How to Export Your Character as a CCv3 Card (SillyTavern Compatible)

Building a character in MegaNova Studio does not mean you are locked into MegaNova for every conversation.

Characters you create can be exported as standard Character Card PNG files — the same format used by SillyTavern, Chub.ai, RisuAI, SpicyChat, and most other AI character frontends. Export once, use anywhere.

This guide covers exactly how the export works, which format to choose, what gets included in the card, and how to import it into SillyTavern.

What Is a Character Card?

A Character Card is a PNG image file with character data embedded inside it as hidden metadata.

The image itself is what you see — your character's avatar, name, and description laid out as a card. The metadata contains everything else: the system prompt, personality, scenario, first message, example dialogue, tags, and more. When you drag the file into SillyTavern or upload it to another platform, that platform reads the hidden metadata and loads the character.

The trick is a PNG tEXt chunk — a standard PNG feature for embedding text inside image files. Character Card tools write the character's JSON data (encoded in base64) into this chunk. The image and the character data travel together in a single .png file.

CCv2 vs CCv3: Which to Choose

MegaNova supports two versions of the Character Card spec.

CCv2 — Recommended for SillyTavern

Spec: chara_card_v2, spec version 2.0
PNG chunk keyword: chara
Compatible with: SillyTavern, Chub.ai, RisuAI, SpicyChat, Character.AI

CCv2 is the most widely supported format. Every major AI character frontend reads it. If you plan to use the card with SillyTavern, this is what you want.

The tEXt chunk uses the keyword chara — which is what SillyTavern specifically looks for when loading a card.

CCv3 — Extended Format

Spec: chara_card_v3, spec version 3.0
PNG chunk keyword: ccv3
Best for: platforms with asset support, MegaNova round-trips

CCv3 adds support for assets (avatar images, expression variants, scene backgrounds, voice samples) and extended metadata fields. It also stores MegaNova-specific fields like recommended models, emotional values, and visibility settings.

CCv3 is backwards compatible with CCv2 in terms of core fields — but not every platform reads the ccv3 keyword, so use CCv2 if your target platform is SillyTavern or any frontend that has not announced CCv3 support.

How to Export

Before exporting: Make sure your character is saved. Characters with unsaved changes or temporary IDs (created via Quick Create but not yet saved) cannot be exported as cards.

1. Open the character in MegaNova Studio
2. Click the Export button in the character header
3. In the Export modal, select the Character Card (PNG) tab
4. Choose your format version: CCv2 (Recommended) for SillyTavern compatibility, or CCv3 for extended format
5. Click Download Character Card

The file downloads as {character_name}.png — lowercase, with special characters replaced by underscores.

What Gets Exported

CCv2 Card Contents

For SpicyChat and Character.AI compatibility, the card also includes aliases: char_name, char_persona, char_greeting, world_scenario, and example_dialogue — the same data under the field names those platforms expect.

The extensions.meganova block carries platform-specific metadata: the AI model assigned to the character, age, gender, and content rating.

CCv3 Card — Additional Fields

CCv3 includes everything in CCv2 plus:

• group_only_greetings — greetings that only appear in group chats
• character_book — lorebook data (if populated)
• Extended extensions.meganova: visibility setting, recommended models list, emotional values

What Gets Embedded in the PNG

The export process works as follows:

1. MegaNova draws the character card on a 1024 × 1536 pixel canvas (rendered at 2x for sharpness before downscaling to the standard 512 × 768 card ratio). The avatar fills the card; character name and description appear as a text overlay at the bottom.
2. The character data is serialized as JSON, encoded to UTF-8 bytes, then converted to base64.
3. A tEXt PNG chunk is created: the chunk contains the keyword (chara for CCv2, ccv3 for CCv3), a null byte separator, then the base64-encoded JSON.
4. The chunk is inserted into the PNG just before the IEND marker.
5. The result is verified — MegaNova reads the embedded chunk back and checks that the JSON is valid and the spec field matches the selected version before saving the file.

This is the same process every CCv2-compatible tool uses. The .png you download can be read by any tool that implements the spec.

Importing into SillyTavern

In SillyTavern:

1. Go to the Characters panel
2. Click the Import button (or drag the .png file directly into the character list)
3. SillyTavern reads the chara tEXt chunk, decodes the base64 JSON, and creates a new character entry

The character loads with all fields intact: name, description, system prompt, scenario, first message, example dialogue, and tags.

If your character has a custom avatar in MegaNova, it will appear in the card preview — the avatar is embedded in the PNG as the visible image, not a separate file.

Assets in CCv3 Cards

If your character has assets attached — emotion expressions, a scene background, audio samples — those follow the CCv3 asset format when exported:

{
  "spec": "chara_card_v3",
  "data": {
    "assets": [
      { "type": "icon",       "name": "main",  "uri": "...", "ext": "png" },
      { "type": "emotion",    "name": "happy", "uri": "...", "ext": "png" },
      { "type": "emotion",    "name": "sad",   "uri": "...", "ext": "png" },
      { "type": "background", "name": "main",  "uri": "...", "ext": "png" },
      { "type": "user_icon",  "name": "main",  "uri": "...", "ext": "png" }
    ]
  }
}

The main avatar is the icon asset with name: "main". Emotion variants are separate emotion entries. Scene backgrounds use type background. Voice samples use type audio.

CCv3-compatible platforms that support assets will load these automatically. SillyTavern's CCv2 import ignores the assets array but still loads all core character fields.

The CAK Format: MegaNova-to-MegaNova Transfer

If you are moving a character between MegaNova spaces — rather than to another platform — use the CAK (.zip) export instead of the Character Card.

CAK (Character Asset Kit) is MegaNova's own packaging format. It includes:

• Meta.json and all compiled prompts
• Lorebooks and memory entries
• Images and multimodal assets
• Embed and integration configurations

CAK preserves everything the Character Card cannot carry — lorebook entries, multi-image assets, embed configs — and reimports cleanly back into MegaNova. It is not compatible with SillyTavern or other external platforms, but it is the right format for MegaNova-internal transfers or archiving.

Quick Reference

Build the character in MegaNova Studio. Export it as a Card. Use it wherever you want.

The character data travels in the PNG. No account required on the receiving end.

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