Entities (characters, items)

In the Entities view you manage templates and instances: characters, items, locations.

Templates

• Each template has fields (name, age, text, enum, Gameplay Tags, etc.).
• Defaults: Character, Item, Location.
• Add templates, fields, pick types, enum options.
• Reorder templates and fields by drag.
• Gameplay Tags fields use Unreal-style tag names such as Character.Faction.Guard and accept one or more comma-, semicolon-, or line-separated tags.
• Entity References fields store one or more links to other entities. Pick a target template in the field options to limit the selectable list, for example Item.spawnLocations → Location entities.
• Rich text fields store Unreal Rich Text Block markup as plain text. Use the style buttons to insert tags like <Important>...</>, <Red>...</>, <Small>...</>, <Bold>...</>, or <Italic>...</>. The preview renders the built-in YarnDraft styles, while Unreal uses matching Text Style Data Table row names.

Supported rich text tags:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
Small, Medium, Large
Bold, Italic, Important

Example:

This is a plain line.

<Important>This is important.</>
<Blue>Door code: </><Bold>1456</>
<Small>Optional hint text.</>

Instances

• + Add entity — new instance from the active template.
• Fill fields, portrait (image asset), card color (for dialogue).
• Entity reference fields show a multi-select list and save stable entity ids, so renaming the linked entity does not break the link.
• Filter the list.
• Switch the instances between List and Table. The table shows one row per entity and one column per field, and short values (names, numbers, enums, checkboxes) are edited right in the cell. Multi-line text and entity references open the entity in the list, where there is room for them — so does the colour dot at the start of each row.

Bulk CSV import

Use Sample CSV in the Entities toolbar to download a template-specific CSV header. The file starts with an id column, followed by the active template's field keys.

• Leave id empty to create a new entity.
• Use an existing entity id to update that entity.
• Boolean fields accept values such as true, false, yes, no, 1, 0, igen, nem.
• List fields accept comma-, semicolon-, or line-separated values.
• Entity reference fields must use existing entity ids.

Use Import CSV to choose or paste a CSV file. YarnDraft validates the CSV before import: unknown or missing columns, invalid numbers, invalid booleans, enum values, unknown entity ids, and wrong target-template references are reported before anything is changed.

CSV export

Export CSV saves the instances of the active template in the same format Import CSV reads: the id column, then one column per field. Only the instances shown are exported, so set the filters first to export part of them. Entity references are written as comma-separated entity ids.

Because every row carries its id, you can edit the file in a spreadsheet and import it back: each row updates the entity it came from. The file is UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, so Excel shows accented letters correctly.

Character ID

When an entity is expanded:

• Character ID — copyable identifier (e.g. entity_abc123).
• Use it in the dialogue script Character ID column — reliable matching on import.
• If ID is empty or unknown, import falls back to name (or creates a new character if enabled).

AI — entity generation

Generate with AI button:

• Natural-language description → filled fields
• Settings → AI: model assignment

Used elsewhere

Where	For
Dialogue card	Speaker, scene characters
Inventory card	Item entity
Puzzle	Referenced elements
AI chat / build	@ mentions

Dialogue import

Import panel: Create missing characters — if Character ID is missing or unknown, a new entity is created from the Character (or first name-field) template.