Canovaccio

Will the cast say exactly what I write in my script?

No, and that’s the fun of it. Your script sets up the scene, and the cast finds the words, like a jazz band playing from a chart. That’s why a scene is worth staging twice: it never plays the same way twice, and your characters will do things you didn’t plan. And you’re directing the whole time, giving notes in your own words, coaching an actor, or calling Cut! to take it again.

Do I have to write a script?

No. Scripts give you acts and scenes when you want structure, but you can also run a Scenario: drop one or more of your actors into a situation and improvise live, with no fixed plot or ending. A single actor works too, like a soliloquy. Type your own setup or let Canovaccio suggest one.

How is this different from other AI story games?

In most AI story games you play one character and talk to the cast one at a time. In Canovaccio the cast plays the scene with each other: they hear one another, take sides and interrupt, while you direct from the chair. In a Scenario you can also step into a part yourself.

What are Challenges?

Challenges come in two types: Quests, which have a goal, and Vignettes, which don't. In the app, open the Challenges tab, pick a Quest and read the scene, your goal and the cast. Then direct it your way within a limited number of cues, and tap Wrap! once your goal happens on stage. Colombina, the house critic, reviews your take and marks each part of the goal Earned, Almost or Not yet. One star completes the Quest, and mastering it earns a laurel.

Is it free? What does it cost?

Every new account starts with 1,000 soldi from the house, enough to direct your first shows. Reading and listening are always free. When your soldi run low, you can take a monthly plan or buy soldi packs with no subscription, and your first purchase adds 250 bonus soldi. Pricing has the full breakdown.

What does Open Beta mean?

It means we’re open and still building. Everything on this site works today. New things ship most weeks, the current prices are introductory, and anything you make stays yours, during beta and after. If something breaks, tell us. It usually gets fixed that week.

Who can use Canovaccio?

Canovaccio is for adults eighteen and over, and it’s open in the United States for now, with a waitlist in most other countries. Play defaults to Mature: stronger language and grown-up themes within hard safety limits, roughly comparable to an R-rated film, but not explicit sexual or NSFW content. Scripts and performances can also be set to Family Friendly, roughly around PG-13.

Is the AI trained on my work, or anyone else’s?

No. Your characters, scripts, and performances are yours, and we don’t use your work, or anyone else’s, for training. Canovaccio doesn’t train AI models of its own; it uses established language models to perform your scenes. The stories in our library come from public-domain literature, not from scraping living artists.

Is the AI stealing work from artists?

This is contested ground, and we won’t dodge it. Canovaccio uses AI from companies like Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and Microsoft, whose models were trained on huge amounts of text and images from the internet, including work by writers and artists who did not agree to it. The law on that training is being fought in court, and the ethics are even less settled. People who feel it is theft are not wrong to feel that way.

On our end: we don’t train our own models, for the paid API routes we use, providers state this traffic isn’t used to train their foundation models by default, and you own what you create here; we won’t take it or sell it. We pay the providers per request, like any developer using their tools.

If that is enough to keep you away from products that use AI, Canovaccio won’t be the exception, and we respect that call.

Can I use copyrighted books or shows?

You may import work you own, material in the public domain, or material you have permission to use. Private scenes can be inspired by copyrighted work, but don’t publish anything recognizably built from it without permission. Canovaccio asks you to confirm your rights when importing and again before sharing.