What do you need before you start?
A free Nodera account at app.nodera.ai, for adults 18 and over, and an account with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Free tiers work, and the app also offers Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral or any AI by copy and paste. Nothing to install, and no Nodera credits used.
How does the "Use your own AI" path work, step by step?
You answer the same questions as the guided creator, the app turns them into one prompt, your AI writes the character, and you paste its reply back. These are the screens and buttons as of November 2026.
Pick your path
Open app.nodera.ai/character/create or tap Create. On "How do you want to build?" choose Use your own AI (Free, no credits used). The other card, Build it here, has Nodera write the character for 200 credits.
Answer the quick questions
A starting point (or Custom), who they are to you and their gender, how warm they are at first, how fast things grow, their vibe, their world, and the heat, where you also choose SFW or 18+ (18+ appears once you confirm you are 18 or older). Looks good, skip to review jumps ahead.
Build the prompt
On About them, add a name and describe them if you like. On One last look, tap Build my prompt.
Describe your character
A box opens, filled in from your answers. Edit it: a name, the setting, how they know you, their personality, what they want, NSFW yes or no. The copy buttons unlock at 15 words.
Send it to your AI
Tap Copy prompt, or tap ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to copy it and open that site. Paste it into a new chat and send. It carries the instructions, the allowed values, an example character to use as a template, your choices and your description.
Copy the JSON reply
If the era, setting, tone, age range or NSFW choice is missing, the prompt tells the AI to ask one short question first. Then it replies with one block of JSON. Use that block's copy button.
Paste it back
In Nodera, paste it under Paste the reply and tap Validate & continue. Read what the app changed, then tap Save and adjust details.
Finish in the studio
A private draft opens. Edit any section, generate a portrait (5 credits a picture), pick one of 22 voices, then keep it private or publish it. Already have the JSON? Use Skip ahead to paste.
Who sees what
The conversation happens in your own ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini account, and Nodera only gets the JSON you paste back. Your AI follows its own rules and may decline some requests, adult ones especially. If it does, use Build it here.
What does Nodera check when you paste the reply?
It checks the reply is a Nodera character, repairs what it safely can and lists every change. Nothing is published: the result is a private draft.
| Check | What happens |
|---|---|
| Cleanup | Code fences, markers, curly quotes, trailing commas and text around the JSON are removed. |
| Format | Only Nodera's own format is read. A Character.AI file or a JanitorAI or Tavern card pasted as is comes through nearly blank, so convert it with your AI first. |
| Missing parts | Filled with blanks and listed, so you finish them in the studio. |
| Length | Long fields are shortened and listed: name 40 characters, tagline 80, premise 240, backstory 1,500, opening scene 1,800, up to 3 example replies of 1,200. |
| Stages | 11 relationship stages, levels 0 to 10. Wrong level numbers are corrected; a wrong count becomes 11 empty stages. |
| Warnings | A blank or very short backstory, names left over from the example character, and a setup that calls you strangers while the character knows your name. |
| Your name | "The user" or "[your name]" becomes the placeholder that shows your name in chat. |
How do I turn a character I wrote on Character.AI or JanitorAI into a Nodera character?
Copy your character's fields from its edit page, paste them into the description box with a short conversion request, and let your AI rewrite them in Nodera's format. Character.AI's terms say the characters you create there are yours. Bring only those, or ones whose creator agrees.
Copy your own fields
On Character.AI: Name, Tagline (older guides say short description), Description, Greeting and Definition. On JanitorAI: Character Name, Character Bio, Personality, Scenario, Initial Message and Example Dialogue.
Start a Use your own AI build
Tap Create, Use your own AI, then Custom. Pick their gender on the next screen, tap Looks good, skip to review, then Build my prompt. For an 18+ character, set the content level on the heat screen first.
Swap in your character
Clear the description box. Paste the request below, then your fields under their labels. Send it to your AI and paste the JSON back as above.
Check the opening
In the studio, read the opening scene next to your original greeting and fix anything that drifted.
Example request to paste first
Convert the character below, which I wrote myself, into this app's JSON. Keep my wording for the greeting and the personality as close as you can, and only shorten where a field has a limit. Use my greeting as scene.opening. Turn the {{char}} lines in my definition or example dialogue into up to three identity.exampleReplies, drop the {{user}} lines, and use the rest for the backstory, voice and knowledge. Keep {{user}} wherever I refer to the person chatting. The character is an adult. My fields:
- Name: (paste)
- Tagline or bio: (paste)
- Description or personality: (paste)
- Greeting or initial message: (paste)
- Definition, scenario and example dialogue: (paste)
| Your field | In Nodera | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Name | 40 characters |
| Tagline or bio | Tagline and one line premise | 80 and 240 |
| Description, personality, definition | Backstory, traits, voice, facts unlocked by level | Backstory 1,500 |
| Greeting or initial message | Opening scene | 1,800 |
| Example dialogue, {{char}} lines | Example replies | 3 of 1,200 |
| Scenario | Scene setup, how you know each other | 300 and 200 |
A Character.AI definition can run to 32,000 characters, so a long one gets condensed: tell your AI which lines must stay word for word. {{char}} and {{user}} work as they are, and Nodera fills in the names.
What does not come with it
Chats, Character.AI memories and pins, and relationship progress stay behind, so your character starts fresh with you. Avatars cannot be uploaded: you generate a new portrait. Alternate greetings, lorebooks and scripts are not used. To keep a copy of your Character.AI data, see how to move from Character.AI.
How do I get a character that writes well?
Specific details and a strong opening do most of the work, as Nodera's own prompt tells the AI.
- Three lived in details beat ten adjectives: a habit, a place, a person they think about.
- Write the opening as a chat turn: actions in *asterisks*, dialogue in quotes, present tense, "you" for the reader, ending on something you can answer. It sets the tone of every reply.
- Add one to three example replies at the length you want. The character copies their style and length, not their events.
- Order the secrets by level: small talk low, history in the middle, private truths near level 10.
- Use {{user}} for yourself, so the AI never invents a name for you.
- Read every warning, especially leftovers from the example character.
- Chat, then refine. The studio's Build with AI sends your character back to your AI with your notes and saves the result as a new draft, so the original stays.
What are the rules for characters on Nodera?
Every character is a fictional adult, whoever writes it. Once you confirm you are 18 or older, romance and mature roleplay with adult characters marked 18+ are allowed, within our safety rules. The 18+ content setting comes on when you confirm, and you can turn it off in Settings.
- Adults only. You must be 18 or over, and every character must be an adult who reads as one. Leave NSFW off unless you want an 18+ character.
- No real people, and no photos of them. Photo uploads are off: every picture is generated in the app.
- Only characters you may bring: your own, or ones whose creator agrees. Private definitions cannot be copied by anyone.
- The safety floor. Never allowed, for anyone: sexual content involving minors or characters who look or act like minors, sexual violence or sex without consent, characters or pictures of real people without their consent, sexual content with animals, and anything that encourages self harm.
Questions people ask
Does building a character with ChatGPT cost credits on Nodera?
No. The Use your own AI path uses none of your 500 daily credits, because your own AI does the writing. Portraits cost 5 credits each, and Build it here costs 200.
Can I import my Character.AI or JanitorAI character file?
Not yet. Nodera reads only its own format today, and a "bring your character" importer is being built. Until then, paste your character's fields into the Use your own AI path and your AI converts them in minutes.
Will my chats, memories or level come with my character?
No. Only the character's text moves. Chats, Character.AI memories and pins, and relationship progress stay where they were, and your character gets to know you from your first message on Nodera.
What if the app says my JSON is not valid?
Copy everything from the first { to the last }, both braces included. Code fences are fine. If it still fails, ask your AI to output the whole character again as one JSON block.
Can I back up my character?
Yes. In the studio menu, Download character saves a .json backup and Copy character JSON copies it. Paste it back through Skip ahead to paste to make a new copy. Pictures are not in the file.
Sources
- Character.AI Book: Definition, up to 32,000 characters (undated, checked November 5, 2026)
- Character.AI Book: Character Attributes (undated, checked November 5, 2026)
- Character.AI Terms of Service: you own the characters you create (last updated August 27, 2025)
- JanitorAI community bot creation tutorial, field names (undated, checked November 5, 2026)
Changes to this page
- : Published, checked against the app's creator.
Nodera facts are from the app as of November 5, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us on Discord.
Nodera is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Character Technologies, Inc., JanitorAI Inc., OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. Character.AI, JanitorAI, ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are trademarks of their owners, named here only to identify those services.