[Feature Contribution Proposal] Short Descriptions

[UnlikelySemicolon]

A couple of character websites use short (1-3 sentence) descriptions and I've seen them be incredibly useful in quickly browsing.
I'm considering branching and building an auto short description generator with OpenRouter credentials. Then allowing that to be displayed in this manager as a primary visual component.

The short description generator could be built in here but for less maintenance and wider availability may need to be an associated Silly Tavern plugin to take advantage of the existing connection however I would need to make sure it wasn't fighting against the instruction preset like sometimes the background generator does with 'IGNORE ALL PREVIOUS INSTRUCITONS... generate a background image...`.

Given short descriptions are generated, the browsing here could then include them. Is this something you are open to pulling into the project if I make the feature?

[dmitryplyaskin]

I don't quite understand how this will work. Could you describe the mechanism of operation, how your short descriptions will be generated, where they will be stored, and what is required from my application?

[UnlikelySemicolon]

Feature Proposal: Support for shortDescription Metadata (Display & Generation)

Summary
I propose adding support for a dedicated shortDescription field within the card metadata (PoC specifically currently stores this on the card at data.extensions.shortDescription.text). This would allow the SillyInnkeeper to display concise, 1-2 sentence summaries for characters, significantly improving the browsing experience for large collections without the paperwork load of reading full character prompts/first messages.

Motivation
Currently, browsing large repositories of cards relies heavily on names and avatars and some assortment of single concept tags. While full descriptions exist, they are often large, vary wildly in format, or require opening the card details to understand the character's premise.
A dedicated "Short Description" allows for:

1. Faster Scanning: Users can quickly grasp a character's archetype and existing environment.
2. UI Flexibility: A specific field allows for a "Snippet View" or data dense preview in the browser.
3. Performance: The browser only needs to parse a small string rather than managing large text blocks for every card in the view.

Technical Implementation

1. The Data Structure
I propose utilizing the standard extension metadata slot for this data to ensure compatibility with SillyTavern:

"extensions": {
  "shortDescription": {
    "text": "A brief 1-2 sentence summary of the character."
  }
}

2. Display Logic (The Viewer)
The SillyInnkeeper would check for the existence of this field.

• If present: Display it in a compatible view (truncated to 2 lines or ~40 words though generated short descriptions should not exceed 40 words anyway).
• If absent: Fallback to existing behavior

3. Generation Strategy (The Source)
This data needs to be populated. I see two pathways for this, and I have a working Proof of Concept (PoC) for the first one:

• Pathway A (External Generation via Extension):
  I have developed a SillyTavern extension that bulk-generates these summaries using an LLM and saves them to the card file. If the SillyInnkeeper supports the display of this field in a usable card browsing view, users can generate the data in ST and view it here.
• Pathway B (Native Generation - Optional):
  We could integrate the summarizer logic directly into this SillyInnkeeper. This would be powerful for users who have folder structures outside of SillyTavern imports. The browser would iterate through cards lacking the field, send a prompt to a connected API, and inject the metadata.

Open Question: Description Formatting
I am currently refining the "optimal" short description format:

• Option 1 (Standalone + Supplementary): The first sentence is always a complete, standalone summary. The second sentence adds flavor. This allows the UI to show only sentence 1 in compact views, and both in expanded views.
• Option 2 (Word Budget): A strict character/word limit (e.g., 23 words) allowing for a more fluid narrative across two sentences.

Status
I have a working PoC for the generation and storage side (currently implemented as an ST extension). I am prepared to submit a PR or share the code to help implement the Display portion in this repository, and potentially the Generation logic if you feel it fits the scope of this tool.

I have not yet produced a visual demo comparing the browsing experience with and without these short descriptions. While I believe the utility for navigating large collections is significant, and have seen this myself in patches where available, I understand a visual clear demonstration may convey the intricacies of usefulness clearly. If you feel a visual "proof of usefulness" is necessary to evaluate this proposal, please let me know. As creating a polished demo would be a non-trivial investment of time, I would prefer to confirm your initial interest in the underlying concept and data structure before proceeding with that step.