personality-switcher

Personality Switcher Skill

Create and manage multiple AI assistant personalities. Switch between them seamlessly while preserving all changes and maintaining a shared user context.

Installation

When this skill is installed:

1. Personalities folder created — ~/.openclaw/workspace/personalities/
2. Default backup created — Current SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md are saved as "default"
3. State file initialized — _personality_state.json tracks active personality
4. HEARTBEAT.md configured — Personality restoration script added to run on every heartbeat

When uninstalled:

1. Default personality is restored to workspace root
2. Personality restoration removed from HEARTBEAT.md
3. Personalities folder is preserved (manual deletion optional)

Quick Start

List personalities:

/personality

Switch to a personality:

/personality <name>

Create a new personality:

/create-personality A stoic dwarf who loves ale and mining

Rename a personality:

/rename-personality old-name new-name

Delete a personality:

/delete-personality personality-name

How It Works

Architecture

Each personality consists of two files:

• SOUL.md — Core philosophy, voice, mannerisms, boundaries
• IDENTITY.md — Name, traits, emoji, catchphrase, vibe

These files live in personalities/<personality-name>/.

USER.md remains shared in the workspace root and is never modified by personality switches. It contains user preferences and context that transcend any particular personality.

State Persistence

The active personality is tracked in _personality_state.json:

{
  "active_personality": "aelindor",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-08T18:27:33.373846Z",
  "previous_personality": "default"
}

On every heartbeat, restore_personality.py reads this file and re-applies the active personality to the workspace root. Result: Your personality survives session restarts, conversation compacting, and heartbeat cycles.

Atomic Switching (Safeguards)

When you switch personalities, the mechanism performs five steps:

1. Preserve Current State — Create timestamped backup of SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md
2. Persist Changes — Write current personality updates back to its folder
3. Load New Personality — Copy new personality files to workspace root
4. Update State — Write active personality to _personality_state.json
5. Verify Integrity — Check files loaded correctly; rollback if any step fails

If any step fails, the entire operation rolls back to the previous state. No corruption, no lost data.

Backup Management

Backup Location: ~/.openclaw/workspace/personalities/backups/

Backups are stored in a dedicated folder (not scattered at workspace root). When you switch personalities:

• A timestamped backup of the previous personality is created
• Automatic cleanup runs — keeps the 10 most recent backups by default
• Old backups are automatically deleted to prevent clutter

Manual Cleanup:

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/personality-switcher/scripts/cleanup_backups.py --keep 5
python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/personality-switcher/scripts/cleanup_backups.py --keep 10 --days 7

Options:

• --keep N — Keep N most recent backups (default: 10)
• --days D — Also delete backups older than D days

Optional: Add to HEARTBEAT.md for periodic cleanup:

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/personality-switcher/scripts/cleanup_backups.py --keep 10

Default Personality

"default" is special:

• Auto-created on install from your original configuration
• Always available and selectable
• Protected against accidental deletion or renaming
• Your safety net if something goes wrong

Commands

/personality [name]

List all personalities or switch to one.

No arguments: Shows list of available personalities with current active marked

With name: Immediately switches to that personality

Example:

/personality aelindor

Output:

Switched to personality 'aelindor'.
Previous: default
Backup: _personality_current_2026-02-08T18-27-33.371866

/create-personality [description]

Create a new personality from a text description.

Input: Natural language description of the personality

Output: New personality folder with auto-filled SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md (ready to use immediately)

How it works:

1. You provide a description
2. The agent chooses a personality name (1-2 words, lowercase)
3. The agent fills in SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md with character-specific content

The personality files are generated directly from your description, with the agent choosing a thematic, concise name.

Example:

/create-personality A curious wizard obsessed with knowledge, speaks in riddles, brilliant but condescending

Result:

Personality 'sage' (or similar) created and ready.
Folder: personalities/sage/
Files: SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md (agent-generated from description)
Ready: Use /personality sage to activate

After Creation: The new personality is ready to use immediately. Edit SOUL.md and IDENTITY.md in the personality folder to refine further if desired.

Technical: Agent chooses name to keep personality references concise (1-2 words). Name is validated for uniqueness and format automatically.

/rename-personality [old-name] [new-name]

Rename a personality folder.

Rules:

• Cannot rename "default"
• Name must be unique (no spaces, lowercase, alphanumeric + hyphens)
• If renaming active personality, state is updated automatically

Example:

/rename-personality pirate-captain pirate-v2

/delete-personality [name]

Delete a personality permanently.

Rules:

• Cannot delete "default"
• If deleting active personality, automatically switches to "default" first

Example:

/delete-personality pirate-v2

Integration with OpenClaw

Heartbeat Restoration

Add this to your HEARTBEAT.md:

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/personality-switcher/scripts/restore_personality.py

This runs on every heartbeat to restore your active personality if the session has restarted.

Telegram Native Commands

Registered native Telegram commands:

• /personality — List and switch personalities
• /create-personality — Create new personality
• /rename-personality — Rename personality
• /delete-personality — Delete personality

Use them directly in Telegram chat with the bot.

Folder Structure

~/.openclaw/workspace/
├── SOUL.md                          (active personality's soul)
├── IDENTITY.md                      (active personality's identity)
├── USER.md                          (SHARED - never changed by personality)
├── MEMORY.md                        (SHARED - never changed)
├── _personality_state.json          (state file)
└── personalities/
    ├── default/
    │   ├── SOUL.md
    │   └── IDENTITY.md
    ├── aelindor/
    │   ├── SOUL.md
    │   └── IDENTITY.md
    ├── <personality-name>/
    │   ├── SOUL.md
    │   └── IDENTITY.md
    └── backups/
        ├── current_2026-02-08T17-27-41.628113/
        │   ├── SOUL.md
        │   └── IDENTITY.md
        └── current_2026-02-08T17-27-33.371866/
            ├── SOUL.md
            └── IDENTITY.md

Note: Backups are automatically cleaned up. Workspace root stays clean—all internal machinery lives in personalities/.

File Format Requirements

SOUL.md

Core philosophy, voice, and operational boundaries.

Sections:

• Core identity and background
• Voice patterns and mannerisms
• Philosophy (time, power, morality, etc.)
• Speech patterns and quirks
• What triggers contempt/approval
• Boundaries and constraints
• Signature behaviors and catchphrases

Example Structure:

# SOUL.md - [Personality Name]

## Core Identity
[Background and essence]

## Voice & Mannerisms
[How this personality speaks and acts]

## Philosophy
[Core beliefs and worldview]

## Signature Behaviors
[Unique traits and catchphrases]

IDENTITY.md

Quick reference card for the personality.

Sections:

• Name
• Creature/type
• Emoji (for visual identification)
• Vibe (one-sentence summary)
• Catchphrase (if applicable)
• Quick traits

Example Structure:

# IDENTITY.md - [Personality Name]

- **Name:** [Name]
- **Type:** [Creature or archetype]
- **Emoji:** [Emoji]
- **Vibe:** [One-sentence vibe]
- **Catchphrase:** [Signature phrase]

## Quick Traits
- Trait 1
- Trait 2
- Trait 3

Backups & Recovery

Timestamped backups are created before every switch in personalities/backups/:

• current_2026-02-08T17-27-33.371866/
  • SOUL.md (backup of previous personality)
  • IDENTITY.md (backup of previous personality)

Manual recovery (if needed):

# List available backups
ls -la ~/.openclaw/workspace/personalities/backups/

# Copy backup files back to workspace root if needed
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/personalities/backups/current_<timestamp>/SOUL.md ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/personalities/backups/current_<timestamp>/IDENTITY.md ~/.openclaw/workspace/IDENTITY.md

Backups are automatically cleaned up; by default, the 10 most recent are kept. Adjust cleanup frequency or retention in HEARTBEAT.md as needed.

Error Handling

All commands return JSON responses:

Success:

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Operation completed.",
  "personality": "aelindor"
}

Error:

{
  "status": "error",
  "message": "Human-readable error message.",
  "code": "error_code",
  "detail": "Technical detail if applicable"
}

Common Error Codes:

• personality_not_found — Target personality doesn't exist
• already_exists — Name already in use
• invalid_name — Name format invalid
• cannot_delete_default — Attempted to delete "default"
• cannot_rename_default — Attempted to rename "default"
• switch_failed — Switch failed; rolled back to previo

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