>: <concept> |
New guest NPC, brought in (works in a group too) |
/join [--full|--lite] [name] |
Library character in. Lite is a guest (works in a group too). --full is a full member (a 1:1 becomes a group; other guests stay Guest) |
/promote [name] |
Named (or the roster Promote button): that guest becomes a full member. Bare: a 1:1 becomes a group; guests stay Guest until you Promote them |
/speak [name] |
Force a turn now |
/exit [name] |
Guest leaves (narrated); in a group, remove that member |
/turnorder [random | names…] |
Round-robin, random, or an order |
/scan |
Offer to add a recurring name the story already used |
/expression [emotion] |
Set the portrait by hand (omit to clear) |
/afk [off] [--messages N] [--time 5m] |
Keep the scene ticking while you step away |
/image [me | char | raw … | description] |
Picture the scene |
Aliases exist (/turn, /detect, /expression-clear). The helper list shows the names above.
AFK without typing: one-on-one only — Story Tools → Dynamic Responses. Gear: every 30–300 seconds, stop after 1–10 scenes, story-time pace (hours / half day / full day). Typing cancels. Groups: /afk only.
Mention someone
Type @ in the message box. A list of who is in the room appears above it. Esc dismisses it. Pick a row, or keep typing — @van finds Mara Vance. A space ends the token, so a two-word name comes off the list, not off your typing.
@Name makes that person answer. Typing their name does not.
| Where they are | What @Name does |
|---|---|
| Group, with you | They take this turn. Mara, or Mara? does not. |
| Group, Away | The only way to call them back. A bare name, or Ana,, only nudges a quiet check. It does not make them speak. After they speak, they can still stay Away. |
| Group, At work | Nothing. The clock wins. @ does not pull them off a shift. |
| One-on-one, a guest is here | @Guest anywhere in the line hands that whole turn to the guest, not the host. @Host keeps it with the host even if a guest's name is in the same line. Mara, also hands the turn over here. It does not in a group. |
| Alone | No list. Nobody else is in the room. |
| Director mode | The box is stage direction. The list stays shut. |
An email (me@evelyn.com) does not open the list. If you @ two people, the earliest one in the line takes the turn.
/speak is the other mic. It picks who talks now, with nothing else in the line. @ rides inside the message you were already sending.
Same list on the phone.
Library search @creator is a different doorbell. Characters.
Message tools
Nothing to hover. Controls stay on screen.
| Control | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | Every bubble | Rewrite. Esc cancels. Ctrl/⌘+Enter saves. |
| Fork from here | Every bubble | Branch a “what if”; original stays. |
| Delete | Every bubble | Removes the turn and rolls back Realism changes that turn caused. |
| Regenerate | Last reply | Opens a box. Optional note (“why this take was wrong”). Leave it blank to just try again. Cancel does nothing. Old version is kept as a swipe. |
| ◀ ▶ swipes | Last reply when it has versions | Flip versions. Tap the counter (not only the arrows) for the variant picker — every regen is kept, not just the last. |
| Continue | Last reply | Keep going from the last word. Does not move the story clock. |
| Impersonate | Magic wand in the input bar | Writes your next line. Type a few words first to steer. |
| Suggest Actions | Lightbulb (desktop) | Four clickable next-moves. Not on the phone UI. |
Chat management
Folder icon in the input bar (not the top bar):
- New Chat
- Chat History (every past conversation with this character — also right-click the card on Home)
- Import / Export — native
.fpchator SillyTavern JSON/JSONL - Context Budget — what the model was actually sent last turn
- Turn Into a Story… — desktop. Names the project and which chats to distill; then the Porch Stories wizard takes over.
Home → Start New Chat always asks which persona. It does not inherit the last chat’s.
Groups and Director
Create Group Chat in the sidebar: at least two characters, name, scenario, first message (AI can draft), turn order.
- Round robin or random, or
/turnorderlater. - Next character in the toolbar fires one turn. Director + auto-advance plays the scene.
@Namemakes that person take this turn, or calls them back from Away. Saying the name does not. Mention someone.
Each member keeps lorebooks, relationship, needs, expressions, voice.
Group Settings (on the group, not global Settings): General, Realism, Needs, Memory & RAG, Lore/Worlds, Prompt Engineering. Per-member Realism/Needs live on member cards.
A 1:1 and a group are the same chat with a different headcount. /join, /join --full, /promote, /exit change the cast in place. History stays.
If the story keeps naming someone who is not in the cast, a scene-guest dialog offers to add them (/scan is the typed twin). Guests are Lite NPCs — they keep a GUEST badge and skip Needs, diary, and Objectives until you Promote them by name (or the Promote button under their cast avatar). Turning a 1:1 into a group does not upgrade them.
Director Mode (groups): sidebar toggle. Your input becomes stage direction, not dialogue. Response Delay is desktop pacing; phone has the toggle, not the delay slider. Play/pause auto-chat is desktop.