diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index af40843..6370c7c 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,8 @@ import {
   OllamaChatResponse,
   PostAncestorsForModel,
 } from "../types.js";
-// import striptags from "striptags";
 import { PrismaClient } from "../generated/prisma/client.js";
 import {
-  // getInstanceEmojis,
   deleteNotification,
   getNotifications,
   getStatusContext,
@@ -19,8 +17,6 @@ import {
   isFromWhitelistedDomain,
   alreadyRespondedTo,
   recordPendingResponse,
-  // trimInputData,
-  // selectRandomEmoji,
   shouldContinue,
 } from "./util.js";
 
@@ -34,7 +30,7 @@ export const envConfig = {
     ? process.env.WHITELISTED_DOMAINS.split(",")
     : [process.env.PLEROMA_INSTANCE_DOMAIN],
   ollamaUrl: process.env.OLLAMA_URL || "",
-  ollamaSystemPrompt: process.env.OLLAMA_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
+  ollamaSystemPrompt: process.env.OLLAMA_SYSTEM_PROMPT || "",
   ollamaModel: process.env.OLLAMA_MODEL || "",
   fetchInterval: process.env.FETCH_INTERVAL
     ? parseInt(process.env.FETCH_INTERVAL)
@@ -48,11 +44,12 @@ export const envConfig = {
 };
 
 const ollamaConfig: OllamaConfigOptions = {
-  temperature: 0.9,
-  top_p: 0.85,
-  top_k: 60,
-  num_ctx: 16384, // maximum context window for Llama 3.1
-  repeat_penalty: 1.1,
+  temperature: 0.85, // Increased from 0.6 - more creative and varied
+  top_p: 0.9, // Slightly increased for more diverse responses
+  top_k: 40,
+  num_ctx: 16384,
+  repeat_penalty: 1.1, // Reduced from 1.15 - less mechanical
+  // stop: ['<|im_end|>', '\n\n']
 };
 
 // this could be helpful
@@ -82,47 +79,42 @@ const generateOllamaRequest = async (
       let conversationHistory: PostAncestorsForModel[] = [];
       if (replyWithContext) {
         const contextPosts = await getStatusContext(notification.status.id);
-        if (!contextPosts?.ancestors || !contextPosts) {
+        if (!contextPosts?.ancestors) {
           throw new Error(`Unable to obtain post context ancestors.`);
         }
-        conversationHistory = contextPosts.ancestors.map((ancestor) => {
-          const mentions = ancestor.mentions.map((mention) => mention.acct);
-          return {
-            account_fqn: ancestor.account.fqn,
-            mentions,
-            plaintext_content: ancestor.pleroma.content["text/plain"],
-          };
-        });
-        // console.log(conversationHistory);
+        conversationHistory = contextPosts.ancestors.map((ancestor) => ({
+          account_fqn: ancestor.account.fqn,
+          mentions: ancestor.mentions.map((mention) => mention.acct),
+          plaintext_content: ancestor.pleroma.content["text/plain"],
+        }));
       }
 
-      // Simplified user message (remove [/INST] as it's not needed for Llama 3)
-      const userMessage = `${notification.status.account.fqn} says to you: \"${notification.status.pleroma.content["text/plain"]}\".`;
+      const userMessage = notification.status.pleroma.content["text/plain"];
 
       let systemContent = ollamaSystemPrompt;
       if (replyWithContext) {
-        // Simplified context instructions (avoid heavy JSON; summarize for clarity)
-        systemContent = `${ollamaSystemPrompt}\n\nPrevious conversation context:\n${conversationHistory
-          .map(
-            (post) =>
-              `${post.account_fqn} (said to ${post.mentions.join(", ")}): ${
-                post.plaintext_content
-              }`
-          )
-          .join(
-            "\n"
-          )}\nReply to the user who addressed you (you are Lexi, also known as nice-ai or nice-ai@nicecrew.digital). Examine the context of the entire conversation and make references to topics or information where appropriate. Prefix usernames with '@' when addressing them. Assume if there is no domain in the username, the domain is @nicecrew.digital (for example @matty would be @matty@nicecrew.digital)`;
+        systemContent = `${ollamaSystemPrompt}
+Previous conversation (JSON format):
+${JSON.stringify(conversationHistory, null, 2)}
+
+Instructions:
+- Each entry shows: account_fqn (who posted), mentions (tagged users), and plaintext_content (message)
+- The first mention is the direct recipient
+- Address users with @ before their names
+- Use markdown formatting and emojis sparingly`;
       }
 
-      // Switch to chat request format (messages array auto-handles Llama 3 template)
       const ollamaRequestBody: OllamaChatRequest = {
         model: ollamaModel,
         messages: [
-          { role: "system", content: systemContent as string },
+          { role: "system", content: systemContent },
           { role: "user", content: userMessage },
         ],
         stream: false,
-        options: ollamaConfig,
+        options: {
+          ...ollamaConfig,
+          stop: ["<|im_end|>", "\n\n"],
+        },
       };
 
       // Change endpoint to /api/chat
@@ -145,16 +137,12 @@ const postReplyToStatus = async (
   ollamaResponseBody: OllamaChatResponse
 ) => {
   const { pleromaInstanceUrl, bearerToken } = envConfig;
-  // const emojiList = await getInstanceEmojis();
-  // let randomEmoji;
-  // if (emojiList) {
-  //   randomEmoji = selectRandomEmoji(emojiList);
-  // }
+
   try {
     let mentions: string[];
     const statusBody: NewStatusBody = {
       content_type: "text/markdown",
-      status: `${ollamaResponseBody.message.content}`,
+      status: ollamaResponseBody.message.content,
       in_reply_to_id: notification.status.id,
     };
     if (
@@ -198,10 +186,17 @@ const createTimelinePost = async () => {
     model: ollamaModel,
     messages: [
       { role: "system", content: ollamaSystemPrompt as string },
-      { role: "user", content: "Say something random." },
+      {
+        role: "user",
+        content:
+          "Make a post about something. Keep your tone authentic, as if you are a real person making a post about a topic that interests you on a microblogging platform. This can be about anything like politics, gardening, homesteading, your favorite animal, a fun fact, what happened during your day, seeking companionship, baking, cooking, et cetera. Do not format the post with a title or quotes, nor sign the post with your name. It will be posted to your timeline so everyone will know you said it.",
+      },
     ],
     stream: false,
-    options: ollamaConfig,
+    options: {
+      ...ollamaConfig,
+      stop: ["<|start_header_id|>", "<|end_header_id|>", "<|eot_id|>"],
+    },
   };
   try {
     const response = await fetch(`${ollamaUrl}/api/chat`, {
@@ -277,6 +272,11 @@ console.log(
     envConfig.fetchInterval / 1000
   } seconds.`
 );
+console.log(
+  `Making ad-hoc post to ${envConfig.pleromaInstanceDomain}, every ${
+    envConfig.adHocPostInterval / 1000 / 60
+  } minutes.`
+);
 console.log(
   `Accepting prompts from: ${envConfig.whitelistedDomains.join(", ")}`
 );
@@ -288,7 +288,4 @@ console.log(
 console.log(`System prompt: ${envConfig.ollamaSystemPrompt}`);
 
 await beginFetchCycle();
-// setInterval(async () => {
-//   createTimelinePost();
-// }, 10000);
 await beginStatusPostInterval();