SillyTavern Connection Profiles: switch APIs in one click

Profile or preset?

A preset is a bundle of generation settings: samplers, context size, reply length, prompt blocks. A Connection Profile sits one level up and remembers which connection to use and which presets to pair with it. Switching a profile can change the API, the model and the preset together.

When you create a profile, SillyTavern lists what it captured and lets you untick items, so a profile can switch only the model and leave the preset alone.

A worked example with two models

Make a key at /setup and copy the base URL from the Your keys tab. Then build each setup once:

• Profile "Everyday 12B": API Chat Completion, custom OpenAI-compatible source, your base URL, model gemma-4-12b, a preset named "Gemma 12B story" with Context Size 56,000.
• Profile "Big scenes 31B": same source and URL, model gemma-4-31b, a preset named "Gemma 31B story", also at 56,000. Needs Priority.
• Profile "Backup": whatever else you use, for when you want a different provider or a local model.

For each one: set the connection, connect, choose the preset, then use the connection profile control in the API Connections panel to create a new profile and name it. After that, the dropdown is the only place you touch. The SillyTavern guide has the field-by-field connection steps.

Both Gemma 4 models allow 61,440 tokens, so the same 56,000 context setting fits either profile and switching never pushes a long chat over the limit.

Switching mid-story

Changing profile does not touch the chat; the next reply simply comes from the new model with the new settings. That makes a good habit for big moments: play everyday scenes on 12B, switch to 31B for the confrontation, swipe the key reply, and compare both versions side by side before keeping one.

Expect the first reply after a switch to take a little longer on a long chat, since the new model reads the whole conversation fresh. UnsavedAI reuses an unchanged prompt start between replies on the same setup, so constant back-and-forth costs more than staying put for a scene.

Characters with scale are where the bigger model shows: Empress Suzuran, who has stopped time, or Akuro, the King Below, whose court is full of schemers.

Switch from a button or command

The /profile slash command followed by a profile's name switches to it, which means a Quick Reply button can do it too. A pair of buttons labelled 12B and 31B, with messages "/profile Everyday 12B" and "/profile Big scenes 31B", puts model switching right above the input box.

Gotchas

• Unsaved preset tweaks. A profile points at a preset by name; if you moved sliders without saving the preset, switching away loses them.
• Renamed or deleted presets. Re-save any profile that pointed at one.
• Keys. API keys stay in SillyTavern's own key storage. If you keep several keys for one source, check after switching that the right one is active, especially if a 31B profile suddenly returns a model error.
• Profiles are not backups. Export your presets too, so a fresh install can rebuild every profile.

Questions people ask