Creating a simulation

Describe a scenario and devlin.ai generates a draft simulation you can preview, publish, or refine in the editor.

A designer creates a simulation by describing the scenario. devlin.ai generates the character, the scenario and the evaluation from that description and saves the result as a draft. You can also skip generation and start from a blank simulation. Creating simulations is available on every plan.

Before you start

Sign in and open the workspace the simulation should belong to. A new simulation is created in the workspace that is active when you create it.
Generating a simulation uses credits. The form states Generation uses credits based on input length, so a longer description costs more. Starting from scratch does not use credits.
Know who the learner is, what they need to practice, and what success looks like. The more detail you give, the closer the first draft is to what you want. See Scenario design and difficulty.

Steps

Open Studio and select Create, then choose Simulation. If you are on the simulations tab, New simulation opens the same dialog with the type already chosen (an empty tab shows Create simulation instead).
Under Explain your simulation, describe who the learner is and what they need to practice.
Select Generate simulation. To skip generation, select Start from scratch instead: a blank draft named "Untitled simulation" opens in the editor.
Wait while the simulation is generated. The screen shows progress messages and the note This can take up to a minute. Keep the window open and do not refresh it.
When Simulation ready! appears, the preview opens a moment later. Try out the simulation there.
Select Continue to Editor to refine the draft, or Publish to publish it straight from the preview.

When you generate from Studio, you do not name the simulation. devlin.ai gives it a short title.

Result

You have a new simulation with the Draft status. Generation never publishes a simulation, and learners cannot open it until you publish it. The draft is saved as soon as it is generated, so it is in your library even if you close the preview without choosing a button.

What gets generated

From your description, devlin.ai writes:

The character: a name, a description, and instructions for how the character behaves and reacts during the conversation.
The learner's role in relation to the character, and the scenario context.
Behavior triggers (what the character does when the learner does something specific).
The character's opening line, whether the character or the learner speaks first, and the placeholder text in the learner's input box.
End conditions and a turn limit. See How a simulation ends.
Evaluation criteria with points, optional deductions, and a pass threshold. Evaluation is turned on for a generated simulation. See Evaluation and scoring.
The character's starting mood and guidance for how the mood changes.
Custom course variables, only when the scenario has a state worth tracking. Many generated simulations have none.
How long the character's replies are.

Everything generated is a starting point that you fine-tune in the editor, described in Building a simulation.

The full form

The page titled Create New Simulation is the full version of the same flow. It opens from the Create simulation action in the command palette, and it is where you return, with your description still filled in, when a generation started from Studio does not finish.

The form has three fields:

Simulation Name: the name of the simulation. On this form a name is required to generate.
Who is the learner?: background on the learners. This field is optional.
Describe your simulation: the scenario, what the learner should practice, and what success looks like. This field is required to generate.

Each field shows a character counter with its limit. On the Core, Team, Enterprise plans, the form also lets you attach your own documents and links for the generation to draw on. On other plans, the form shows a note in that place instead.

Generate Sim starts the generation and continues with the loading screen and preview from the steps above. Start from scratch on this form needs only the name and opens a blank draft in the editor.

If you leave the form with the back arrow after typing in it, a dialog titled You have unsaved changes appears. Save Changes creates a blank draft with the name you entered and opens it in the editor (a name is required, and the learner and description text are not kept). Discard Changes leaves without creating anything. Switching workspace with text in the form shows the same dialog: saving creates the blank draft in the workspace you are leaving.

Credits

Before generation starts, devlin.ai checks that your workspace has enough credits to cover the largest amount the generation could cost. Afterwards you are charged only for what the generation used. If the generation fails, the credits held for it are released.

If the balance is too low, generation does not start and the form shows "Not enough credits to generate." with a Purchase more credits link.

If generation does not finish

When a generation cannot complete, you return to the form with what you typed, and a message says why:

"Too many generations. Please try again later." A workspace can generate 10 simulation and coach drafts an hour. Wait, then try again.
"The generated simulation was too large to complete. Try a shorter or more focused description." Narrow the description and generate again.
"Generation failed. Please try again." Generate again.

Generated content is checked against the content guidelines. If the check does not pass, the draft is still saved, and you go straight to the editor (not the preview) with a message that the simulation was generated but could not be published, and the reason. Edit the content, then publish.

If the preview itself cannot load, the page shows Preview unavailable. The draft is saved, and Continue to Editor still works.

Arriving from the homepage demo

If you built a simulation in the demo on the devlin.ai homepage and then claimed it with your account, you land in the editor for that simulation, not on the create flow. If the account has no profile yet, a Welcome to devlin.ai dialog asks for your name, with optional role, company and team size. Select Start Building to save it. The dialog cannot be closed or skipped, because your name is needed. If saving fails, Continue without saving appears and takes you to the editor. Either way you stay on the simulation you claimed. You can change these details later in Settings, under General in your personal workspace.