Dad-bot/README.md

DadBot

A Discord bot with a persistent personality, long-term memory, and a simulated inner life. Runs through LiteLLM so you can point it at any model.

Features

• Persistent personality — DadBot can rewrite his own personality prompt via a tool call. Changes persist to personality.txt and are logged to personality_changelog.txt.
• User dossiers — Automatically builds and maintains a per-user fact file (dossiers.json) from conversation history.
• Self-reflection — When idle, DadBot runs a private reflection session: explores a topic from topics.txt, updates his reflection notes, and may refine his personality.
• Life simulation — Alternates with reflection sessions to run scripted life events (life_events.json) as a two-LLM dialogue. Outcomes are summarised into life_history.txt and can influence personality.
• Web search — Connected to a SearXNG MCP server for live web search during conversations and reflections.
• Image support — Handles image attachments in messages (base64-encoded, passed to the model as vision input).
• Multi-message replies — Use [SPLIT] in model output to send multiple Discord messages with natural word-count-based pacing.
• Rolling context — Per-channel message history with a configurable window (MAX_CONTEXT).

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• A running LiteLLM proxy
• A running SearXNG MCP instance (optional but expected)
• A Discord bot token

Setup

1. Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your values:

DISCORD_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
LITELLM_BASE_URL=http://your-litellm-host:4000/v1
LITELLM_API_KEY=your_key
MODEL=your-chat-model
BACKGROUND_MODEL=your-background-model   # defaults to MODEL if unset
SYSTEM_PROMPT=...
MAX_CONTEXT=20
MCP_URL=http://mcp-searxng:4001/mcp

2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run:

python bot.py

Docker

docker compose up -d

The compose file expects an external Docker network named aiplayground_litellm_internal and mounts all persistent data files from the project directory.

Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
MODEL	gpt-4	Model for chat and reflection
BACKGROUND_MODEL	MODEL	Model for background tasks (life sim, reflection)
MAX_CONTEXT	20	Rolling message history per channel
SYSTEM_PROMPT	You are a helpful assistant.	Base system prompt
MCP_URL	http://mcp-searxng:4001/mcp	SearXNG MCP endpoint
REFLECTION_IDLE_MIN	(see bot.py)	Minutes of inactivity before background task fires
REFLECTION_MAX_TURNS	5	Max LLM turns per reflection session
LIFE_SIM_MAX_TURNS	6	Max turns per life simulation event

Data Files

File	Purpose
personality.txt	DadBot's current personality prompt (editable by the bot)
dossiers.json	Per-user and self fact store
reflection_notes.txt	Notes DadBot saves for future reflection sessions
reflection_log.txt	Full transcripts of past reflection sessions
personality_changelog.txt	Log of every personality change with reasoning
topics.txt	One topic per line — exploration pool for reflection sessions
used_topics.json	Tracks which topics have been used
life_events.json	Ordered list of life events to simulate
used_life_events.json	Tracks which life events have been played
life_history.txt	Summaries of completed life events
life_sim_log.txt	Full transcripts of life simulation sessions