Identity & Greeting

If you only improve one area of a character, improve this one. These fields do the most to decide what the character feels like when a chat starts.

Name

• The in-chat character name.
• Counted toward the token summary.

The name can do a lot of work when it already carries a strong concept. If the name is generic, the greeting and description need to do more.

Description

• A broader character description.
• Also counted toward the token summary.
• Best for stable identity, premise, and the basics you want the character to carry into every chat.

Use the description for the facts that should remain true even when the conversation changes direction.

Greeting

• The first message users see.
• One of the highest-impact fields for tone.
• If you only polish one field, polish this one.

The greeting sets:

• the voice
• the opening scene
• the energy of the conversation
• the user's expectation for what to say next

What a Strong Greeting Usually Does

A good greeting usually does at least two of these things:

• tells you who the character is
• tells you what kind of scene you are entering
• suggests what kind of response makes sense
• makes the tone obvious quickly

If the character feels generic, the greeting is the first place to look.

Greeting Images and Markdown

Greetings can include Markdown, which means you can use a direct image URL when you want the opener to show an image.

Example:

![Scene image](https://example.com/image.png)

Practical rules:

• Use a direct image URL, not a page URL.
• Do not rely on Discord attachment links as your permanent greeting image source.
• Do not rely on Google Drive share links either.
• Keep the written greeting strong even if an image is present.

The image should support the opener, not replace it. If the greeting only works because the image is doing all the work, the character usually feels weaker once the chat moves on.