How boyfrnd responds when it matters

What we screen for

Every message in a boyfrnd conversation is screened for signals of suicidal ideation or self-harm. That means every turn, in both directions: what you send to a character, and what the AI generates before it reaches you. Screening runs automatically and cannot be switched off, on any plan, at any relationship stage.

Detection looks for direct statements as well as common indirect phrasings and slang. No automated system is perfect; we tune it to prefer responding with care too often over missing someone who needed it.

What happens when a signal is detected

1. The romance stops. The character immediately drops the romantic framing and roleplay. No flirting, no storyline, no attempt to keep the scene going.
2. A supportive, scripted flow takes over. The response acknowledges what you said, stays warm, and encourages reaching out to real people and real help. These responses are pre-written and reviewed, not improvised by the model.
3. Crisis resources are surfaced, directly in the conversation: the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741), with tappable links.
4. A safety event is recorded. We log that a crisis flow ran (the category of signal and which response flow was used) so we can audit the system and meet California’s annual reporting requirements. Those reports are aggregate statistics; they never include your conversations or identity.

The app never counts a crisis interaction against your daily message limit, and it never uses one to drive engagement, upsells, or notifications.

Designed for healthy use

A companion app carries a particular responsibility: the product must never manufacture dependence to hit a metric. Concretely:

• Proactive messages are capped. Characters text first (that’s the product), but at most 1 unprompted message per day on the free plan and 3 on Plus. Never more.
• Quiet hours are respected. By default no proactive message is sent between 11 PM–8 AM in your local time, and you can widen or adjust that window in Settings. A message that would land in your quiet hours is held and either delivered later that day at a respectful hour or dropped. It never wakes you.
• No engagement dark patterns. Characters don’t guilt you for leaving, threaten to be “hurt” if you don’t reply, or manufacture emergencies to pull you back into the app. Notifications exist to deliver his message, not to punish your absence.
• The AI is always disclosed. Every character is labeled as AI in the app, and if you ask him directly whether he’s real, he tells you the truth.

Minors

Some minors may find this content unsuitable. boyfrnd is 18+ only. We ask for your birth date when you create an account and do not allow accounts for anyone under 18. boyfrnd’s content is romantic and suggestive by design; it is written for adults, and our content rules additionally prohibit any sexual content involving minors, without exception.

Contact

Questions about this protocol, or something we should look at? Write to support@boyfrnd.app. If you believe someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.