Invocations

Everything in {{Name(args)}} syntax is an invocation. There are three kinds: keyword invocations that control dialogue structure, standard invocations that ship with Ibralogue, and custom invocations that you write yourself.

Keyword Invocations

Keyword invocations are structural -- they shape which content plays and how the dialogue is organized. They cannot be used inline in text.

Keyword	Purpose
{{ConversationName(name)}}	Defines a named conversation block
{{Jump(target)}}	Jumps to another conversation after the current line
{{If(expr)}} / {{ElseIf(expr)}} / {{Else}} / {{EndIf}}	Conditional flow control
{{Set($var, expr)}}	Assigns a variable
{{Global($var, expr)}}	Declares a global variable
{{Include(asset)}}	Includes another dialogue file

See Conversations, Conditionals, and Variables for details.

Standard Invocations

Ibralogue ships with built-in invocations for common tasks. These can be placed on their own line (fires at line start) or inline in text (fires at that point in the text):

Invocation	Description
{{Image(path)}}	Changes the speaker portrait via the PortraitImagePlugin.
{{Audio(clipId)}}	Plays an audio clip via the engine's IAudioProvider.
{{Wait(seconds)}}	Pauses the display for the given duration.
{{Speed(multiplier)}}	Changes the text reveal speed for the current line. 2 = twice as fast, 0.5 = half speed. Resets to the configured default on the next line. Affects animated views only.
{{PauseEngine}}	Pauses the engine. Call ResumeConversation() from code to continue. Use this to hand control to external systems.
{{ResumeEngine}}	Resumes a paused engine from within dialogue.
{{MarkVisited(key)}}	Marks a key as visited. Check with Visited("key") in conditionals.

[NPC]
{{Image(Portraits/Happy)}}
{{Audio(Voiceover/greeting)}}
Hello there!

[NPC]
And the winner is... {{Wait(2)}} you!

[NPC]
Hello! {{Image(Portraits/Surprised)}} I didn't expect that!

{{Wait(seconds)}} and {{Speed(multiplier)}} are meaningful with animated dialogue views like the typewriter or punch views. With views that display text instantly, Wait still inserts a timed pause but Speed has no effect.

Custom Invocations

Any C# method with the [DialogueInvocation] attribute can be called from dialogue. Both static methods and instance methods on MonoBehaviours are supported.

Static invocations work from anywhere:

[DialogueInvocation]
public static void Die()
{
    Debug.Log("Dead.");
}

[NPC]
Time to die.
{{Die}}

Instance invocations are discovered on MonoBehaviours attached to the same GameObject as the dialogue engine. This lets invocations access serialized fields and scene references directly:

public class QuestTracker : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private QuestDatabase quests;

    [DialogueInvocation]
    public bool HasQuest(string questId)
    {
        return quests.IsComplete(questId);
    }
}

{{If(HasQuest("FindSword"))}}
[NPC]
I see you found the sword.
{{EndIf}}

Invocations that Return Strings

If an invocation returns a string, the return value is inserted into the dialogue text at the position of the invocation. These always fire before the line is displayed so that the full text is known upfront.

[DialogueInvocation]
public static string GetDay()
{
    return System.DateTime.Now.DayOfWeek.ToString();
}

[NPC]
Today is {{GetDay}}.

The player sees "Today is Wednesday." (or whichever day it is).

Accessing the Engine

An invocation can optionally accept a DialogueEngineBase parameter to access the engine API:

[DialogueInvocation]
public static void PauseForDrama(DialogueEngineBase engine)
{
    engine.PauseConversation();
}

Async Invocations

If an invocation returns IEnumerator, the engine automatically yields on it, blocking the dialogue until the coroutine finishes. This is useful for cutscenes, animations, or any work that takes time:

[DialogueInvocation]
public IEnumerator PlayCutscene(string name)
{
    yield return CutsceneManager.Play(name);
}

[>>]
{{PlayCutscene(intro)}}

[NPC]
That was something!

The engine pauses the text reveal (if active) while the coroutine runs, then resumes. On silent lines ([>>]), the engine waits for the coroutine to finish before advancing.

This is different from {{Wait(seconds)}} which only pauses the text animation for a fixed duration, and from {{PauseEngine}} which halts the engine until ResumeConversation() is called manually. Async invocations express their own duration naturally.

Variables as Arguments

Variables are resolved inside invocation arguments:

[NPC]
You received {{GiveItem($REWARD)}}.

If REWARD is "Sword", GiveItem receives "Sword".

Discovery

Static methods are discovered by scanning assemblies. By default, Ibralogue searches Assembly-CSharp and its own assembly. Configure this on the dialogue engine component:

• Search All Assemblies: Enable this to search every loaded assembly.
• Included Assemblies: Add specific assembly names to the search list.

Instance methods are discovered on MonoBehaviours attached to the engine's own GameObject automatically. For components on other GameObjects, drag them into the engine's Invocation Providers array.