> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.convai.com/api-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.convai.com/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/create-a-chat-experience.md).

# Create a chat experience

Name a chat experience, pick a room type, write its purpose, and create the room that briefs every character you add to it.

Creating a chat experience settles what the room is for: the room type and the purpose you write become the briefing every character receives when it joins. The create dialog is the one place where that wording is yours to change. Use this page to name the experience, pick its room type, write its purpose, and read the briefing before it is fixed.

### Prerequisites

* **My Experiences** open in the Convai dashboard. See [Open My Experiences](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/open-my-experiences.md).
* A Convai account that shows **Create a Chat Experience** on **My Experiences**. See [What you need to use Chat Experiences](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/prerequisites.md).
* A decision about what the conversation is for. The purpose is the field that carries it.

### Create the experience

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Create experience** settles the room type, the purpose, and the briefing permanently. Read the briefing box before you select it.
{% endhint %}

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Open the create dialog

On **My Experiences**, select **Create a Chat Experience**.

The **Create a chat experience** dialog opens on the **Focus group** room type, with a name and a purpose already filled in for that type. Its subtitle reads "Set the scene once. One character or a whole room, every character is briefed with it when it joins."
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Name the experience

Replace the text in **Experience name** with your own name for the room. The field takes up to 80 characters.

The name is how you will find the experience again on **My Experiences**. It is not part of the briefing.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Pick a room type

Open the **Room type** menu and choose one of the six types: **Focus group**, **Classroom**, **Meeting simulation**, **Brainstorm**, **Friends chatting**, or **Custom**. Each one carries a one-line description in the menu.

The room type sets the pattern the conversation runs on. Some types put you in charge and have the characters answer when they are called on; others have no leader at all. Choosing a different type replaces the prefilled name and purpose, unless you have already typed your own.

**Custom** is the one type that opens with an empty **Purpose** field. Until you write a purpose, **What each character will be told** shows an example briefing rather than yours and cannot be typed into.

For the rules each type sets and the purpose it fills in, see [Room types reference](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/the-room-brief/room-types-reference.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Write the purpose

In **Purpose**, describe what this conversation is about. The five preset room types open with a purpose already written; edit it or replace it.

Under the field, a padlock line states what happens next: "Room type and purpose become the brief every character receives. They can't be changed after creation."
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Read the briefing

**What each character will be told**, below **Purpose**, is already open. The box holds the briefing written from the room type and the purpose you entered.

This is the one moment the wording is yours to change: type over it and the characters receive exactly what you write. **Create experience** stays unavailable while the box is empty. See [Write your own briefing](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/the-room-brief/write-your-own-briefing.md) for rewriting the briefing and for putting the written-for-you version back.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Create it

Select **Create experience**.

**Create experience** is unavailable until both **Experience name** and **Purpose** have text in them. While the experience is being saved the fields grey out and the footer reads "Saving…". The dialog then closes and the new room opens.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### What opens after you create

The new chat experience opens as an empty room. Nothing has been said in it and nobody is in it yet. A new room has four parts:

| Part of the room | What it shows                                                                                                                                                              |
| ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Top bar          | The experience name, a pencil that renames the experience, the room type, the room ID, a **Text only** chip, **Previous sessions**, and a three-dots menu of room controls |
| Thread           | A pinned **Room brief** card, showing the purpose and the room type's rules that the briefing was written from, and the heading **Nobody is in the room yet**              |
| Side panel       | The **In this room** section, with a card reading **Add the participants** and "Each character receives the room brief the moment they join."                              |
| Message box      | Locked, with **Add at least one participant to start** in place of the usual prompt                                                                                        |

Every control in the room is listed in [Room controls reference](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/running-the-room/room-controls-reference.md).

### What is fixed once the experience exists

The room type, the purpose, and the briefing cannot be changed after the experience is created. There is no control anywhere in the room or on **My Experiences** that edits them; the room shows a **Fixed at creation** lock beside the brief instead. See [Why the brief cannot be changed](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/the-room-brief/why-the-brief-cannot-be-changed.md).

Two things are still yours to change:

* **The name.** Use the pencil beside the room name, or **Rename** on the experience's menu.
* **The wording, in a new experience.** **Duplicate with a new brief** opens the create dialog prefilled from this experience, with every field editable again. See [Manage your chat experiences](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/manage-your-chat-experiences.md).

### Next steps

The room is empty until you seat characters in it. Add them, and the message box unlocks.

{% content-ref url="/pages/s0wre2IKbFTsueOmgrdV" %}
[Add characters to the room](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/add-characters-to-the-room.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

To replace the written-for-you briefing with your own words before you create the experience, work through the briefing box in detail.

{% content-ref url="/pages/e1tDgmhyt4FYfUpPQ47E" %}
[Write your own briefing](/api-docs/no-code-experiences/chat-experiences/the-room-brief/write-your-own-briefing.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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