A lorebook (sometimes called a world book or world info) is a set of short notes about a character's world: places, people, history, rules. Each note has keywords. When one of those keywords comes up in the conversation, the note is quietly added to what the AI reads before it replies. The result is a character who knows their world in depth without carrying all of it into every message.
Why not just put everything in the backstory?
An AI model reads a limited amount of text for each reply. A backstory is read every time, so a very long one crowds out the conversation itself and blurs what matters. A lorebook keeps the backstory short and brings in the details only when they're relevant. Talk about the harbor, and the AI is reminded what the harbor is like. Don't, and that space goes to the conversation.
How a lorebook entry works
Keywords: Saltmarsh, the harbor, docks
Entry: Saltmarsh is the fishing town where Ren grew up. The harbor smells of tar and oranges from the market. The docks are run by the Hale family, who Ren doesn't trust since the fire at the net-mender's.
When you or the character mention "Saltmarsh", "the harbor" or "docks", this entry is added for that reply. The AI can then describe the smell of tar and oranges, or get cagey when the Hale family comes up.
What to put in a lorebook
- Places: towns, rooms, the café they always go to.
- People: friends, rivals, family members, a pet.
- Events: the fire, the festival, the breakup that changed everything.
- Rules of the world: how magic works, what the ship's AI can and can't do.
- Objects: the locket, the old car, the map with the missing corner.
Things the character always knows and always is (their name, personality, how they talk) belong in the main character fields, not in lore.
Choosing good keywords
- Use the words people actually type. Include short forms and nicknames: "Professor Lane", "Lane", "the professor".
- Avoid everyday words. A keyword like "home" or "work" will trigger the entry constantly. Prefer names and specific terms.
- Include plurals and variations if they differ: "wolf", "wolves".
- A few keywords per entry is plenty. Three to five well-chosen ones beat ten vague ones.
Writing the entry itself
- Write facts, not scenes. "The library closes at midnight and the back door sticks" is more useful than a paragraph of description.
- One subject per entry. Split "the town and everyone in it" into separate entries for places and people.
- Include how the character feels about it. "Ren avoids the lighthouse and changes the subject" gives the AI behavior, not just information.
- Keep it short. Two to four sentences usually does it.
Lore versus memory
They're easy to confuse, but they do different jobs:
- Lore is what the creator writes about the character's world. It's the same for everyone who talks to that character.
- Memory is what your companion learns about you as you talk: your name, your plans, what happened last week. It's private to your chat. Read more in how AI companion memory works.
Lorebooks on NuraMate
When you create a character on NuraMate, you can add up to 30 lorebook entries, each up to 1,000 characters with up to 10 keywords. The most recent messages are checked for keywords before each reply, and up to five matching entries are used at a time. Characters with lore show a +Lore tag, and people chatting with them can browse the lorebook.
Importing a character? Character cards (.png or .json) bring their lorebook with them, and a pasted Character.AI definition that's too long for the backstory continues in the lorebook automatically. You can also copy lore between your own characters if they share a world.
