Arcweave Documentation

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Design Assistant ​

The Design Assistant helps you explore, brainstorm, and edit your project. Ask it about your story or about Arcweave, or ask it to make changes, such as creating elements, connecting them, or reorganizing boards.

The Design Assistant reads your project's live data whenever it needs it, so its answers reflect the project's current state. It also uses the open board and up to 50 selected items as context. A badge above the input shows the board's name and how many items are selected, for example Main · 2 selected.

Video tutorial ​

Access the Design Assistant ​

The Design Assistant follows the shared AI access requirements.

To access the Design Assistant:

  1. Click on the Design Assistant button (sparkles icon) on the right of the top menu.
  2. Type a question or a request of up to 2,000 characters in the chat interface. A character counter appears as you approach the limit.
  3. Press Enter or click the send button (arrow icon). To add a new line without sending, press Shift+Enter.

Press Esc while typing to close the Design Assistant.

ℹ️ Each Design Assistant message costs 1 AI credit from your workspace's monthly allowance. See AI credits below.

Suggested prompts ​

When the conversation is empty, the Design Assistant suggests a few prompts. The suggestions depend on whether your project is blank:

  • Blank project (no elements, components, or variables yet): Draft a short interactive story, Create a character, Set up an example quest, and How do variables and branches work?
  • Project with content: Summarize this project, Check my story for issues, Summarize this board, and Suggest a better board structure.

Clicking a suggestion fills the input with a more detailed prompt, without sending it. Edit the prompt if you want to, then send it.

Make edits ​

When you ask for a change, the Design Assistant applies it directly to your project. As the note below the input says, edits apply immediately: there is no preview or approval step. The Design Assistant is designed to change the project only when you clearly ask it to, not when you ask a question or for suggestions.

The Design Assistant can create, edit, and delete:

It can also move boards and components between folders, and reorder boards, components, elements, an element's choices, variables, attributes, attached components and audio, and else-if conditions. It can set the starting element, edit the Play Mode custom CSS, and rename, move, or delete existing assets and create asset folders.

The Design Assistant works under your own project permissions, and only in the open project. It can read comments but not write them. It cannot upload or download files, export, or delete the project. To use a new image or audio file, upload it to the asset library first, then ask the Design Assistant to use it.

Edits go through the same validation as edits you make yourself, and collaborators see them as they happen. The Design Assistant checks Arcscript before saving it in element content, labels, and branch conditions; an invalid script fails without changing the project. Content edits are recorded in History, which is available in Team workspaces. Play Mode CSS is saved in the project settings instead, without a History entry; fully reload Play Mode to see the new styles.

⚠️ Make your request specific, and check the result in your project. The Design Assistant can misread a request. To undo its edits, change the items back yourself or, if your workspace includes History, restore an earlier version.

A single request can involve a limited number of steps. For a large request, such as copying a whole board, the Design Assistant may stop before finishing. Its edits so far are kept; ask it to continue.

Activity list ​

While it works, the Design Assistant lists each step above its answer, for example Reading element or Creating connection. For elements, boards, components, and variables, a step that changes the item also shows its name.

  • Once the request finishes, completed lookups, such as reading project data or searching the documentation, are grouped under Looked up N sources. Click it to expand the list.
  • Click a step that changed an item to show it in the project (tooltip: Show in project). Arcweave zooms to board items and opens the dialog of a component or variable. Steps for folders, assets, and Play Mode CSS don't link anywhere.

A step can also show one of these labels:

  • Failed: the step didn't apply. Click the label to see the error details.
  • Recovered: the step failed, but a later step in the same request retried it successfully. Click the label to see the original error.
  • Unconfirmed: the request ended before this step reported back, for example because you stopped it. Check the project to see whether the change was applied.
  • Deleted: the item that this step changed no longer exists in the project, so the step no longer links to it.

Interrupt the generation ​

If you want to stop the Design Assistant while it is working, click the stop button (circle icon).

Stopping keeps everything the Design Assistant has done so far: edits that were already applied stay in your project, and the conversation shows Stopped, with any partial answer. A step that was still running is marked Unconfirmed. Requests are never retried automatically, so check the project before you send the request again.

ℹ️ The Assistant can make mistakes, so be sure to verify important information in advance.

Copy and clear the conversation ​

Hover over a message, or move the keyboard focus to it, to show its copy button:

  • Copy message copies your question exactly as you typed it.
  • Copy answer copies a finished answer as plain text.

To start over, click Clear conversation (eraser icon) at the top of the panel, then confirm with Clear. Clearing removes the conversation from the panel only: edits the Design Assistant already made stay in your project. You cannot clear the conversation while the Design Assistant is working.

The conversation is also cleared when you switch to another project.

ℹ️ Each request includes your new message and up to four previous exchanges. For a follow-up on something older, repeat the details in your request.

AI credits ​

Each message you send costs 1 AI credit, however many steps the Design Assistant takes to handle it. The credit is charged when the first edit succeeds or when the answer completes. If the request fails or you stop it before either happens, no credit is used, unless an edit was still being applied: that edit may have been saved, so the credit is kept. Check the project before you try again.

See AI credit costs for the other AI tools.

Knowledge base ​

Ask the Design Assistant questions about the following topics, or ask it to make changes to your project:

  • Your project and story
  • Arcscript
  • Arcweave functionality
  • Arcweave documentation

Prompt examples ​

With The Castle (the built-in example project) in mind, here are some examples of questions you could ask the Design Assistant:

  • How can the player find the Crusader's name?
  • Where does the player defeat the Crusader, and how?
  • Where is the element called "Battle?"
  • What is the usage of the health variable, and what is its initial value?
  • Do you have any recommendations on how I can continue the story?
  • Do you find any plot holes?

Edits ​

Ask for changes in plain language. You can refer to the open board or to the items you have selected:

  • Add a choice to the selected element that leads to a new element where the player hides.
  • Create a gold variable starting at 0, and add 10 gold in the element called "Treasure."
  • Rename the "Intro" board to "Prologue" and move it into a folder called "Act 1."
  • Create a component called "Innkeeper" with attributes for appearance and personality.
  • Set the element called "Gate" as the starting element.

Please use Arcweave terminology where applicable.