View source for Minecraft:Minecraft Support Virtual Agent

{{for|the ''Minecraft Earth'' mascot character|MCE:Merl}}
[[File:Merl chat window.png|thumb|The Support Virtual Agent chat window]]

'''Merl - Minecraft Support Virtual Agent (Beta)''' is an {{w|Artificial intelligence|AI}}-based {{w|chatbot}} that appears on [[Minecraft:Minecraft.net]]'s support page.<ref>https://help.minecraft.net</ref> The chatbot can be used to quickly get answers to ''Minecraft''-related questions without any human assistance. It was introduced on August 29, 2025, and is based on {{MCE|Merl}}, the official mascot character of {{MCE}}.

The Merl chatbot has received criticism from the ''Minecraft'' community. It has been reported to output false information, or not answer users' questions and instead respond to them with an "I don't know" message.<ref name="thegamer">{{Citation|url=https://www.thegamer.com/minecraft-ai-chatbot-unsurprisingly-useless-fans-mocking-it/|title=Minecraft's AI Chatbot Is Being Mocked By Fans|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251011092636/https://www.thegamer.com/minecraft-ai-chatbot-unsurprisingly-useless-fans-mocking-it/|archive-time=20251011092636|author=Joshua Robertson|website=The Gamer|date=September 10, 2025}}</ref> It has also been criticized for its poor performance, often taking a long time to answer users' questions.<ref name="thegamer" />

== Usage ==
=== Interface ===
[[File:Merl example response.png|thumb|Example of a question and answer, with the article it pulled the information from linked at the bottom]]
When entering the support page, a pop-up will appear on the bottom right corner to open the chat window. When opening, a chat window will appear with a brief introduction on the right, and an animated avatar of Merl in a workshop on the left. Merl's window contains two buttons on the top right, a "Hide visualization" button to hide her entirely, which can be shown again by clicking the "See visualization" button on top of the chat window, and a toggle for audio, which is also present when the visualization is turned off. Merl still plays the speaking animation when muted.

Starting a chat with Merl can be done either via voice input or by typing a question and sending it. After processing the request for a while a response will be given, if successful, an answer will be given, if not, Merl has some generic responses indicating it failed due to a number of factors. The character's speech audio and animation can be interrupted, and the text scroll can instantly finish by clicking the "Stop responding" button while Merl is speaking. 

By not having the input field selected, an icon labeled "New topic" shows up to the left of it. Clicking it will open a pop-up saying "Reset conversation?" and "You'll lose your current chat." with two options, clicking "Reset Now" erases your conversation and starts it anew, clicking "Continue current chat" closes the pop-up.

Besides the introduction text, every text box after has a disclaimer stating "Responses are generated by AI and may include inaccurate information." 
Internet is required to use the bot: if the connection is lost and one attempts to send a message, it will fail with a notification saying "'''Something went wrong''' This feature failed to load. Please try again later.".

=== Responses and content ===
Due to the nature of {{W|large language models}} (LLMs), the responses have the potential to be different every time even for the same question, even if the content is similar, it will slightly reword the same answer.

Merl's LLM is trained on the articles present in the Minecraft Support website, as such, it can struggle with more specific facts and trivia, or other questions not available in the website, being programmed to warn a user if it fails to get an answer. It functions better as a guide to existing topics present within.

When answering a question, it will draw from that database, and if it finds a relevant article, a hyperlink can be shown at the bottom of the message text under "Learn more:", this text is not spoken by Merl.

== Quotes ==
{{Message box
| image = Bot.png
| type = notice
| text = If you notice any of these quotes are outdated, write down and record the new ones with capture date, and move previous version to "older versions".
}}
===Current===
The following are the current set of generic quotes the chatbot uses, its introduction, several responses in case it does not have an answer, and errors;

{| class="wikitable"
|+Current Quotes
!Audio
!Message
!Description
!Date Obtained
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- Im Merl your helpful virtual support agent.ogg|frameless|center]]<ref group="note" name="silent">This text is not spoken when opening a new chat, but Merl can read it if it's asked to repeat the message.</ref>
|Hi there!

I'm Merl, your helpful Minecraft Support Virtual Agent ''(in Beta)'', powered by AI!

I can answer questions you have about the Help Articles on this site.

Let's get you back to crafting!
|Merl's first message already present in the chatbox.
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta">Quote and respective recording obtained on this date. Due to the chatbot being in Beta, and the nature of generative AI, the content of these messages and Merl's voice may change or sound different in the future.</ref>
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- Content policy.mp3|frameless|center]]
|Your last message contains language that violates our content policy. Please reword your response.
|Automatic response if inappropriate language is detected, or if one attempts to bypass the bot's restrictions.
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- I don't know.mp3|frameless|center]]
|I don't know.
|Automatic response if the chatbot doesn't have an answer.
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- I don't know the answer to that.mp3|frameless|center]]
|I don't know the answer to that. Can I help you with a question related to Minecraft?
|Automatic response if a question unrelated to ''Minecraft'' is detected.<ref group="note" name="vague">Although not guaranteed, continued testing granted results with this type of query more often than not.</ref>
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|-
|
|I don't know how to help with that. Can I assist you with a question related to Minecraft Support?
|Automatic response if a help request unrelated to ''Minecraft'' is detected.<ref group="note" name="vague"/>
|
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- Can't assist with that topic.mp3|frameless|center]]
|I can't assist with that topic.
|Automatic response if question is outside the scope of the chatbot.<ref group="note" name="vague"/>
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|-
|
|I can only provide support in English right now. Can I help you with a question related to 'Minecraft Support'?.
|Automatic response if it detects sentences or words in a language besides English.
|
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- Higher Traffic.mp3|frameless|center]]
|We are currently experiencing higher traffic than expected. Please wait a moment and resend your last message.
|Automatic response when servers are overloaded with requests. This was very common around the time of launch due to the amount of people using the AI.
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|}

===Older versions===
The following are older versions of previous quotes the chat bot uses;
{| class="wikitable"
|+Old Quotes
!Audio
!Message
!Description
!Date Obtained
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- I don't know how to help with that.mp3|frameless|center]]
|I don't know how to help with that. Can I assist you with a question related to Minecraft?
|Automatic response if a help request unrelated to ''Minecraft'' is detected.<ref group="note" name="vague"/>
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|-
|[[File:Merl- Minecraft Support Virtual Agent- Only English.mp3|frameless|center]]
|I can only provide support in English right now. Can I help you with a question related to 'Minecraft?.
|Automatic response if it detects sentences or words in a language besides English.
|October 28, 2025<ref group="note" name="beta"/>
|}
{{notelist}}
== History ==
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|Minecraft Support Virtual Agent}}
|{{HistoryLine||2025|dev=August 29|link=none|slink=none|[[File:Merl chat window October 2025.png|128px]] The chatbot is first introduced and initially had a gray background.|[[File:Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render.png|32px]] Merl is added.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=December 13|link=none|slink=none|[[File:Merl chat window.png|128px]] The background has now been changed.|[[File:Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render MCH2.png|32px]] Updated Merl texture.}}
|{{HistoryLine||2026|dev=March|link=none|slink=none|Responses changed to specify the bot can help with "Minecraft Support" instead of just "Minecraft".}}
}}

== Trivia ==
* The background image of Merl's Workshop is actually a 3D model rather than just an image file.<ref>Merl's Workshop 3D Model: <nowiki>https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Workshop_01.glb</nowiki> (remove the square brackets in the "[.]") <!--
For a staff reading this, please modify it with this, but remove the square brackets around the "[.]" (I can't do it because of the spam filter):{{cite|url=https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Workshop_01.glb|title=Merl's Workshop 3D Model|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251220032044/https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Workshop_01.glb}} --></ref>
** Merl's Workshop has details not visible normally, such as their [[Minecraft:cat]] [[Minecraft:Peanut Butter]], broken glasses on the [[Minecraft:crafting table]], and a [[Minecraft:hanging sign]] reading "#FreeMerl."
** The textures used for the workshop are similar, if not exactly identical, to the textures used in [[Minecraft:trailers]].
*** Some textures use the default textures as seen in the game, and all 16×16 textures appear to be centered within an 18×18 area; the extra 1px border appears to have been filled, presumably to help seams render as solid rather than appear transparent.

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="pixel-image">
File:Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render MCH2.png|Render of Merl
File:Merl Workshop Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render.png|Merl Workshop
File:Merl buttons.png|Buttons on help.minecraft.net used to initiate a chat with Merl
File:Merl chat window October 2025.png|Old screenshot of the chat window
File:Example of chatting.mp4|A video that chatting with a virtual agent
File:Merl example vandalism.png|An example of putting nonsense in the virtual agent
File:Merl refusing to answer a question.png|An example of Merl not answering a question
File:Merlsworkshop peanutButter.png|[[Minecraft:Peanut Butter]]
File:Merlsworkshop freemerl.png|Free Merl
File:Merlsworkshop glassesrepairproject.png|Broken Glasses
</gallery>
=== Development renders ===
<gallery class="pixel-image">
Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render.png|Render of Merl
Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Idle.gif|Merl idling
Merl Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Listening.gif|Merl listening
Merl with Glasses Minecraft Support Virtual Agent Render.png|Merl with glasses (included in the model file but unused in early versions, and later entirely removed)
</gallery>

=== Textures ===
<gallery class="pixel-image">
workshopTextureAtlas.png|Merl Workshop
Merl-Skin.png|Merl's skin
Merl-Hair.png|Merl's hair
Merl-Backpack.png|Merl's backpack
Merl-Face.png|Merl's face
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* Merl 3D Model: <nowiki>https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Char_Rig_04.glb</nowiki> (remove the square brackets in the "[.]") <!--
For a staff reading this, please modify it with this, but remove the square brackets around the "[.]" (I can't do it because of the spam filter): {{cite|url=https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Char_Rig_04.glb|title=Merl 3D Model|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251220032224/https://xsvabundleprod-c4b3d4etadb8dxha.b02.azurefd[.]net/assets/models/Merl_Char_Rig_04.glb}} -->

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