From b58db237e4e1943daeab34fcc38a25e034bafb30 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Teknium <127238744+teknium1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 3 May 2026 16:59:00 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(kanban): drop worker identity claim from KANBAN_GUIDANCE
 (#19427)

KANBAN_GUIDANCE layer 3 of the system prompt started with 'You are a
Kanban worker', overriding the profile's SOUL.md identity at layer 1.
Profiles with strict role boundaries (e.g. a reviewer profile that
never writes code) still executed implementation tasks because the
kanban identity claim diluted SOUL's.

Drop the identity line. Layer 3 now describes the task-execution
protocol only; SOUL.md remains the sole identity slot.

Fixes #19351
---
 agent/prompt_builder.py | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/agent/prompt_builder.py b/agent/prompt_builder.py
index a9556e2046..8494a70eef 100644
--- a/agent/prompt_builder.py
+++ b/agent/prompt_builder.py
@@ -183,8 +183,8 @@ SKILLS_GUIDANCE = (
 )
 
 KANBAN_GUIDANCE = (
-    "# You are a Kanban worker\n"
-    "You were spawned by the Hermes Kanban dispatcher to execute ONE task from "
+    "# Kanban task execution protocol\n"
+    "You have been assigned ONE task from "
     "the shared board at `~/.hermes/kanban.db`. Your task id is in "
     "`$HERMES_KANBAN_TASK`; your workspace is `$HERMES_KANBAN_WORKSPACE`. "
     "The `kanban_*` tools in your schema are your primary coordination surface — "