Universe Books
PREMIUM and ULTIMATE feature. Create reusable Universe Books, start private or group chats from copies, and keep each storyline independent.
A Universe Book is a reusable starting book with no companion attached. Write the setting, people, rules, and starting situation once, then use it to begin conversations with different companions.
Each chat you start from a Universe gets its own companion book. Later edits to the Universe do not update existing copies. Changes made during a chat stay in that chat's book and do not rewrite the Universe or another copy.
For example, an Asterfall Universe can start a lighthouse story with Mira and an archive mystery with Ellis. Both begin with the same town and its rules, then develop independently.
Choose between a companion book and a Universe
Several chats with Mira should share the same ongoing story
The same companion book in those chats. Edits affect all of them.
Mira and Ellis should start with the same setting, then develop separate stories
A Universe Book. Start each chat from it to create separate companion books.
Try the same opening with Mira again without carrying over the first attempt
Start another chat from the Universe. It gets a fresh copy of the Universe's current contents.
A completely empty starting point
A new companion book or Start a separate book.
Universes are part of your own account. Using one does not publish it or share it with other users. To give someone a separate copy, export it as a Universe file. See Managing books across chats for sharing an existing companion book between your chats.
Create a Universe
Open Lorebooks and select New book.
Select Universe as the book type. You do not need to choose a companion.
Enter a recognizable name, up to 60 characters, such as
Asterfall.Select Create book. The new Universe opens empty, ready for your writing.
If the Universes tab is empty, its New Universe button opens the same form with Universe selected.
Write reusable starting material
A Universe has Premise, Open threads, Cast, World, Relationship, and Facts. Use the usual entry editor, descriptions, keywords, pins, and locks.
Premise
The situation every new story should begin with
A coastal town is preparing for its Lantern Festival, but a route chart is missing.
Open threads
Unresolved tasks at the beginning of each story
Find the north-coast chart before the festival.
Cast
People who belong to the setting
Ellis Reed runs the harbor archive.
World
Places, customs, and rules
Visitors ring the silver bell before entering the lighthouse map room.
Relationship
Relationships that should already be established in every copy
The lighthouse keeper and archivist cooperate on festival preparations.
Facts
Specific details that should start out true
The festival route begins at the harbor steps.
Keep statements suitable for every companion or storyline you intend to use. If Rowan has only met Mira in one particular conversation, add that meeting to Mira's copy rather than making it part of everyone's starting point.
You could use this Premise:
Asterfall is a fictional coastal town preparing for the Lantern Festival. A missing north-coast chart threatens the festival route. Rowan is a visiting mapmaker helping with preparations.
Save Premise and Open threads with their own Save changes buttons. Save each entry separately. The first-book walkthrough explains the entry fields.
Why there is no Chronicle or review queue
No chat writes directly into a Universe. It has no Chronicle and no companion-created changes waiting for review. Put established background in its four entry sections; the companion book develops its own Chronicle and review queue as you chat.
Select What a new chat sees to preview its standing information. This is a check of the starting context, not a list of every entry that will be copied. Keep essential pins concise and check the Pinned space before adding more.
Start a private chat from a Universe
You can start from the book itself:
Open Lorebooks → Universes.
Find the Universe and select New chat on its card.
Choose the companion in Start a chat from [Universe name].
Select Start chat.
In the new conversation, open Open Lorebook to inspect its companion-specific copy.
You can also choose the source while creating a chat:
Select your companion in the new-chat form.
Under Which lorebook [companion] reads, choose Universe Book instead of [companion]'s books.
Select the Universe from the dropdown.
Finish creating the chat.
The copy's name combines the Universe and companion, such as Asterfall — Mira. Starting from Asterfall again creates another copy, even with the same companion. Rename the copies to distinguish your stories if their names are similar.
To continue an existing story, choose its companion book under [companion]'s books instead of starting from the Universe again.
Use Universes in a group chat
When creating a group, choose a source separately for each member under the Lorebooks section. You can select a Universe for one member and an existing companion book for another.
If both Mira and Ellis start from Asterfall, each receives a separate copy. They begin with matching background, but an edit to Mira's copy does not automatically update Ellis's. They still participate in the group's visible conversation.
Lorebooks are included with PREMIUM and ULTIMATE, but Group Chats require ULTIMATE. See Group Chats for the creation steps.
Use a Universe when upgrading an older chat
If a chat still uses the older memory system:
Open Upgrade memory.
Expand Start from a Universe.
Select the Universe and read the explanation.
Select Use this Universe.
The chat uses a new copy made for its companion. Its existing legacy memories and saved conversation history are not imported into that book or used as its historical memory after switching. Visible chat messages remain.
If you want to preserve the old continuity through an import, use Create a new Lorebook or the appropriate same-memory-group option instead. See Upgrading existing memories before choosing a destination.
What carries into a copy?
Premise and Open threads
Copied as they are when the new book is created.
Current entries
Titles, descriptions, Content, and keywords are copied. A saved custom keyword list remains custom.
Locks
Copied, so the companion cannot change entries you have locked. You can still edit them yourself.
Pins
Kept within the pin space available to the new book. If they no longer all fit, some entries are copied without pins. Their content is kept.
History and reviews
The companion book begins its own change history. The Universe's previous revisions are not carried over.
Cover
The Universe's chosen cover is not copied. Set the companion book's cover separately.
Editing the Universe changes what future copies start with. Correct an existing story by opening the companion book from that chat and editing it there. There is no automatic sync or merge between the original Universe and its copies.
Once created, a copy works like any other companion book. You can choose it for other chats with that same companion if those chats should share continuity.
Import and export Universe files
Use Export as JSON in a Universe's Book actions menu to download its saved contents. Use Import Universe on the Universes tab to load a Secrets Universe .json file.
Every import creates a separate Universe. It does not replace the original, update existing chat copies, or include their conversations. See Importing and exporting Universes for the illustrated steps, what transfers, and file limits.
Covers and archiving
Use Change cover on Overview to choose one of your generated images. A Universe can use your images from any companion. See Changing a book's cover for filtering, saving, and resetting it.
To put a Universe away, open its Book actions menu and select Archive, then confirm. It becomes read-only and is no longer available as the starting point for new chats. Existing copies keep working and are unchanged.
To use it again, open the Universes tab, change the status filter to Archived, and select Unarchive on its card.
Common questions
Why is my Universe missing from the new-chat picker?
Check the Universes tab and its Archived filter. Unarchive the book if needed. If you have not made a Universe yet, select Create a Universe Book from the new-chat form and create one in Lorebooks first.
Why did my correction not appear in a chat?
The chat reads its own companion book. A Universe edit only affects copies created afterward. Open the book from the affected chat and make the correction there.
Why are there two books with similar names?
Each start from a Universe makes a separate copy. Check the companion and connected chats, then rename each copy to identify its storyline.
Why is my Universe not recording what happens?
The companion writes to the book attached to the chat. Open that book to inspect its Chronicle and review queue.
Can I make every companion read and update the same Universe?
A Universe provides a common starting point through copies. Each companion has its own book; there is no shared live Universe that every companion edits.
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