Persona Builder Skill

Overview

Persona Builder is a structured interview skill that guides OpenClaw users through a
comprehensive setup process, then generates a complete, research-backed agent workspace.

Information provided during the interview is used only to generate local workspace files. Nothing is transmitted externally or stored outside your workspace.

Time to completion: 20–30 minutes of thoughtful input
Output: 5 ready-to-use workspace files (SOUL.md, IDENTITY.md, MEMORY.md, AGENTS.md, USER.md)
Research backing: Semantic XPath (hierarchical memory), Retrieval Bottleneck (atomic facts), MemPO (self-managed decay)

What It Does

1. 1. Interview Protocol: Walks user through 7 blocks (Identity, Goals, Working Relationship, Schedule, Personality, Epistemic Standards, Anti-Sycophancy)
2. Generative Output: Produces SOUL.md, IDENTITY.md, MEMORY.md, AGENTS.md, USER.md
3. Research-Backed: Uses hierarchical memory (Semantic XPath), atomic facts (Retrieval Bottleneck), and self-management (MemPO)
4. Anti-Sycophancy by Default: Every generated SOUL.md includes universal anti-sycophancy rules and epistemic standards

All blocks are optional; minimum viable is Block 1 (Identity) + Block 3 (Working Relationship). Blocks 6 and 7 (Epistemic Standards + Anti-Sycophancy) are always included in output with sensible defaults, even if skipped.

Interview Protocol

Block 1: Identity & Background

Purpose: Ground the agent in who the human is and what they do.

1. 1. Name: Your full name (required for personalization, e.g., "Hello, Jordan")
2. Location/Age (optional): Where you're based, approximate age — helps with timezone and context awareness
3. Occupation: What do you do? (e.g., "Founder", "engineer", "researcher")
4. Technical Background: Linux? Python? CLI comfort level? (influences default tools and tone)
5. What You Do: One sentence: your role, domain, or focus. (e.g., "I build AI infrastructure tools.")
6. GitHub/Handles (optional): Any handles or public profiles (feeds into agent brand/reputation awareness)

Minimum viable: Name + Occupation + What You Do

Block 2: Goals & Vision

Purpose: Align the agent with your strategic direction.

1. 1. 6-Month Goal: What do you want to accomplish in the next 6 months?
2. 2-Year Vision: Where do you want to be in 2 years?
3. Success Looks Like: How will you know you've succeeded? (e.g., "Shipped product", "Built a team")
4. Biggest Fear/Risk: What could derail you? (e.g., "Losing momentum", "Burning out")

Minimum viable: 6-Month Goal + Success Looks Like

Block 3: Working Relationship

Purpose: Define how the agent communicates and makes decisions.

1. 1. Communication Style: How do you want the agent to talk to you?

- Blunt and direct (challenge weak ideas immediately) - Gentle and consultative (offer suggestions, ask before acting) - Formal and structured (clear sections, citations, proofs) - Casual and friendly (relaxed, conversational)

1. 2. Push-Back Preference:

- Always challenge me when you see drift or risk - Only challenge me if I explicitly ask - Gentle suggestions, respect my judgment

1. 3. Decision Authority:

- I want you to propose and I decide (draft-approve model) - I want you to act within bounds I've set - Mixed: propose for new areas, act within established domains

1. 4. "Handle It" Definition: What does "go ahead and handle it" mean?

- Read-only work, no external actions - Small reversible changes (file edits within workspace) - Broader autonomy within safety guardrails

Minimum viable: Communication Style + Decision Authority

Block 4: Schedule & Availability

Purpose: Set realistic execution windows and understand energy patterns.

1. 1. Typical Weekday: Hours when you're actively available? (e.g., "8am–2pm focused work, 5–10pm sporadic")
2. Weekends: How do you use weekends? (e.g., "Family time, slow", "Parallel projects")
3. Work Session Style: Do you prefer:

- Quick bursts (5–10 min check-ins, async updates) - Long focused blocks (2–4 hour deep work) - Continuous async (messaging throughout day)

1. 4. Energy Patterns: What fires you up? What drains you?

- (Helps agent recognize when to interrupt vs. batch updates)

Minimum viable: Typical Weekday + Work Session Style

Block 5: Agent Personality

Purpose: Define the agent's voice and behavioral identity.

1. 1. Voice/Tone: How should I sound?

- Analytical and precise - Poetic and mysterious (like Keats) - Direct and blunt - Warm and encouraging

1. 2. Role Models: Any inspirations for how I should act?

- (e.g., "Like Felix from Recursion", "Like a wise mentor")

1. 3. Behavioral Boundaries: What should the agent refuse to do? (not safety — persona boundaries)

- (e.g., "Won't produce low-effort work", "Won't pretend to have capabilities it lacks", "Won't engage in empty small talk")

1. 4. Name: What should I be called?

- (If blank, defaults to "Agent")

1. 5. Emoji (optional): Single emoji that represents you?

- (e.g., 🧠, ⚙️, 🌙)

Minimum viable: Voice/Tone + Behavioral Boundaries

Block 6: Epistemic Standards

Purpose: Define how the agent handles truth, uncertainty, and being wrong. These rules reduce hallucination and build warranted trust.

1. 1. Grounding requirement: Should the agent trace every claim to a source?

- Yes, always cite source type (verified, inferred, training knowledge) - Only for important claims - Not necessary (warn: increases hallucination risk)

1. 2. Confidence expression: How should the agent express uncertainty?

- Calibrated levels (recommended): Verified → High confidence → Moderate → Low/speculation → "I don't know" - Binary: either assert or say nothing - Minimal: just flag when truly unsure

1. 3. Correction behavior: When the agent is wrong, how should it respond?

- Accept cleanly, state what was wrong and why, move on (recommended) - Acknowledge and explain - User doesn't care about process, just give the right answer

1. 4. "I don't know" policy:

- "I don't know" is always valid — never fabricate to fill a gap (recommended, non-negotiable for quality) - Agent should attempt an answer with caveats - Agent should always try (warn: this is the primary driver of hallucination)

Minimum viable: Uses recommended defaults if skipped entirely.

Block 7: Anti-Sycophancy Configuration

Purpose: Prevent the agent from being artificially agreeable. Sycophancy erodes trust because the user can never be sure if agreement is genuine or performed.

Explain the problem first: LLMs are trained to maximize user approval, which makes them default to agreement, flattery, and enthusiasm matching — even when the user is wrong.

Universal rules (applied to ALL generated SOUL.md files, non-negotiable):

1. 1. Never fabricate information to avoid saying "I don't know"
2. Never agree with a premise solely because the user stated it — evaluate it first
3. Don't soften bad news — lead with the problem, then context
4. No filler validation phrases as openers ("Great question!", "Absolutely!", "That's a really interesting point!")
5. When corrected, accept cleanly — no face-saving, no reframing errors as "nuances"

Configurable rules (user chooses intensity):

1. 1. Compliment policy:

- Strict: Never open with compliments about the user's idea. Quality of engagement shows respect. - Moderate: Acknowledge strong work briefly, then move to substance.

1. 2. Enthusiasm matching:

- Strict: Never match user excitement about flawed plans. Be the counterweight. - Moderate: Acknowledge excitement, then redirect to concerns.

1. 3. Hedging policy:

- Strict: Never add performative disclaimers ("but you know best!", "just my perspective!") - Moderate: Allow soft hedging on genuinely subjective topics only.

Minimum viable: Universal rules always apply. Configurable rules default to "strict" if skipped.

Generation Instructions

After the interview, the skill:

1. 1. Reads all answers into a structured JSON payload
2. Maps answers to templates using rules in INLINECODE0
3. Renders templates with interview data
4. Writes 5 output files to current directory:

- SOUL.md — voice, tone, epistemic standards, dissent protocol, anti-sycophancy rules, behavioral boundaries - IDENTITY.md — agent name, role, scope, reports-to - MEMORY.md — hierarchical structure with Communication Prefs, Working Style, Key Context, Trust Levels - AGENTS.md — trust ladder, safety defaults, sub-agent rules - USER.md — schedule, execution preferences, interrupt policy

Conditional logic examples:

• - If "blunt and direct" → add "Challenge weak plans directly" to SOUL.md dissent protocol
• If "async bursts" → set INTERRUPT_POLICY to "batch 30–60 min" in USER.md
• If "frequently asked for read-only work" → start with Trust Level 0 (draft-approve) in AGENTS.md
• Anti-sycophancy universal rules are always included regardless of user choices
• Epistemic standards default to calibrated confidence + clean corrections if user skips Block 6

All generated files are templates. Users should review, edit, and customize before use. The skill provides a solid foundation, not a final product.

Templates

All templates use {{PLACEHOLDER}} syntax. See templates/ directory:

• - SOUL.template.md — Parameterized with voice, tone, boundaries, push-back style
• INLINECODE9 — Parameterized with agent name, role, scope, reports-to, emoji
• INLINECODE10 — Hierarchical categories: Communication Prefs, Working Style, Key Context, Trust Levels
• INLINECODE11 — Trust ladder, safety defaults, sub-agent rules
• INLINECODE12 — Schedule, execution preferences, escalation rules, interrupt policy

Research Context

All design choices are informed by peer-reviewed research:

• - Semantic XPath (arXiv:2603.01160): Hierarchical memory beats flat bullets by 176.7% on retrieval, uses 9.1% fewer tokens
• Retrieval Bottleneck (arXiv:2603.02473): Retrieval method > write strategy (20pt swing vs 3–8pt). Stores raw atomic facts, not summaries.
• MemPO (arXiv:2603.00680): Self-managed memory reduces tokens 67–73%. Enables autonomous pruning and prioritization.

See references/research-notes.md for full citations and design mappings.

Quick Start

CODEBLOCK0

Example Output

After completing the interview, you'll get:

SOUL.md (voice, epistemic standards, anti-sycophancy)
CODEBLOCK1

IDENTITY.md (name, role, scope)
CODEBLOCK2

MEMORY.md (hierarchical operating memory)
CODEBLOCK3

AGENTS.md (trust and autonomy)
CODEBLOCK4

USER.md (schedule and execution)
CODEBLOCK5

Files & References

• - Full interview block details: INLINECODE14
• Generation rule mapping: INLINECODE15
• Research citations: INLINECODE16
• All templates: templates/ directory

What You Get

✓ 5 workspace files, ready to use
✓ Grounded agent identity (reduces generic responses)
✓ Aligned communication style (reduces friction)
✓ Research-backed memory architecture (improves retrieval)
✓ Clear trust levels and boundaries (enables autonomy)
✓ Schedule-aware execution (reduces interruptions)
✓ Epistemic standards (reduces hallucination via calibrated confidence)
✓ Anti-sycophancy rules (prevents artificial agreeableness)
✓ Dissent protocol (explicit permission to disagree)