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docs: document SOUL.md as primary agent identity (#1927)

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Update all SOUL.md documentation to reflect that it now occupies
slot #1 in the system prompt, replacing the hardcoded default identity.

Updated pages:
- user-guide/features/personality.md — SOUL.md is primary identity, not just a layer
- developer-guide/prompt-assembly.md — updated prompt layer order, context files list
- guides/use-soul-with-hermes.md — SOUL.md replaces built-in identity
- user-guide/configuration.md — updated context files table and directory tree

Co-authored-by: Test <test@test.com>
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Teknium 2026-03-18 04:18:08 -07:00 • committed by GitHub
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8
website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
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@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ All settings are stored in the `~/.hermes/` directory for easy access.
├── config.yaml # Settings (model, terminal, TTS, compression, etc.)
├── .env # API keys and secrets
├── auth.json # OAuth provider credentials (Nous Portal, etc.)
├── SOUL.md # Optional: global persona (agent embodies this personality)
├── SOUL.md # Primary agent identity (slot #1 in system prompt)
├── memories/ # Persistent memory (MEMORY.md, USER.md)
├── skills/ # Agent-created skills (managed via skill_manage tool)
├── cron/ # Scheduled jobs
@ -1318,15 +1318,15 @@ Hermes uses two different context scopes:
| File | Purpose | Scope |
|------|---------|-------|
| `SOUL.md` | **Primary agent identity** — defines who the agent is (slot #1 in the system prompt) | `~/.hermes/SOUL.md` or `$HERMES_HOME/SOUL.md` |
| `AGENTS.md` | Project-specific instructions, coding conventions | Working directory / project tree |
| `SOUL.md` | Default persona for this Hermes instance | `~/.hermes/SOUL.md` or `$HERMES_HOME/SOUL.md` |
| `.cursorrules` | Cursor IDE rules (also detected) | Working directory |
| `.cursor/rules/*.mdc` | Cursor rule files (also detected) | Working directory |
- **SOUL.md** is the agent's primary identity. It occupies slot #1 in the system prompt, completely replacing the built-in default identity. Edit it to fully customize who the agent is.
- If SOUL.md is missing, empty, or cannot be loaded, Hermes falls back to a built-in default identity.
- **AGENTS.md** is hierarchical: if subdirectories also have AGENTS.md, all are combined.
- **SOUL.md** is now global to the Hermes instance and is loaded only from `HERMES_HOME`.
- Hermes automatically seeds a default `SOUL.md` if one does not already exist.
- An empty `SOUL.md` contributes nothing to the system prompt.
- All loaded context files are capped at 20,000 characters with smart truncation.
See also: