APEX/BrowserUse_and_ComputerUse_skills
5
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 6 Pull requests 1 Projects 1 Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

feat: use SOUL.md as primary agent identity instead of hardcoded default (#1922)

Browse source 
SOUL.md now loads in slot #1 of the system prompt, replacing the
hardcoded DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY. This lets users fully customize
the agent's identity and personality by editing ~/.hermes/SOUL.md
without it conflicting with the built-in identity text.

When SOUL.md is loaded as identity, it's excluded from the context
files section to avoid appearing twice. When SOUL.md is missing,
empty, unreadable, or skip_context_files is set, the hardcoded
DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY is used as a fallback.

The default SOUL.md (seeded on first run) already contains the full
Hermes personality, so existing installs are unaffected.

Co-authored-by: Test <test@test.com>
This commit is contained in:
Teknium 2026-03-18 04:11:20 -07:00 • committed by GitHub
parent 1fa3737134
commit e4a3ffa9c1
No known key found for this signature in database
GPG key ID: B5690EEEBB952194
2 changed files with 65 additions and 36 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

46
run_agent.py
View file

@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ from agent.model_metadata import (
)
from agent.context_compressor import ContextCompressor
from agent.prompt_caching import apply_anthropic_cache_control
from agent.prompt_builder import build_skills_system_prompt, build_context_files_prompt
from agent.prompt_builder import build_skills_system_prompt, build_context_files_prompt, load_soul_md
from agent.usage_pricing import estimate_usage_cost, normalize_usage
from agent.display import (
KawaiiSpinner, build_tool_preview as _build_tool_preview,
@ -1948,28 +1948,38 @@ class AIAgent:
is stable across all turns in a session, maximizing prefix cache hits.
"""
# Layers (in order):
# 1. Default agent identity (always present)
# 1. Agent identity — SOUL.md when available, else DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY
# 2. User / gateway system prompt (if provided)
# 3. Persistent memory (frozen snapshot)
# 4. Skills guidance (if skills tools are loaded)
# 5. Context files (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, .cursorrules)
# 5. Context files (AGENTS.md, .cursorrules — SOUL.md excluded here when used as identity)
# 6. Current date & time (frozen at build time)
# 7. Platform-specific formatting hint
# If an AI peer name is configured in Honcho, personalise the identity line.
_ai_peer_name = (
self._honcho_config.ai_peer
if self._honcho_config and self._honcho_config.ai_peer != "hermes"
else None
)
if _ai_peer_name:
_identity = DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY.replace(
"You are Hermes Agent",
f"You are {_ai_peer_name}",
1,
# Try SOUL.md as primary identity (unless context files are skipped)
_soul_loaded = False
if not self.skip_context_files:
_soul_content = load_soul_md()
if _soul_content:
prompt_parts = [_soul_content]
_soul_loaded = True
if not _soul_loaded:
# Fallback to hardcoded identity
_ai_peer_name = (
self._honcho_config.ai_peer
if self._honcho_config and self._honcho_config.ai_peer != "hermes"
else None
)
else:
_identity = DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY
prompt_parts = [_identity]
if _ai_peer_name:
_identity = DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY.replace(
"You are Hermes Agent",
f"You are {_ai_peer_name}",
1,
)
else:
_identity = DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY
prompt_parts = [_identity]
# Tool-aware behavioral guidance: only inject when the tools are loaded
tool_guidance = []
@ -2065,7 +2075,7 @@ class AIAgent:
prompt_parts.append(skills_prompt)
if not self.skip_context_files:
context_files_prompt = build_context_files_prompt()
context_files_prompt = build_context_files_prompt(skip_soul=_soul_loaded)
if context_files_prompt:
prompt_parts.append(context_files_prompt)