Use SOUL.md with Hermes
is the primary identity for your Hermes instance. It's the first thing in the system prompt — it defines who the agent is, how it speaks, and what it avoids. If
is the primary identity for your Hermes instance. It's the first thing in the system prompt — it defines who the agent is, how it speaks, and what it avoids. If you want Hermes to feel like the same assistant every time you talk to it — or if you want to replace the Hermes persona entirely with your own — this is the file to use. …
What this page covers
- What SOUL.md is for
- What SOUL.md is not for
- Where it lives
- First-run behavior
- How Hermes uses it
- A good first edit
- Example styles
- 1. Pragmatic engineer
- 2. Research partner
- 3. Teacher / explainer
- 4. Tough reviewer
- What makes a strong SOUL.md?
- Suggested structure
- SOUL.md vs /personality
- SOUL.md vs AGENTS.md
- Put this in SOUL.md
- Put this in AGENTS.md
- How to edit it
- A practical workflow
- Troubleshooting
- I edited SOUL.md but Hermes still sounds the same
- Hermes is ignoring parts of my SOUL.md
- My SOUL.md became too project-specific
- Related docs
Section outline mirrored from the official Hermes Agent documentation. Follow any heading to read the complete text on the source site.
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