diff --git a/external/CMakeLists.txt b/external/CMakeLists.txt
index d08025a..0a05eb4 100644
--- a/external/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -78,3 +78,13 @@ if (NOT TARGET nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json)
 	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(json)
 endif()
 
+if (NOT TARGET fmt::fmt)
+	# waiting for c++26 runtime formatters be like
+	FetchContent_Declare(fmt
+		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
+		GIT_TAG 10.2.1
+		EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
+	)
+	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(fmt)
+endif()
+
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 5bf8dc3..060d2e5 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -48,5 +48,7 @@ target_link_libraries(solanaceae_rpbot PUBLIC
 	solanaceae_message3
 
 	solanaceae_llama-cpp-web
+
+	fmt::fmt # TODO: switch to header only?
 )
 
diff --git a/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.cpp b/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.cpp
index c71d1c3..6747365 100644
--- a/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.cpp
+++ b/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #include <solanaceae/message3/components.hpp>
 #include <solanaceae/util/utils.hpp>
 
+#include <fmt/core.h>
+
 #include <limits>
 #include <string_view>
 #include <vector>
@@ -19,22 +21,8 @@ template<>
 void RPBot::stateTransition(const Contact3 c, const StateIdle& from, StateNext& to) {
 	// collect promp
 
-	{ // - system promp
-		to.prompt = system_prompt;
-	}
-
 	MessagePromptBuilder mpb{_cr, c, _rmm, {}};
-	{ // - message history
-		mpb.buildNameLookup();
-		to.prompt += mpb.buildPromptMessageHistory();
-	}
-
-	{ // - next needs the beginning of the new message
-		// empty rn
-		to.prompt += "\n";
-	}
-
-	std::cout << "prompt for next: '" << to.prompt << "'\n";
+	mpb.buildNameLookup();
 
 	int64_t self {-1};
 	{ // get set of possible usernames (even if forced, just to make sure)
@@ -54,6 +42,40 @@ void RPBot::stateTransition(const Contact3 c, const StateIdle& from, StateNext&
 		}
 	}
 
+	if (self < 0) {
+		// early exit for invalid self
+		to.future = std::async(std::launch::async, [self]() -> int64_t { return self; });
+		return;
+	}
+
+	{ // - system promp (needs self name etc)
+		if (const auto* id_comp = _cr.try_get<Contact::Components::ID>(c); id_comp != nullptr) {
+			const auto id_hex = bin2hex(id_comp->data);
+			to.prompt = _conf.get_string("RPBot", "system_prompt", id_hex).value();
+		} else {
+			to.prompt = _conf.get_string("RPBot", "system_prompt").value();
+		}
+
+		to.prompt = fmt::format(fmt::runtime(to.prompt),
+			fmt::arg("self_name", to.possible_names.at(self))
+			//fmt::arg("chat_name", "test_group"),
+			//fmt::arg("chat_type", "Group")
+			//fmt::arg("chat_topic", "Group")
+			// current online?
+			// current date?
+		);
+	}
+
+	// - message history
+	to.prompt += mpb.buildPromptMessageHistory();
+
+	{ // - next needs the beginning of the new message
+		// empty rn
+		to.prompt += "\n";
+	}
+
+	std::cout << "prompt for next: '" << to.prompt << "'\n";
+
 	if (!from.force) { // launch async
 		// copy names for string view param (lol)
 		std::vector<std::string_view> pnames;
@@ -107,25 +129,17 @@ RPBot::RPBot(
 ) : _completion(completion), _conf(conf), _cr(cr), _rmm(rmm), _mcd(mcd) {
 	//system_prompt = R"sys(Transcript of a group chat, where Bob talks to online strangers.
 //)sys";
-	// TODO: name is chat specific, leave system prompt a template
-	std::string self_name {"Bob"};
-	if (_conf.has_string("tox", "name")) {
-		self_name = _conf.get_string("tox", "name").value();
+
+	// set default system prompt
+	if (!_conf.has_string("RPBot", "system_prompt")) {
+		_conf.set("RPBot", "system_prompt", std::string_view{
+R"sys(Transcript of a group chat, where {self_name} talks to online strangers.
+{self_name} is creative and curious. {self_name} is writing with precision, but also with occasional typos.
+)sys"
+		});
 	}
 
-#if 1
-	system_prompt = "Transcript of a group chat, where ";
-	system_prompt += self_name;
-	system_prompt += " talks to online strangers. ";
-	system_prompt += self_name;
-	system_prompt += " is creative and curious. ";
-	system_prompt += self_name;
-	system_prompt += " is precise in its writing, but with occasional typos.";
-#else
-#include "./test_system_prompt1.inl"
-#endif
-
-	system_prompt += "\n"; // last entry
+	assert(_conf.has_string("RPBot", "system_prompt"));
 
 	registerCommands();
 }
diff --git a/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.hpp b/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.hpp
index 594edd4..6b6a8de 100644
--- a/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.hpp
+++ b/src/solanaceae/rpbot/rpbot.hpp
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ struct RPBot {
 
 	std::minstd_rand _rng{std::random_device{}()};
 
-	std::string system_prompt;
-
 	public:
 		RPBot(
 			TextCompletionI& completion,