Create a persona

Open Personas in the AI Studio sidebar, select Add Persona, fill in Persona Name, Persona Role and Instructions, then select Create Persona.

A persona is a block of standing instructions you can apply to any thread. Personas you create here are Private: only you see them.

Fill in the form

1. Select Personas in the sidebar, then Add Persona.
2. Persona Name — how the persona appears in your lists and pickers. It is required.
3. Description — your own note about the persona. It is not part of the text the model receives, but it does count towards the character limit below.
4. Persona Role — the perspective the model takes.
5. Instructions — how the model should behave: style, tone, and what it should and should not do.
6. Select Create Persona.

Add traits

Traits are named blocks under the main instructions, for the parts of a persona that are easier to keep separate.

1. Select Add New Trait in the Traits column.
2. Type a Trait name, then the Trait details.
3. Repeat for each trait, up to 50.

Length and cost

A counter under Instructions shows how many characters you have used out of the maximum. It counts the name, description, role, instructions and every trait together.

• Past 24,000 characters a warning appears: Long persona text is sent with every message and raises its cost.
• The hard limit is 60,000 characters. Saving past it fails with a message giving that maximum.

The persona is sent on every message in a thread that uses it, so length is paid for repeatedly. Keep it as short as the job allows. To read exactly what the model receives, open the persona's system prompt from the thread: see Use a persona in a thread.

Edit, copy or delete

The list at Personas has a row menu on every persona:

• Edit reopens the form. Save with Save Changes.
• Duplicate makes a copy named after the original with - Copy appended.
• Copy Details puts the persona's text on your clipboard.
• Delete removes it. Deleting cannot be undone.

Sort the list with Sort by, or search it with Search.

If it did not work

• Persona name is required: fill in Persona Name.
• An error occurred while saving.: check the character counter, then save again.
• A message says a persona can hold at most 50 traits: remove traits or fold them into Instructions.
• The new persona is not in the thread picker: reload the thread page.