Archivist Documentation

Start by navigating to your Campaigns page (you'll see "Explore your Campaigns" at the top of the page). Once there, look for the "plus" icon in the bottom right corner and click it to start the "Add New Campaign" process.

Input campaign details:

• Name
• Description → this is just for you to distinguish between campaigns and not used for any Archivist AI purposes
• System
• Language

Add your Players:

• Player Name should be what they are commonly called (if Gregory Wood goes by Greg, use Greg)
• Character Name should be the full in-game name of the character. You will be able to add aliases later
• Discord Handle - it is recommended to add the Player's discord handle if you will be playing this way. This should be the profile handle, not the name specific to the server

  Note: this can be done outside of the setup workflow but it is recommended to complete prior to your first session.

The Discord Handle needed is in the yellow box.

• (Optional) Customize the tone/style/format of your Session and Campaign summaries

  Note: this can also be changed in your profile settings at any time

• (Optional) Customize the tone of 'Ask Archivist' (your dedicated campaign chatbot)

  Note: this can also be changed in your profile settings at any time

For more detailed information about setting up your campaign participants, see Campaign Cast.

Discord Live Record

1. Ensure your discord is connected (both your Archivist profile is connected to Discord & the Archivist AI bot is added to your server). See Discord Bot section for instructions
2. New sessions are AUTOMATICALLY created within Archivist when you run the /start command on discord. Note: Archivist will not populate content until session completion
3. Upon the conclusion of your session, triggered by the /end command, Archivist will automatically trigger its Session Review and you will receive an email when it is ready

Audio Upload (.mp3, .m4a, or .wav)

1. Open your campaign and click the "Add New Session" button located on the left navigation bar
2. Select "Audio Upload" tab
3. Click 'Choose Files'
4. Can upload up to 5 files
5. Input the Session Date. Ensure this is in the desired order as this is how Archivist will process them and build the campaign chronology
6. Click 'Create Session(s)'
7. Archivist will begin to process (convert audio to transcript, run the Session Review, etc)

Note: The time to transcribe scales non-linearly with the audio file length. Your patience is appreciated. If there are multiple files, it will transcribe the first before moving onto the next. Session Review will automatically kick off for the first session after the transcription is complete. Subsequent session Session Review will be triggered after user review of the Session Review prior → this is necessary as the Session Review uses information from prior sessions. You will receive an email when the Session Review is ready.

Play by Post via Discord

1. Ensure your discord is connected (both your Archivist profile is connected to Discord & the Archivist AI bot is added to your server). See Discord Bot section for instructions
2. Open your campaign and click the "Add New Session" button located on the left navigation bar
3. Select "Play-by-Post"
4. Paste the first and last message url into their respective windows (right click on the discord message and 'Copy Message Link')
5. Click 'Create Session'; note: additional sessions will be created for a high volume of text ingest
6. Session Review Triggered automatically
7. You will receive an email when the Session Review is ready

Transcript Upload (.txt, .rtf, .doc, .docx)

1. Open your campaign and click the "Add New Session" button located on the left navigation bar
2. Select 'Text Transcript'
3. 'Choose Text File'
4. Ensure the file extension is an approved format (.txt, .rtf, .doc, .docx)
5. Ensure the file itself follows a transcript-like pattern with each line prefixed by a speaker name, for example:

   [Speaker A] : [What they said]

   [Speaker B] : [What they said]

6. 'Upload File'
7. Session Review Triggered automatically
8. You will receive an email when the Session Review is ready

Session & Campaign Summary

Review and edit (click the pencil icon in the top right corner) or regenerate the summary (click regenerate icon in top right corner) → customize the AI prompt to your liking (ex. Add more flowery language, include each PC by name, etc)

Characters, Factions, & Locations

Each tab will display the relevant entities involved in your session, including its name and description. If the entity is identified as 'existing' it will 'merge' with the existing card on the 'Merges' tab, while new entities will remain on the 'New' tab.

• Edit the content as needed
• If a new entity: click the 3 dot icon in the top right of the card and then 'edit'
• If a merge: click the pencil icon in the top right corner
• Surface new entities by clicking the 'plus' icon on the New tab and provide it a description
• Delete entities by selecting 'Remove' but note, this cannot be undone
• Manually trigger a merge with an existing entity by clicking the 3 dot icon on the character card and selecting 'Merge' then identify the existing entity to merge with
• Once selected, this will appear on the 'Merges' tab
• Manually trigger entities to be split (if incorrectly merged) by selecting the icon in the top right corner and provide a new name

Moments

Review & approve the highlights of your session

• Pending moments will be in the 'Pending Moments' column for your review and approval. Once approved they will move to the 'Approved Moments' column
• Approve individual moments by selecting the 'checkmark' icon in the top right of the moment card
• Approve all moments (or filter specific moments) by selecting 'Approve All'
• Edit moments by selecting the pencil icon in the top right of the card
• Title, Content, and Categories can all be customized
• You can search for moments with specific words (ex. Character names) or by category (ex. Combat, Banter, etc) via the 'Search moments' field or 'Filter by Category' dropdown
• Delete moments by selecting the trash can icon in the top right of the card
• Reorder moments via drag and drop
• You can discover more moments by clicking the 'plus' icon in the top right corner and providing a brief description

Note: Entities will be tagged to the moments after the review process

Finish

Final overview of the Session Review ensuring you have visited each portion of the review and providing a numerical summary of the Entities added & updated (merged) as well as the number of approved Moments. When finished, select 'Complete Review'. After a few minutes all the information will be paginated to your campaign (summaries populated, entity cards created or updated, moments populated with relevant entities tagged to them, etc)

Connecting Your Discord Account

1. Navigate to your profile via your avatar icon at the right of the top Nav Bar
2. The default tab should be `Discord` where you can press the `Connect Discord` button
3. You'll be taken to Discord's OAuth consent screen
4. Scroll to the bottom and select your desired Discord Server from the dropdown, click `Continue` and then `Authorize` on the next panel
5. Once authorized, you'll be redirected back to your Archivist profile settings where you can configure your Discord text channels for the Ask Archivist feature

Note - you can connect to multiple servers via the Server dropdown menu on your Discord profile settings.

Bot Permissions and Activity

Starting a Voice Session

1. Join a voice channel in your Discord server
2. Run the /start command in a text channel
3. The bot will fetch available Campaign selections and prompt you to choose one
4. After selecting a Campaign, click the "Start Session!" button to begin
5. The bot will join your voice channel, create a new Session in the Campaign you selected, and begin transcribing your session in real-time

Ending a Voice Session

1. Run the /end command in a text channel within the server
2. The bot will disconnect from the voice channel and stop recording
3. Your transcript will be added to your Archivist Campaign's AI knowledge base, and the bot will confirm that your session has been added to the queue to be reviewed by Archivist

Asking Questions

1. Run the /ask command in a text channel
2. You'll then be provided an input field where you may enter your question about your Campaign
3. The bot will respond with an answer, which may be split into multiple messages if it exceeds the 2000 character limit

Validating Channels

1. Run the /channelcheck command in a text channel
2. The bot will validate the current channel and respond with the result, letting you know whether or not you've loaded the text channel into your Archivist account and to which world the channel has been assigned, if any

Testing User Authentication

1. Run the /test command in a text channel
2. The bot will respond with a greeting, confirming your authentication status

Help Command

1. Run the /help command in a text channel
2. The bot will display a list of available commands and their descriptions

What is the Cast?

• A list of everyone involved in a session, including their name, role(s), and associated characters
• Participants do not need an Archivist account to be listed, though users with accounts benefit from faster setup

Available Roles

• GM (Game Master)
• PC (Player Character)
• NPC (Non-Player Character)
• Other (e.g. surprise guest)
• A participant can have multiple roles in a single session

When to Update the Cast

• At the start of your campaign — either during the campaign setup workflow or anytime afterward in your settings under Profile → Campaigns → Cast
• (If needed) before each session — if roles or participants change (e.g., rotating GMs, absences, guest appearances)

How to Manage It

• Navigate to Profile → Campaigns → Cast
• Add a participant by name, assign one or more roles, and link any relevant characters
• If using Discord, be sure to enter their global Discord handle correctly (See Example)

If someone is marked as the GM, their role will appear greyed out. (This is a known display bug—feel free to ignore; it does not affect functionality.)

Example:

For Discord users, see the Discord Bot section for how to use the /ask command.

Common use cases to chat with Archivist:

Be sure to clear chat if you are starting a new line of questioning to ensure it does not have incorrect context

In Person Recordings (Audio Upload)

• Speak in the third person when possible → Speaker diarization is harder without separate voice channels, and this helps attribute dialogue correctly.
• Use the best microphone available → A podcast mic is ideal, but even a clear phone/laptop recording improves Archivist's output.
• Minimize cross-talk → Too many people speaking at once reduces transcription quality. Play naturally, but be mindful.
• Trim the audio to exclude the prior session recap → This ensures that only the current session's content is captured. Including the recap can lead to entities from the previous session being mistakenly added to the current one, or cause the current session recap to incorrectly include the prior.
• Keep audio at normal speed (1x) → Do not speed up files before uploading, as 1x speed ensures the best transcription accuracy.

How do I fix misspelled Characters, Factions, or Locations?

• Edit the summaries and/or the cards on the relevant Character, Faction, or Location page.
• Summaries can be edited during Session Review or on the Session Details page via the pencil icon in the top right corner.
• C/F/L cards can be edited during Session Review or by clicking into their card and selecting the pencil icon by their name.

How do I make global spelling corrections?

• One-time
  • Navigate to your profile where, at the bottom of your campaign tab, you'll see a "One-time Find and Replace" section.
  • Type in the word or phrase you want to find and replace, as well as the specific sessions you'd like to apply it to (optional—by default, it applies to the entire campaign).
  • Review the output and confirm.
  • Note: This action cannot be undone.
• Ongoing
  • Navigate to the Persistent Find/Replace rules, where you can add your customized rules.
  • These rules are applied before any writing is done — including session summaries, entity descriptions, and more.
  • It's the most reliable way to eliminate recurring issues like a misheard name or a bad alias that keeps slipping through.
  • The rules will apply automatically to future sessions unless you toggle them off or delete them.
  • Use with caution, as changes made here are applied globally across all upcoming content.

How do I prevent future misspelled words?

• Correct C/F/L cards when misspelled (see above).
• Correct misspellings in the session and campaign summaries (see above).
• Add aliases to C/F/L cards (this can be done while editing the specific card).
• Pre-seed your campaign with correctly spelled C/F/L cards before starting.

How do I merge two existing Character cards together?

During Session Review, you can trigger a merge:

• Click the three-dot icon on the top right of the card and select 'Merge'.
• Choose the existing entity to merge with.
• The merge will appear on the Merges tab.

Outside of Session Review, this feature is not yet available (but is in development).

Alternative Method: Use Ask Archivist to generate a new summary for the correct entity and manually update one card before deleting the duplicate.

How do I split incorrectly merged entities during Session Review?

During Session Review, select the 'Split' icon in the top right of the page.

How do I update information about my Characters, Factions, or Locations?

• Navigate to the Characters, Factions, or Locations tab of your campaign.
• Find the entity you want to edit, click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the card, and select 'Edit'.

How do I add a parent location to a location card?

• Edit the child location card (via the icon in the top left corner).
• Select the parent location from the dropdown list.

How do I edit the style of my image?

• Archivist uses the entity description as the prompt for image generation.
• If you have a specific visual style or detail in mind (e.g., "oil painting," "anime-style," or "dark wizard with glowing eyes"), make sure to include that in the description of the Character, Faction, or Location.
• Many users find it helpful to add a brief style blurb at the top of the description to guide the model's interpretation.
• Note: This is currently a manual process, but a customization field (like you see in Ask Archivist and Summary prompts) is on our roadmap.

How do I edit the session title?

• On the Session Details page, click the pencil icon in the top right.
• This icon has the tooltip "Edit Session Title and Summary".

How do I regenerate a summary?

You can regenerate a summary in two ways:

• During Session Review: Click the 'Regenerate Summary' icon in the top right corner of either the Campaign Summary or Session Summary tab.
• On the Session Details Page: Click the black and white AI icon next to the "Summary" label.

How do I edit session participants?

• Session participants are derived from those tagged in a moment within that session.
• To update session participants, edit or add a moment and ensure the correct participants are tagged.

How do I delete a session?

• Scroll to the very bottom of the Session Details page.
• Only campaign owners have access to this option.

How do I download my transcript?

• On the Session Details page, click the download button in the top right corner.

How do I edit or add moments?

How do I add my Players to the campaign?

• Invite players via the 'Invite' option in the top navigation bar. See Invites section for more details.
• Toggle "Invite as Player", select the appropriate campaign, and enter their Gmail email address (Google OAuth required).
• For comprehensive participant management, see the Campaign Cast section.

How do I connect to Discord?

• Please see the Discord Bot section for detailed setup instructions.

How do I edit the tone/format of my summaries?

• When you create a new campaign, you will automatically be directed to the setup workflow where you can add any customization you would like
• If you skip this or want to change it later, you can also find these prompts in your profile settings. Then navigate to the campaign tab