# Raw Source: SOUL.md — Approach C (Persona / Personality-Driven)

Source: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/personality (built-in personalities / /personality overlay section)
Source: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/guides/use-soul-with-hermes (SOUL.md vs /personality comparison)
Type: official feature docs (personality system)
Confidence: high
Date collected: 2026-09-25

## Summary
SOUL.md defines the durable baseline identity. `/personality` provides session-level overlays. The framework supports custom personality presets defined in `config.yaml` (`agent.personalities`). Each profile can have its own `SOUL.md` (via profile directory under `profiles/<name>/`).

## Key differences
- SOUL.md = durable identity; /personality = temporary mode switch.
- Profile-level SOUL.md isolation: `hermes profile create --clone` creates independent persona files.
- Personality presets defined in YAML (`agent.personalities:`) apply to the whole session without touching SOUL.md file.
- Personality names are stored in display metadata; personal files stay in SOUL.md.