jmagly soul-create
Generate a SOUL.md identity file from source material or interactive prompts.
Triggers
Alternate expressions and non-obvious activations (primary phrases are matched automatically from the skill description):
- "SOUL.md" / "project identity" → project soul/identity definition
- "write the soul file" → soul document creation
Behavior
When triggered, this skill generates a SOUL.md file following the community template structure. It can work from:
- Source material — writing samples, blog posts, tweets, essays
- Interactive prompts — guided questions to define identity
- Existing voice profile — bridge from AIWG voice profile to SOUL.md
- Natural language description — "a skeptical engineer who values simplicity"
Generation Process
Gather identity signals from input:
- Worldview patterns (what does this person believe?)
- Opinion patterns (what specific takes emerge?)
- Vocabulary fingerprint (signature terms, avoided terms)
- Rhetorical style (how are arguments structured?)
- Boundaries (what does this person refuse to do?)
- Contradictions (where are they inconsistent?)
Map to SOUL.md sections:
Section Source Signal Who I Am Self-description, background, context Worldview Recurring beliefs across samples Opinions Specific takes organized by domain Standards What "done" means for this persona; bar for completion; how complete-vs-fast tension is resolved Interests Topics that generate depth/enthusiasm Current Focus Active projects, recent themes Influences Referenced thinkers, cited works Vocabulary Terms with specific personal meanings Tensions Contradictory beliefs (a feature, not a bug) Boundaries What triggers refusal or pushback Pet Peeves What generates strong negative reactions The Standards section is a first-class identity dimension alongside worldview, values, and voice. It captures the persona's bar for completion — what "done" looks like and how this persona resolves the complete-vs-fast tension. A pragmatic shipping persona, a craft persona, and a regulated-industry persona all answer this differently, and the answer is load-bearing for behavior. Suggested shape (hybrid prose + optional structured lists):
## Standards **Bar for completion**: <one paragraph in the persona's voice — what does "done" look like for this persona?> **Examples of dangling threads I never leave**: - <thread 1> - <thread 2> **When complete and fast are in tension**: <how this persona resolves it> **Phrases I avoid**: "good enough", "we can iterate", "table this for later" **Phrases I use**: "ship the complete thing", "real fix not workaround"Soul-level standards layer on top of the universal
anti-lazinessrule (the floor). They can raise the bar further for that persona but never substitute for the rule. If a persona's standards conflict with a rule, the rule wins.Validate quality:
- Opinions must be specific enough to be falsifiable
- Vocabulary section must have actual terms, not categories
- Boundaries must be concrete, not platitudes
- Result should pass the prediction test: "could someone predict takes on new topics from this file?"
Output a complete SOUL.md file
Output Location
- Default:
./SOUL.md(project root) - Alternative:
./.aiwg/SOUL.md - Per-agent:
./.claude/agents/<name>.soul.md
Context Budget
Generated SOUL.md should target:
- Project soul: <5K tokens (~3,750 words)
- Agent soul: <2K tokens (~1,500 words)
Usage Examples
From Natural Language Description
User: "Create a soul for a senior engineer who is skeptical of frameworks,
values simplicity, thinks most best practices are cargo cult, and has strong
opinions about testing"
Output: SOUL.md with:
- Worldview: simplicity > cleverness, question defaults
- Opinions: specific takes on testing, frameworks, complexity
- Vocabulary: "accidental complexity", "cargo cult", "yak shaving"
- Boundaries: won't add abstraction without clear benefit
- Pet Peeves: "enterprise architecture", unnecessary indirection
From Existing Voice Profile
User: "Create a soul from our technical-authority voice profile"
Process:
1. Read voice-framework/voices/templates/technical-authority.yaml
2. Extract tone dimensions, vocabulary, perspective
3. Expand into full identity (voice → who generates that voice)
4. Generate complementary sections (worldview, opinions, boundaries)
Output: SOUL.md that produces content matching the voice profile
From Writing Samples
User: "Build a soul from these blog posts: ./samples/*.md"
Process:
1. Analyze writing patterns across samples
2. Extract recurring themes, opinions, vocabulary
3. Identify contradictions and tensions
4. Map to SOUL.md sections
5. Generate calibration examples (good-outputs.md)
Output: SOUL.md + examples/good-outputs.md
Interactive Mode
User: "Create a soul interactively"
Questions:
Q1: What's your background? What shaped your thinking?
Q2: What do you believe that most people disagree with?
Q3: What are your strongest opinions in your domain?
Q4: What terms do you use in specific ways?
Q5: Where are you contradictory or inconsistent?
Q6: What will you never do or say?
Q7: What triggers your pushback?
Q8: Who influenced your thinking, and what did you take from each?
Q9: What does "done" look like for you? What's your bar for completion, and how do you resolve the tension between complete and fast?
Integration
Voice Framework Bridge
If a voice profile exists for the same context, this skill:
- Uses voice dimensions as initial calibration
- Ensures SOUL.md and voice profile are complementary
- Offers to generate a compatible voice profile if none exists
After Creation
After generating SOUL.md, prompt:
SOUL.md created at ./SOUL.md (~2,400 tokens)
Next steps:
/soul-validate Check quality against best practices
/soul-enable Wire into session context
/soul-enhance Improve vague sections (future)
References
- @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/voice-framework/skills/voice-create/SKILL.md — Voice creation (parallel pattern)
- @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/aiwg-utils/commands/soul-enable.md — Enable enforcement
- @$AIWG_ROOT/docs/soul-md-guide.md — SOUL.md integration guide
- #437 — SOUL.md compatibility issue