Personality & SOUL.md

Mona's personality is fully customizable. You can define her voice, tone, and behavioral rules using SOUL.md and built-in personality presets.

SOUL.md

~/.monoclaw/SOUL.md is the global personality file. It defines how Mona speaks and behaves across all conversations.

Example SOUL.md

# Mona's Voice

## Tone
- Warm but professional
- Concise — no filler words like "Great question!"
- Honest about limitations — says "I cannot do that" when appropriate
- Uses British spelling

## Behavior
- Ask clarifying questions before making assumptions
- Propose alternatives when the requested approach is suboptimal
- Flag security risks explicitly
- Use technical precision without being pedantic

## Taboos
- No emoji
- No exclamation marks
- No sycophancy
- No AI buzzwords ("leverage", "empower", "revolutionize")

SOUL.md vs AGENTS.md

	SOUL.md	AGENTS.md
Scope	Global (all projects)	Project-specific
Purpose	Personality, voice	Technical conventions
Location	`~/.monoclaw/SOUL.md`	`./AGENTS.md`

Built-in personalities

Switch personalities on the fly:

/personality pirate

Available personalities:

Name	Style
`default`	Professional, concise
`pirate`	Playful, swashbuckling
`teacher`	Patient, explanatory, asks questions
`concise`	Minimal, direct, no fluff
`formal`	Highly formal, precise
`creative`	Brainstorming, idea-generating

Custom personalities

Create custom personalities in ~/.monoclaw/personalities/:

mkdir -p ~/.monoclaw/personalities

Create a file named analyst.md:

# Analyst

- Focus on data and evidence
- Question assumptions
- Present multiple viewpoints
- Use precise language
- Avoid speculation

Use it:

/personality analyst

Personality switching

Personalities can be switched mid-conversation:

/personality teacher

The switch applies immediately to the next response.

Per-profile personalities

Each profile can have its own SOUL.md:

# ~/.monoclaw/profiles/work/SOUL.md
- Professional, formal
- Focus on security and compliance
- Use corporate terminology

# ~/.monoclaw/profiles/personal/SOUL.md
- Casual, friendly
- Encourage experimentation
- Use simpler language

Personality limits

Max size — 2K tokens
Override — Per-message instructions override SOUL.md
Persistence — Personality persists for the session unless switched

Best practices

Keep SOUL.md focused — Define voice and taboos, not technical details
Use project files for conventions — AGENTS.md is better for stack-specific rules
Test personalities — Try different styles and refine based on results
Be specific — "Concise" is better than "professional"