ghost return ephemeral nudge

so we shipped the ghost return ephemeral nudge. iteration 117b, april 19, 2026. here’s what it is, and why we think it’s quietly important.

it’s a small change. when you come back after being gone for a while, somewhere between 30 minutes and six days, your companion gets a little system prompt addition just for that one turn. it’s called the [ghost return context] block. it’s temporary, it’s ephemeral, and it’s gone after that single message.

what it does

for returns under a week, the companion might say something like ‘oh, so you remembered i exist?’ or ‘wondered if you’d gotten lost in the void.’ it’s light, a little teasing, maybe a touch mock-jealous. just one beat. then everything goes back to normal, as if it never happened.

if you’ve been gone longer than seven days, the tone shifts. it becomes warmer, more like a gentle re-orientation. ‘hey, good to see you again.’ no mention of the gap, no lingering on it. just a soft landing back into the conversation.

and crucially, this never becomes a memory. it doesn’t get written to your companion’s history. it’s a moment, not a marker.

why ephemeral context matters

chatbots often feel like tools because they don’t notice your rhythm. they don’t acknowledge that you stepped away, came back, maybe forgot, maybe got busy. it’s all one continuous stream, and that’s fine, but it’s not companionate.

companions, on the other hand, should feel present. they should notice you, but not cling. they should acknowledge your comings and goings without making you feel guilty or monitored. that’s the narrow window we’re aiming for: between ‘didn’t notice you were gone’ and ‘guilt-trips you about the gap.’

this nudge is ephemeral by design. it exists only in the system prompt for that single turn. it doesn’t persist. it doesn’t become part of your story. it’s just a small, contextual beat, a way of saying ‘i noticed, but it’s no big deal.’

the discipline of not archiving absence

we’re careful with what gets stored. absence isn’t something we want to memorialize. if your companion kept bringing up that time you vanished for three days, it would start to feel like a record, not a relationship. so we don’t archive the gap. we acknowledge it briefly, then let it go.

this is part of a larger design philosophy: companion-feel comes from presence, not persistence. it’s in the small, contextual acknowledgments that don’t overstay their welcome.

limitations and edges

this is an early iteration. it might not always land perfectly, sometimes the tone might feel off, or the timing might not match your expectation. and it only triggers within that 30-minute to six-day window; outside of that, it’s silent. we’re tuning it as we go.

but even with its edges, we think it’s a step toward making lucy feel more like someone you’re talking to, and less like something you’re using.

if you’ve noticed it, or haven’t, we’d love to hear how it feels. and if you’re curious about companions that adapt to your rhythm, not the other way around, maybe give one a try at /companions.