Synthetic Session Generator

Synthetic Session Generator

Purpose

Generate fictional but believable coaching/therapy session transcripts that read like real recorded sessions, while remaining clearly synthetic. Outputs feed three jobs: eval datasets (with ground-truth labels to benchmark summarizers and analyzers), product demos (realistic sessions without exposing real client data), and training/prompt examples (few-shot material for a coaching or therapy assistant).

Realism comes from two disciplines: persona consistency (a client speaks the same way, carries the same history and presenting issues across a session arc) and modality fidelity (the practitioner uses the techniques, question forms, and pacing of the chosen framework). Every output is watermarked as synthetic so it can never be mistaken for a real clinical record.

When to Use

Use when a user asks for fake/synthetic/mock/demo coaching or therapy transcripts, eval or test data for session-analysis tools (e.g. the coaching-session-summarizer), few-shot dialogue examples, or persona-consistent session series. Do not use to analyze or summarize a real transcript — that is the job of coaching-session-summarizer or transcript-analyzer.

Workflow

Step 0 — Setup mode (configure defaults)

When the user wants to configure the skill ("setup", "set my defaults", "always use Russian / IFS / 50-minute sessions"), run setup mode. Offer the three choices via AskUserQuestion, then persist them:

• Language — output language for the transcript (en, ru, de, es, fr, pt, it, nl).
• Modality — default framework (icf-grow, cbt, ifs, act-mi).
• Session duration — minutes (e.g. 25 / 50 / 80); mapped to a turn budget (~0.6 turns/min).

python3 scripts/setup_config.py --language ru --modality cbt --duration 50 --show
python3 scripts/setup_config.py --show     # view current defaults

This writes config.json in the skill directory. Later scaffold_session.py runs inherit these defaults, so the user only specifies what differs (e.g. persona and session position). Per-run flags always override the saved config.

Step 1 — Gather the generation spec

Honour the setup-mode defaults (Step 0); only ask for parameters the user hasn't already fixed.

Collect (or infer sensible defaults for) these parameters. Ask only for what materially changes the output; default the rest.

• Use case: eval / demo / training (drives whether ground-truth labels are emitted).
• Modality: icf-grow, cbt, ifs, or act-mi. See references/modalities.md for the technique cheat-sheet, signature moves, and vocabulary of each.
• Persona: pick an existing persona from references/personas.md, or generate a new one and persist it back into that file so a session series stays consistent. A persona = name, demographics, presenting issue, history, speech register, defenses/resistances, goals.
• Session position: intake / early / mid-arc / breakthrough / rupture-and-repair / closing. This sets emotional tone and what prior material is referenced.
• Format: fathom, plain, json, or markdown (see Step 3). Markdown is always produced.
• Language: defaults from setup config; pass --language. Author all dialogue, persona voice, and the watermark-adjacent text in that language; keep eval tag keys in English.
• Duration / length: --duration <minutes> (preferred — maps to a turn budget) or the coarse --length (short ~15 / standard ~30 / long ~50+).

Step 2 — Build the session skeleton, then write the dialogue

Run the scaffolding script to turn the spec into a structured skeleton (phases, beat list, turn budget, JSON shell, and the synthetic watermark):

python3 scripts/scaffold_session.py --modality cbt --persona maya --position mid-arc \
    --length standard --format json --out /tmp/session_skeleton.json

Then write the actual dialogue by hand (model-authored), filling each beat. The script provides structure and guardrails; Claude provides the natural, non-templated language. Key realism rules (full list in references/realism_guide.md):

• Open with logistics/check-in small talk; never jump straight to deep work.
• Give the client disfluencies, hedges, self-interruption, and at least one moment of resistance or avoidance. Real clients don't deliver clean insights on cue.
• Keep the practitioner in-modality: CBT uses thought records and Socratic questioning; IFS uses parts language and "How do you feel toward that part?"; GROW moves Goal→Reality→Options→Will; ACT/MI uses values, defusion, and change talk. Avoid mixing modalities unless depicting eclectic practice deliberately.
• Maintain persona voice: vocabulary, sentence length, and recurring metaphors stay stable.
• End with a summary, a between-session task/experiment, and scheduling.

Step 3 — Render formats (always include markdown)

Author once in the JSON turn structure, then convert. Always render the markdown format (it is the canonical, human-readable artifact); add any other formats the user asked for.

# markdown is always produced:
python3 scripts/convert_format.py --in /tmp/session.json --to markdown --auto-timestamps --out session.md
# plus any requested extras:
python3 scripts/convert_format.py --in /tmp/session.json --to fathom --auto-timestamps --out session.txt

• markdown (always) — Obsidian note with YAML frontmatter (persona id, modality, session position, synthetic flag) above the transcript.
• fathom — speaker-labeled, timestamped lines matching the Fathom/Granola export style, so the transcript flows through existing skills (coaching-session-summarizer, transcript-analyzer).
• plain — simple Coach: / Client: turn-taking markdown.
• json — the source itself: turns with speaker, timestamp, text, and eval tags (technique, emotion, phase); for evals, also the ground_truth block.

Timestamps. Do not hand-invent timestamps. Pass --auto-timestamps so the converter emulates them from each turn's word count (~150 wpm + a short inter-turn gap), keeping timing internally consistent. Tune pace with --wpm. See assets/templates/ for a reference example of each format.

Step 4 — (Optional) Case-conceptualization card with portrait

When the user wants a card summarizing the case (for demos, persona bibles, or eval context), build it from the same session JSON and pair it with a generated portrait:

python3 scripts/make_card.py --in /tmp/session.json --out /tmp/card.md            # scaffold
python3 scripts/make_card.py --in /tmp/session.json --print-prompt                # portrait prompt

1. Run make_card.py to emit the card scaffold (modality-aware formulation skeleton + themes/goals pulled from ground_truth + a watermark + a ready portrait prompt).
2. Fill the <!-- FILL: ... --> blocks with the clinical formulation (model-authored).
3. Generate the portrait with the gpt-image-2 skill using the prompt from --print-prompt. Keep it illustrative, not photoreal — a stylized image cannot be mistaken for a photo of a real person. Then re-run with --image <path> (or edit the card) to embed it.

Step 4b — (Optional) Render the card as an HTML page via tufte-report

When the user wants a shareable HTML page of the case card (portrait + conceptualization), hand the filled card to the tufte-report skill, which produces a standalone Tufte-style HTML file.

1. Build and fill the card (Step 4), including the embedded portrait.
2. Invoke the tufte-report skill with the card's conceptualization as the narrative content and the portrait as a figure. Map card sections to the report: Snapshot/Presenting issue → intro narrative; Formulation → the main 2-column narrative+data section; Working themes and Goals & experiments → a status/dashboard panel; Emotional arc → a sparkline or labelled sequence. Pass the portrait path so it renders as the hero figure.
3. Keep the synthetic watermark visible in the HTML (header or footer), and confirm the output path (default: current working directory) before writing the .html.

The portrait must remain the illustrative, non-photoreal image from Step 4 — the HTML page is for demos and persona bibles, never presented as a real client record.

Step 5 — Watermark and save

Always apply the synthetic watermark — this is non-negotiable. The scaffold script injects it; verify it survived format conversion. Each output must carry, in a location appropriate to its format (frontmatter, JSON metadata, or a header/footer comment):

⚠️ SYNTHETIC — AI-generated fictional session. Not a real person, not clinical advice.

Confirm the save location before writing. Ask the user where to save and state the default — the current working directory (.). Only fall back to /tmp/ for throwaway intermediate scaffolds the user will not keep. Use clear filenames (e.g. <persona>_<modality>_<position>.md). For eval batches, write one file per session into the chosen directory plus a manifest listing personas, modalities, and label coverage.

Limitations and Constraints

• Synthetic only. Never present output as a real session, real person, or clinical record. The watermark is mandatory and must never be stripped, even for demos (use the optional clean-body variant only when the user explicitly confirms, and keep provenance in metadata).
• Not clinical guidance. Generated dialogue is illustrative fiction; it must not be used as a source of therapeutic technique, diagnosis, or advice for real care. Do not reproduce real protocols verbatim or imply clinical validity.
• No real PII. Do not base personas on identifiable real individuals or copy details from real transcripts. If given a real transcript as a style reference, abstract patterns only — never names, specifics, or verbatim content (route true anonymization to session-anonymizer).
• Portraits stay illustrative. Generate card portraits as stylized illustrations, never photorealistic faces — a synthetic illustration cannot be mistaken for a photo of a real person. The card carries its own synthetic watermark; keep it.
• Safety-sensitive content. Crisis, self-harm, abuse, or risk scenarios may be depicted only when the use case clearly warrants it (e.g. red-team evals), must stay clearly fictional and watermarked, and must depict responsible practitioner handling — never operational harmful detail.
• Stay in scope. This skill generates; it does not analyze real sessions. Hand real-transcript summarization to coaching-session-summarizer and anonymization to session-anonymizer.