What does Impersonate do in SillyTavern?
Updated
Impersonate is a SillyTavern feature that asks the model to write your next message for you, in the voice of your persona, instead of the character's next reply. The draft appears in your input box rather than being sent, so you can edit it first. It helps when you are stuck or want a quick action line, and it works with any connected model, including UnsavedAI's Gemma 4.
Try it now, free, no account neededStart a story with Captain Elias ThorneYou stowed away on the wrong ship.How it works
A normal request asks the model to continue as the character. Impersonate sends the same prompt (card, persona, chat history) plus an extra instruction telling the model to write the next turn as {{user}} instead. Whatever comes back is placed in the text box, waiting for you.
Picture a scene with Captain Elias Thorne. His last reply ends with him slamming a chart on the table: "You owe me a ship." You press Impersonate and get a draft like:
*I lean against the mast and fold my arms.* "I owe you a bet, Thorne. The ship sank all on its own."
You might keep the first half, rewrite the second, and send it. Press Impersonate again and you get a different draft, the same way a swipe gives a different reply.
Where to find it
In SillyTavern, Impersonate is in the options menu next to the message box, and the slash command /impersonate (short form /imp) does the same from the input line. Labels and menu positions can change between versions, so search the menus if it moved.
What the model is told comes from your setup. With a Chat Completion connection, the preset has an impersonation prompt among its utility prompts that you can rewrite, for example to ask for first person, present tense and two sentences at most. With Text Completion, the instruct template's user formatting does the job. Your persona supplies the name, looks and personality the draft should match, so Impersonate is only as good as the persona you wrote.
When it helps
- Writer's block: you know what should happen but not how to phrase it.
- Fast scenes: a fight or chase where you want momentum more than polish.
- Matching a style: period dialogue in a Regency story, or terse noir narration.
- Options: three quick drafts show three directions you could take.
- Testing a persona: if the draft sounds nothing like you, the persona needs work.
Common mistakes
- No persona. The model then writes a generic "you" with no name, voice or history.
- Letting it make the big choices. Impersonate is a draft; the decisions that shape your story should stay yours.
- Sending drafts unedited, message after message. The story becomes the model talking to itself, and its habits compound.
- Confusing it with a different problem: a character who writes your actions in its own replies. That comes from the card or instructions, not from Impersonate; see keeping characters in character.
- Drafts that cut off. The reply length setting applies to Impersonate too.
Impersonate with UnsavedAI
To the API, an impersonation is just another chat request, so it works with gemma-4-12b and gemma-4-31b through a key from /setup. It also counts like any other request: Free writes one reply at a time and Priority two, so pressing Impersonate while a reply is still streaming makes one of them wait. Let the reply finish first.
On the UnsavedAI website you write your own turns, but each house character comes with suggested first moves that do a similar job when a scene is new: a ready line you can send or change.
Questions people ask
Does Impersonate send the message for me?
No. The draft goes into your input box, and nothing is sent until you press send.
Why does Impersonate write as the character instead of me?
Usually the impersonation prompt is empty or overwritten by an imported preset, or no persona is set. Check both.
Is Impersonate the same as Continue?
No. Continue extends the character's last reply; Impersonate writes your next turn.
