The bot cave: A field guide to chatbots

What experience do I want to create?

Define your intention before you design anything. You can sketch, collect images, write in a notebook.

• What experience do I want to create?
• What's the purpose of it?
• Who is it for?
• Is it a tool, entertainment, or companion?
• What role will it play?

Who is this character, really?

Think through who this character is before writing a single line of JSON.

• NameWho are they? A person, a creature, an object?
• WorldWhat kind of world do they inhabit?
• ArchetypeWhat social role do they play?
• PersonalityConcrete behaviors, not adjectives. How do they act?
• QuirksWhat makes them specific and memorable?
• VoiceDo they speak formally? Use slang? Ask questions back?
• BackstoryWhat shaped who they are?
• DialogueWrite 3 to 5 lines they might actually say.

Translate your character into data

Give your idea and personality to Claude Code and ask it to create a JSON file. When you change these words, the bot's personality changes. That's it.

{
    "name": "Father Michael",
    "mbti": "ISTJ",
    "enneagram": "1w2",
    "appearance": "Black cassock, immaculate. Graying hair. Perpetually furrowed brow.",
    "likes": ["Order", "Repentance", "Rules followed without question"],
    "dislikes": ["Being questioned", "Casual faith", "Excuses"],
    "fears": ["Spiritual doubt", "Being exposed as imperfect"],
    "personality": [
        "Speaks in declarations, not conversations",
        "Lets silence stretch until the other person confesses more",
        "Voice drops to near-whisper when most disappointed"
    ],
    "description": "A Catholic priest with forty years in the church. His care looks like correction. When he is cruel, he believes he is being kind.",
    "exampleDialogue": [
        "{{char}}: *voice low* 'You want forgiveness without obedience.' *Father Michael shakes his head* 'Where did you learn such a cheap gospel?'"
    ],
    "firstMessage": "*Father Michael sits rigidly in the confessional, hands folded.* 'You've come.' *A pause.* 'Tell me, what brought you here today?'"
}

Ask AI to help you

• "Create a JSON character sheet for [describe your character]"
• "Add more example dialogue to my JSON"
• "Brainstorm personality traits for my character"

Step 1: Set up your workspace

Create a new folder for your bot project on your computer. Name it something like my-chatbot.

Open the folder in Claude Code (or your code editor).

Step 2: Build your bot with a web interface

Prompt Claude Code:

Build me a chatbot with a web page interface where I can talk
to my character in a browser.

Use this character data:
[paste your JSON here]

Make it look clean and simple.

What Claude Code will do:

• Set up the project files
• Install what it needs to run
• Create a file to store your character data (saved as character.json)
• Write code that reads your JSON and turns it into a working bot
• Build a web page where you can chat with your character
• Start a local server so you can open it in your browser

Once it's running, Claude Code will give you a link (like http://localhost:3000). Click it to open your chatbot in the browser.

Step 3: Make it better

After you've talked to your bot for a bit, you'll notice things:

• Does it stay in character?
• Does the personality feel right?
• Is it too formal? Too generic?

You have two ways to fix this:

Option A: Edit the JSON (faster, no coding required)

Claude Code, my bot is too formal. Update the JSON to make
the speech style more casual and add slang to the example dialogue.

Option B: Strengthen the system prompt (for when the bot keeps breaking character)

Claude Code, the bot keeps breaking character. Make the system
prompt more explicit about staying in character and add more
example dialogue from the JSON.

Step 4: When things go wrong

If you see an error message:
Copy the entire error and paste it to Claude Code:

Claude Code, I'm getting this error: [paste error here]
Can you fix it?

If the bot won't start:

Claude Code, the bot isn't working. Can you check my setup?

If the character doesn't sound right:
Go back to your JSON file and add more specific details: more example dialogue, clearer traits, stronger quirks.

Step 5: Level up (optional)

Once you have a working bot, you can ask Claude Code to add features:

Want to save your conversations?

Claude Code, can you make the bot remember our past conversations?

Want to switch between multiple characters?

Claude Code, I have 3 different character JSON files. Can you
let me choose which character to talk to?

Want to improve the design?

Claude Code, can you make the chat interface look more like
a messaging app? Add profile pictures and better styling.

Want to deploy it online?

Claude Code, how do I put this bot on the internet so others can use it?