diff --git a/public/scripts/group-chats.js b/public/scripts/group-chats.js
index 1152b2471..86e36bead 100644
--- a/public/scripts/group-chats.js
+++ b/public/scripts/group-chats.js
@@ -275,6 +275,17 @@ export function getGroupMembers(groupId = selected_group) {
     return group?.members.map(member => characters.find(x => x.avatar === member)) ?? [];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Retrieves the member names of a group. If the group is not selected, an empty array is returned.
+ * @returns {string[]} An array of character names representing the members of the group.
+ */
+export function getGroupNames() {
+    const groupMembers = selected_group ? groups.find(x => x.id == selected_group)?.members : null;
+    return Array.isArray(groupMembers)
+        ? groupMembers.map(x => characters.find(y => y.avatar === x)?.name).filter(x => x)
+        : [];
+}
+
 /**
  * Finds the character ID for a group member.
  * @param {string} arg 0-based member index or character name
diff --git a/public/scripts/openai.js b/public/scripts/openai.js
index 8edc3c682..914d6d24a 100644
--- a/public/scripts/openai.js
+++ b/public/scripts/openai.js
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import {
     system_message_types,
     this_chid,
 } from '../script.js';
-import { groups, selected_group } from './group-chats.js';
+import { getGroupNames, selected_group } from './group-chats.js';
 
 import {
     chatCompletionDefaultPrompts,
@@ -543,10 +543,7 @@ function setupChatCompletionPromptManager(openAiSettings) {
  * @returns {Message[]} Array of message objects
  */
 export function parseExampleIntoIndividual(messageExampleString, appendNamesForGroup = true) {
-    const groupMembers = selected_group ? groups.find(x => x.id == selected_group)?.members : null;
-    const groupBotNames = Array.isArray(groupMembers)
-        ? groupMembers.map(x => characters.find(y => y.avatar === x)?.name).filter(x => x).map(x => `${x}:`)
-        : [];
+    const groupBotNames = getGroupNames().map(name => `${name}:`);
 
     let result = []; // array of msgs
     let tmp = messageExampleString.split('\n');
@@ -1877,6 +1874,7 @@ async function sendOpenAIRequest(type, messages, signal) {
         'n': canMultiSwipe ? oai_settings.n : undefined,
         'user_name': name1,
         'char_name': name2,
+        'group_names': getGroupNames(),
     };
 
     // Empty array will produce a validation error
diff --git a/src/endpoints/backends/chat-completions.js b/src/endpoints/backends/chat-completions.js
index 519371ad4..64e6ab345 100644
--- a/src/endpoints/backends/chat-completions.js
+++ b/src/endpoints/backends/chat-completions.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
     mergeMessages,
     cachingAtDepthForOpenRouterClaude,
     cachingAtDepthForClaude,
+    getPromptNames,
 } from '../../prompt-converters.js';
 
 import { readSecret, SECRET_KEYS } from '../secrets.js';
@@ -55,17 +56,16 @@ const API_NANOGPT = 'https://nano-gpt.com/api/v1';
  * Applies a post-processing step to the generated messages.
  * @param {object[]} messages Messages to post-process
  * @param {string} type Prompt conversion type
- * @param {string} charName Character name
- * @param {string} userName User name
+ * @param {import('../../prompt-converters.js').PromptNames} names Prompt names
  * @returns
  */
-function postProcessPrompt(messages, type, charName, userName) {
+function postProcessPrompt(messages, type, names) {
     switch (type) {
         case 'merge':
         case 'claude':
-            return mergeMessages(messages, charName, userName, false);
+            return mergeMessages(messages, names, false);
         case 'strict':
-            return mergeMessages(messages, charName, userName, true);
+            return mergeMessages(messages, names, true);
         default:
             return messages;
     }
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ async function sendClaudeRequest(request, response) {
         const additionalHeaders = {};
         const useTools = request.body.model.startsWith('claude-3') && Array.isArray(request.body.tools) && request.body.tools.length > 0;
         const useSystemPrompt = (request.body.model.startsWith('claude-2') || request.body.model.startsWith('claude-3')) && request.body.claude_use_sysprompt;
-        const convertedPrompt = convertClaudeMessages(request.body.messages, request.body.assistant_prefill, useSystemPrompt, useTools, request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+        const convertedPrompt = convertClaudeMessages(request.body.messages, request.body.assistant_prefill, useSystemPrompt, useTools, getPromptNames(request));
         // Add custom stop sequences
         const stopSequences = [];
         if (Array.isArray(request.body.stop)) {
@@ -282,9 +282,9 @@ async function sendMakerSuiteRequest(request, response) {
             model.includes('gemini-1.5-flash') ||
             model.includes('gemini-1.5-pro') ||
             model.startsWith('gemini-exp')
-          ) && request.body.use_makersuite_sysprompt;
+        ) && request.body.use_makersuite_sysprompt;
 
-        const prompt = convertGooglePrompt(request.body.messages, model, should_use_system_prompt, request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+        const prompt = convertGooglePrompt(request.body.messages, model, should_use_system_prompt, getPromptNames(request));
         let body = {
             contents: prompt.contents,
             safetySettings: GEMINI_SAFETY,
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ async function sendAI21Request(request, response) {
     request.socket.on('close', function () {
         controller.abort();
     });
-    const convertedPrompt = convertAI21Messages(request.body.messages, request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+    const convertedPrompt = convertAI21Messages(request.body.messages, getPromptNames(request));
     const body = {
         messages: convertedPrompt,
         model: request.body.model,
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ async function sendMistralAIRequest(request, response) {
     }
 
     try {
-        const messages = convertMistralMessages(request.body.messages, request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+        const messages = convertMistralMessages(request.body.messages, getPromptNames(request));
         const controller = new AbortController();
         request.socket.removeAllListeners('close');
         request.socket.on('close', function () {
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ async function sendCohereRequest(request, response) {
     }
 
     try {
-        const convertedHistory = convertCohereMessages(request.body.messages, request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+        const convertedHistory = convertCohereMessages(request.body.messages, getPromptNames(request));
         const tools = [];
 
         if (Array.isArray(request.body.tools) && request.body.tools.length > 0) {
@@ -886,15 +886,14 @@ router.post('/generate', jsonParser, function (request, response) {
             request.body.messages = postProcessPrompt(
                 request.body.messages,
                 request.body.custom_prompt_post_processing,
-                request.body.char_name,
-                request.body.user_name);
+                getPromptNames(request));
         }
     } else if (request.body.chat_completion_source === CHAT_COMPLETION_SOURCES.PERPLEXITY) {
         apiUrl = API_PERPLEXITY;
         apiKey = readSecret(request.user.directories, SECRET_KEYS.PERPLEXITY);
         headers = {};
         bodyParams = {};
-        request.body.messages = postProcessPrompt(request.body.messages, 'strict', request.body.char_name, request.body.user_name);
+        request.body.messages = postProcessPrompt(request.body.messages, 'strict', getPromptNames(request));
     } else if (request.body.chat_completion_source === CHAT_COMPLETION_SOURCES.GROQ) {
         apiUrl = API_GROQ;
         apiKey = readSecret(request.user.directories, SECRET_KEYS.GROQ);
diff --git a/src/prompt-converters.js b/src/prompt-converters.js
index 47f5989cc..cdee18d48 100644
--- a/src/prompt-converters.js
+++ b/src/prompt-converters.js
@@ -3,6 +3,30 @@ import { getConfigValue } from './util.js';
 
 const PROMPT_PLACEHOLDER = getConfigValue('promptPlaceholder', 'Let\'s get started.');
 
+/**
+ * @typedef {object} PromptNames
+ * @property {string} charName Character name
+ * @property {string} userName User name
+ * @property {string[]} groupNames Group member names
+ * @property {function(string): boolean} startsFromGroupName Check if a message starts with a group name
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Extracts the character name, user name, and group member names from the request.
+ * @param {import('express').Request} request Express request object
+ * @returns {PromptNames} Prompt names
+ */
+export function getPromptNames(request) {
+    return {
+        charName: String(request.body.char_name || ''),
+        userName: String(request.body.user_name || ''),
+        groupNames: Array.isArray(request.body.group_names) ? request.body.group_names.map(String) : [],
+        startsFromGroupName: function (message) {
+            return this.groupNames.some(name => message.startsWith(`${name}: `));
+        },
+    };
+}
+
 /**
  * Convert a prompt from the ChatML objects to the format used by Claude.
  * Mainly deprecated. Only used for counting tokens.
@@ -91,10 +115,10 @@ export function convertClaudePrompt(messages, addAssistantPostfix, addAssistantP
  * @param {string}   prefillString User determined prefill string
  * @param {boolean}  useSysPrompt See if we want to use a system prompt
  * @param {boolean}  useTools See if we want to use tools
- * @param {string}   charName Character name
- * @param {string}   userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
+ * @returns {{messages: object[], systemPrompt: object[]}} Prompt for Anthropic
  */
-export function convertClaudeMessages(messages, prefillString, useSysPrompt, useTools, charName, userName) {
+export function convertClaudeMessages(messages, prefillString, useSysPrompt, useTools, names) {
     let systemPrompt = [];
     if (useSysPrompt) {
         // Collect all the system messages up until the first instance of a non-system message, and then remove them from the messages array.
@@ -104,14 +128,14 @@ export function convertClaudeMessages(messages, prefillString, useSysPrompt, use
                 break;
             }
             // Append example names if not already done by the frontend (e.g. for group chats).
-            if (userName && messages[i].name === 'example_user') {
-                if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                    messages[i].content = `${userName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
+            if (names.userName && messages[i].name === 'example_user') {
+                if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                    messages[i].content = `${names.userName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
                 }
             }
-            if (charName && messages[i].name === 'example_assistant') {
-                if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                    messages[i].content = `${charName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
+            if (names.charName && messages[i].name === 'example_assistant') {
+                if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(messages[i].content)) {
+                    messages[i].content = `${names.charName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
                 }
             }
             systemPrompt.push({ type: 'text', text: messages[i].content });
@@ -151,11 +175,15 @@ export function convertClaudeMessages(messages, prefillString, useSysPrompt, use
         }
 
         if (message.role === 'system') {
-            if (userName && message.name === 'example_user') {
-                message.content = `${userName}: ${message.content}`;
+            if (names.userName && message.name === 'example_user') {
+                if (!message.content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                    message.content = `${names.userName}: ${message.content}`;
+                }
             }
-            if (charName && message.name === 'example_assistant') {
-                message.content = `${charName}: ${message.content}`;
+            if (names.charName && message.name === 'example_assistant') {
+                if (!message.content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(message.content)) {
+                    message.content = `${names.charName}: ${message.content}`;
+                }
             }
             message.role = 'user';
 
@@ -274,11 +302,10 @@ export function convertClaudeMessages(messages, prefillString, useSysPrompt, use
 /**
  * Convert a prompt from the ChatML objects to the format used by Cohere.
  * @param {object[]} messages Array of messages
- * @param {string}   charName Character name
- * @param {string}   userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
  * @returns {{chatHistory: object[]}} Prompt for Cohere
  */
-export function convertCohereMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
+export function convertCohereMessages(messages, names) {
     if (messages.length === 0) {
         messages.unshift({
             role: 'user',
@@ -299,13 +326,13 @@ export function convertCohereMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
         // No names support (who would've thought)
         if (msg.name) {
             if (msg.role == 'system' && msg.name == 'example_assistant') {
-                if (charName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                    msg.content = `${charName}: ${msg.content}`;
+                if (names.charName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(msg.content)) {
+                    msg.content = `${names.charName}: ${msg.content}`;
                 }
             }
             if (msg.role == 'system' && msg.name == 'example_user') {
-                if (userName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                    msg.content = `${userName}: ${msg.content}`;
+                if (names.userName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                    msg.content = `${names.userName}: ${msg.content}`;
                 }
             }
             if (msg.role !== 'system' && !msg.content.startsWith(`${msg.name}: `)) {
@@ -328,12 +355,10 @@ export function convertCohereMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
  * @param {object[]} messages Array of messages
  * @param {string} model Model name
  * @param {boolean} useSysPrompt Use system prompt
- * @param {string} charName Character name
- * @param {string} userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
  * @returns {{contents: *[], system_instruction: {parts: {text: string}}}} Prompt for Google MakerSuite models
  */
-export function convertGooglePrompt(messages, model, useSysPrompt = false, charName = '', userName = '') {
-
+export function convertGooglePrompt(messages, model, useSysPrompt, names) {
     const visionSupportedModels = [
         'gemini-2.0-flash-exp',
         'gemini-1.5-flash',
@@ -356,20 +381,19 @@ export function convertGooglePrompt(messages, model, useSysPrompt = false, charN
     ];
 
     const isMultimodal = visionSupportedModels.includes(model);
-    let hasImage = false;
 
     let sys_prompt = '';
     if (useSysPrompt) {
         while (messages.length > 1 && messages[0].role === 'system') {
             // Append example names if not already done by the frontend (e.g. for group chats).
-            if (userName && messages[0].name === 'example_user') {
-                if (!messages[0].content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                    messages[0].content = `${userName}: ${messages[0].content}`;
+            if (names.userName && messages[0].name === 'example_user') {
+                if (!messages[0].content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                    messages[0].content = `${names.userName}: ${messages[0].content}`;
                 }
             }
-            if (charName && messages[0].name === 'example_assistant') {
-                if (!messages[0].content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                    messages[0].content = `${charName}: ${messages[0].content}`;
+            if (names.charName && messages[0].name === 'example_assistant') {
+                if (!messages[0].content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(messages[0].content)) {
+                    messages[0].content = `${names.charName}: ${messages[0].content}`;
                 }
             }
             sys_prompt += `${messages[0].content}\n\n`;
@@ -388,53 +412,62 @@ export function convertGooglePrompt(messages, model, useSysPrompt = false, charN
             message.role = 'model';
         }
 
+        // Convert the content to an array of parts
+        if (!Array.isArray(message.content)) {
+            message.content = [{ type: 'text', text: String(message.content ?? '') }];
+        }
+
         // similar story as claude
         if (message.name) {
-            if (userName && message.name === 'example_user') {
-                message.name = userName;
-            }
-            if (charName && message.name === 'example_assistant') {
-                message.name = charName;
-            }
-
-            if (Array.isArray(message.content)) {
-                if (!message.content[0].text.startsWith(`${message.name}: `)) {
-                    message.content[0].text = `${message.name}: ${message.content[0].text}`;
+            message.content.forEach((part) => {
+                if (part.type !== 'text') {
+                    return;
                 }
-            } else {
-                if (!message.content.startsWith(`${message.name}: `)) {
-                    message.content = `${message.name}: ${message.content}`;
+                if (message.name === 'example_user') {
+                    if (!part.text.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                        part.text = `${names.userName}: ${part.text}`;
+                    }
+                } else if (message.name === 'example_assistant') {
+                    if (!part.text.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(part.text)) {
+                        part.text = `${names.charName}: ${part.text}`;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    if (!part.text.startsWith(`${message.name}: `)) {
+                        part.text = `${message.name}: ${part.text}`;
+                    }
                 }
-            }
+            });
 
             delete message.name;
         }
 
         //create the prompt parts
         const parts = [];
-        if (typeof message.content === 'string') {
-            parts.push({ text: message.content });
-        } else if (Array.isArray(message.content)) {
-            message.content.forEach((part) => {
-                if (part.type === 'text') {
-                    parts.push({ text: part.text });
-                } else if (part.type === 'image_url' && isMultimodal) {
-                    const mimeType = part.image_url.url.split(';')[0].split(':')[1];
-                    const base64Data = part.image_url.url.split(',')[1];
-                    parts.push({
-                        inlineData: {
-                            mimeType: mimeType,
-                            data: base64Data,
-                        },
-                    });
-                    hasImage = true;
-                }
-            });
-        }
+        message.content.forEach((part) => {
+            if (part.type === 'text') {
+                parts.push({ text: part.text });
+            } else if (part.type === 'image_url' && isMultimodal) {
+                const mimeType = part.image_url.url.split(';')[0].split(':')[1];
+                const base64Data = part.image_url.url.split(',')[1];
+                parts.push({
+                    inlineData: {
+                        mimeType: mimeType,
+                        data: base64Data,
+                    },
+                });
+            }
+        });
 
         // merge consecutive messages with the same role
         if (index > 0 && message.role === contents[contents.length - 1].role) {
-            contents[contents.length - 1].parts[0].text += '\n\n' + parts[0].text;
+            parts.forEach((part) => {
+                if (part.text) {
+                    contents[contents.length - 1].parts[0].text += '\n\n' + part.text;
+                }
+                if (part.inlineData) {
+                    contents[contents.length - 1].parts.push(part);
+                }
+            });
         } else {
             contents.push({
                 role: message.role,
@@ -449,10 +482,10 @@ export function convertGooglePrompt(messages, model, useSysPrompt = false, charN
 /**
  * Convert AI21 prompt. Classic: system message squash, user/assistant message merge.
  * @param {object[]} messages Array of messages
- * @param {string} charName Character name
- * @param {string} userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
+ * @returns {object[]} Prompt for AI21
  */
-export function convertAI21Messages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
+export function convertAI21Messages(messages, names) {
     if (!Array.isArray(messages)) {
         return [];
     }
@@ -465,14 +498,14 @@ export function convertAI21Messages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
             break;
         }
         // Append example names if not already done by the frontend (e.g. for group chats).
-        if (userName && messages[i].name === 'example_user') {
-            if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                messages[i].content = `${userName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
+        if (names.userName && messages[i].name === 'example_user') {
+            if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                messages[i].content = `${names.userName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
             }
         }
-        if (charName && messages[i].name === 'example_assistant') {
-            if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                messages[i].content = `${charName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
+        if (names.charName && messages[i].name === 'example_assistant') {
+            if (!messages[i].content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(messages[i].content)) {
+                messages[i].content = `${names.charName}: ${messages[i].content}`;
             }
         }
         systemPrompt += `${messages[i].content}\n\n`;
@@ -521,10 +554,10 @@ export function convertAI21Messages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
 /**
  * Convert a prompt from the ChatML objects to the format used by MistralAI.
  * @param {object[]} messages Array of messages
- * @param {string} charName Character name
- * @param {string} userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
+ * @returns {object[]} Prompt for MistralAI
  */
-export function convertMistralMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
+export function convertMistralMessages(messages, names) {
     if (!Array.isArray(messages)) {
         return [];
     }
@@ -549,15 +582,15 @@ export function convertMistralMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
             msg.tool_call_id = sanitizeToolId(msg.tool_call_id);
         }
         if (msg.role === 'system' && msg.name === 'example_assistant') {
-            if (charName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                msg.content = `${charName}: ${msg.content}`;
+            if (names.charName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(msg.content)) {
+                msg.content = `${names.charName}: ${msg.content}`;
             }
             delete msg.name;
         }
 
         if (msg.role === 'system' && msg.name === 'example_user') {
-            if (userName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                msg.content = `${userName}: ${msg.content}`;
+            if (names.userName && !msg.content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                msg.content = `${names.userName}: ${msg.content}`;
             }
             delete msg.name;
         }
@@ -603,12 +636,11 @@ export function convertMistralMessages(messages, charName = '', userName = '') {
 /**
  * Merge messages with the same consecutive role, removing names if they exist.
  * @param {any[]} messages Messages to merge
- * @param {string} charName Character name
- * @param {string} userName User name
+ * @param {PromptNames} names Prompt names
  * @param {boolean} strict Enable strict mode: only allow one system message at the start, force user first message
  * @returns {any[]} Merged messages
  */
-export function mergeMessages(messages, charName, userName, strict) {
+export function mergeMessages(messages, names, strict) {
     let mergedMessages = [];
 
     /** @type {Map<string,object>} */
@@ -636,13 +668,13 @@ export function mergeMessages(messages, charName, userName, strict) {
             message.content = text;
         }
         if (message.role === 'system' && message.name === 'example_assistant') {
-            if (charName && !message.content.startsWith(`${charName}: `)) {
-                message.content = `${charName}: ${message.content}`;
+            if (names.charName && !message.content.startsWith(`${names.charName}: `) && !names.startsFromGroupName(message.content)) {
+                message.content = `${names.charName}: ${message.content}`;
             }
         }
         if (message.role === 'system' && message.name === 'example_user') {
-            if (userName && !message.content.startsWith(`${userName}: `)) {
-                message.content = `${userName}: ${message.content}`;
+            if (names.userName && !message.content.startsWith(`${names.userName}: `)) {
+                message.content = `${names.userName}: ${message.content}`;
             }
         }
         if (message.name && message.role !== 'system') {
@@ -716,7 +748,7 @@ export function mergeMessages(messages, charName, userName, strict) {
                 mergedMessages.unshift({ role: 'user', content: PROMPT_PLACEHOLDER });
             }
         }
-        return mergeMessages(mergedMessages, charName, userName, false);
+        return mergeMessages(mergedMessages, names, false);
     }
 
     return mergedMessages;