# Hermes Agent SOUL.md and personalities explained > Use SOUL.md for the durable identity and tone of your agent, /personality for temporary modes, and AGENTS.md for project rules, so each layer does one job. Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/soul-md-and-personalities Section: Learn ยท Models, providers & cost Last reviewed: Oct 20, 2026 Basis: Explained from the official Hermes Agent docs and repository (Nous Research). Steps follow the linked official sources. ## What SOUL.md actually is `SOUL.md` is the first thing in Hermes' system prompt. It is the agent's identity, and it replaces the built-in default identity instead of being added on top of it. Hermes creates a starter file at `~/.hermes/SOUL.md` (strictly, `$HERMES_HOME/SOUL.md`) the first time it runs and never overwrites a file you've already edited. If the file is empty or can't be read, Hermes falls back to its built-in identity. Hermes only loads `SOUL.md` from its home folder, never from the directory you launch it in. That's deliberate: your agent's personality shouldn't change because you `cd` into a different project. Each profile has its own home, so each profile can have its own `SOUL.md`. That's a clean way to run a terse coding agent next to a warmer personal assistant. ## What belongs in it, and what doesn't The docs draw a sharp line here. `SOUL.md` is for things that should follow you everywhere: tone, directness, how to handle uncertainty and disagreement, and what to avoid in style. `AGENTS.md` is for things that belong to one project: architecture, coding conventions, commands, ports, paths and deployment notes. A good test is to ask whether the instruction would still make sense in a completely different folder. If it would, it belongs in `SOUL.md`. - Strong: a few specific lines about voice. For example: be direct, admit uncertainty plainly, push back on weak ideas, keep answers compact unless depth helps. - Weak: generic filler like 'be helpful and clear'. Hermes already does that. - Wrong place: file paths, repo rules, temporary task instructions, or anything that tries to micro-manage the shape of every response. ## A first edit that pays off You don't need a long file. The official guide suggests changing a few lines so the agent sounds like someone you want to work with, then living with it for a few days. A simple structure helps: Identity (who the agent is), Style (how it sounds), Avoid (what it shouldn't do), and Defaults (how it behaves when a request is ambiguous). Edit the file directly, then start a new session to hear the difference. Because `SOUL.md` is your own file, Hermes still scans it for prompt-injection patterns, but a match doesn't block it the way it would block a project `AGENTS.md`. The file still loads, Hermes logs a warning, and `/context` marks the file for review. If you see that warning, read the flagged line rather than ignoring it. ## Personalities are temporary overlays `/personality` switches the agent into a mode for the current conversation without touching your `SOUL.md`. Built-in presets include `helpful`, `concise`, `technical`, `creative` and `teacher`, plus playful ones like `pirate`, `noir` and `shakespeare`. Type `/personality` on its own to list them and see which is active, and use `/personality none` (or `default` or `neutral`) to go back to your base voice. Presets work in the CLI, the TUI, the desktop app and messaging platforms. You can define your own under `agent.personalities` in `config.yaml`. For example, a `codereviewer` entry with a short paragraph describing a meticulous reviewer becomes available as `/personality codereviewer`. Reusing a built-in name overrides that preset. The active selection is stored as a name in `display.personality`, and personalities never change `agent.system_prompt`. ## How the layers stack Roughly, the prompt is built in this order: `SOUL.md` first, then tool guidance, memory and user context, skills guidance, context files such as `AGENTS.md`, the timestamp, platform formatting hints, and finally any overlay such as `/personality`. The recommended setup follows from that order: a thoughtful global `SOUL.md`, project instructions in `AGENTS.md`, and `/personality` only when you want a temporary change of mode. Terminal appearance is a separate setting entirely. `/skin` and `display.skin` change how Hermes looks, not how it talks. ## Related guides - [Hermes Agent memory vs context files vs project notes](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/memory-context-and-project-records.md) - [Hermes Agent ignoring your project instructions](https://hermeswatcher.com/troubleshoot/project-instructions-not-loaded.md) - [Hermes Agent profiles: separate agents for separate jobs](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/profiles-separate-agents.md) - [Hermes Agent setup: your first 24 hours](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/first-24-hours-default-setup.md) ## Related tools - [Carry project knowledge into the next session](https://hermeswatcher.com/workflows/project-knowledge.md) - [Context files: give a project durable instructions](https://hermeswatcher.com/tools/context-files.md) - [CLI: run bounded tasks and inspect the working environment](https://hermeswatcher.com/tools/cli.md) - [Persistent memory: retain compact working knowledge](https://hermeswatcher.com/tools/memory.md) ## Sources - [Personality and SOUL.md (official docs)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/personality) - [Use SOUL.md with Hermes (official guide)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/guides/use-soul-with-hermes) - [Context Files (official docs)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/context-files) --- HermesWatcher is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nous Research. The [official Hermes Agent documentation](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs) and [repository](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) from Nous Research are the authority; each page here lists the official sources it was written from. If this site and the official docs disagree, trust the official docs. Index for agents: https://hermeswatcher.com/llms.txt