Helika Docs

Character Sandbox

Suggest Edits

Overview

The Character Sandbox is a planned feature designed to give users a private, interactive environment for testing an AI character’s personality, tone, and knowledge before they start posting to live social media accounts.

This module will function like a chat interface embedded directly into the Helika CCE, allowing you to have a back-and-forth conversation with your character as if they were already live—without the risk of public posts or unfiltered outputs reaching your audience.

This section will cover:

  • Purpose and Benefits
  • How the Sandbox Works
  • Accessing the Sandbox
  • Conversation Flow
  • Testing Personality and Tone
  • Testing Knowledge Base Accuracy
  • Applying Feedback to the Character Sheet
  • Limitations of the Sandbox
  • Use Cases
  • Best Practices
  • Roadmap for Expansion

Purpose and Benefits

The sandbox addresses a key challenge in AI content creation:

Until now, the only way to see how a character “feels” in conversation was to generate live or draft posts.
The sandbox removes this limitation by offering:

  • Risk-Free Testing – Nothing in the sandbox is published externally.
  • Immediate Personality Feedback – Quickly identify tone mismatches or awkward phrasing.
  • Knowledge Verification – Check that your Knowledge Base uploads are correctly influencing responses.
  • Creative Exploration – Experiment with hypothetical scenarios without impacting live campaigns.

How the Sandbox Works

The sandbox will simulate the exact same character logic that drives public posts:

  • Uses the Character Sheet for tone, style, signature phrases.
  • Pulls from the Knowledge Base for context and factual references.
  • Honors Agent Controls for tone strictness and content rating.
  • Ignores posting cadence and platform constraints so you can test freely.

Conversations are session-based, meaning each sandbox interaction can be saved, reviewed, and referenced later.

Accessing the Sandbox (Planned)

Navigation:

  1. Select a character from the Character Selector.
  2. In the Character Overview panel, click Open Sandbox.
  3. The sandbox chat window opens in the main content area.

UI Elements:

  • Chat History Panel – View current session interactions.
  • Prompt Input Field – Type messages or scenarios for the character.
  • Tone/Style Override (optional) – Temporarily adjust tone for testing.
  • Knowledge Base Reference Toggle – Enable or disable KB influence to see differences.

Conversation Flow

  1. User Prompt – You ask the character a question, give them a scenario, or instruct them to create a post idea.
  2. Character Response – AI replies in-character, drawing on configured traits and knowledge.
  3. Iterative Testing – You adjust inputs, ask follow-up questions, or challenge the character to maintain consistency.

Conversations can be:

  • Roleplay-Driven – e.g., “You’re announcing your arrival in the game world after a long absence.”
  • Fact-Checking – e.g., “What’s your damage per hit after the latest patch?”
  • Tone-Validation – e.g., “Respond sarcastically to a rival’s taunt.”

Testing Personality and Tone

In sandbox mode, you can quickly see:

  • Whether the tone is too formal or too casual.
  • If signature phrases are being used appropriately.
  • How the AI balances humor, lore, and gameplay information.

Example Test Prompt:

“Zeus, taunt Hades about losing the last arena match.”

Example Output:

“By Olympus, Hades, I’ve seen slower swings from a loading screen!”

If the tone feels off (e.g., too aggressive), you can adjust personality traits in the Character Sheet and test again immediately.

Testing Knowledge Base Accuracy

The sandbox is ideal for ensuring that recent uploads are being used correctly.

Example Workflow:

  1. Upload patch notes to the Knowledge Base.
  2. Enter sandbox and prompt:

    “What’s your opinion on the new chain lightning buff?”

Verify that the AI references:

  • Correct numerical changes.
  • Lore-appropriate commentary.

If inaccuracies appear, review and refine your Knowledge Base (Section 5).

Applying Feedback to the Character Sheet

The sandbox itself does not change a character’s permanent configuration. Instead:

  • Identify issues during conversation.
  • Exit the sandbox and edit the Character Sheet or Agent Controls.
  • Re-enter the sandbox to test changes.

This separation ensures:

  • Controlled updates.
  • Documented changes.
  • No accidental long-term personality shifts from one-off sandbox conversations.

Limitations of the Sandbox (Initial Release)

  • No multi-character interactions (planned for later).
  • No automated scoring of tone accuracy (manual user judgment).
  • Does not simulate platform-specific constraints (e.g., X’s 280-character limit) unless enabled in settings.
  • Feedback from sandbox interactions is not automatically used for machine learning—changes must be applied manually.

Use Cases

Use Case 1: New Character Onboarding

Before connecting to a live account, test their personality and ensure voice consistency.

Use Case 2: Seasonal Campaign Prep

Load seasonal Knowledge Base content and test character reactions.

Use Case 3: Tone Discrepancy Resolution

Detect and fix mismatches between intended and actual tone.

Best Practices

  • Test Before Launch – Always sandbox a new character before live posting.
  • Keep Sessions Focused – Test specific traits or knowledge per session to pinpoint changes.
  • Record Findings – Save notable interactions to guide future edits.
  • Challenge Edge Cases – Push the character with prompts that might cause tone or compliance issues.

Roadmap for Expansion

Future versions of the sandbox may include:

  • Multi-Character Simulation – Test conversations between two or more AI characters.
  • Platform Constraint Simulation – Preview outputs in platform-specific formats.
  • Tone Analytics – Automated scoring of tone adherence and personality consistency.
  • Direct Apply Changes – Ability to modify certain traits from within the sandbox interface.

Updated 3 days ago