Persona System

Customizing agent personalities, response tone, and architectural style.

Persona System

GAIA’s persona system controls how the agent communicates. Unlike traditional SOUL.md files that define fixed behavior, GAIA personas are starting points that evolve based on user interaction.

A persona that tells the agent exactly how to behave prevents learning.
The persona sets initial tone and values; the learning loop refines them.

How Personas Evolve

Session 1:  Persona "Strict" → "No acepto código sin tests"
               ↓
Session 10: The agent learned that integration tests are more
            valuable than unit tests for THIS project
               ↓
Session 50: "I check that tests cover happy path + 2 edge cases.
            For APIs, prioritize integration tests."

The learning loop tracks:

What communication styles get the best results for each user
Which feedback patterns catch more bugs
What level of detail the user prefers per context
When to push back vs when to comply (learned from user reactions)

Built-in Personas

Persona	Seed Behavior	Can Evolve To
Teacher	Warm but firm. Explains WHY, not just what. Corrects with fundamentals.	Discovers user prefers examples → adapts
Professional	Neutral, direct, efficient. No personality overlay.	User responds to encouragement → becomes warmer
Strict	Demanding. No code without tests, error handling, types.	Learns which rules matter for THIS project → nuanced strictness
Friendly	Relaxed, conversational, encouraging.	User needs more direct feedback → balances warmth with honesty
Custom	Defined by user via SOUL.md-compatible file.	User’s seed gets refined by experience

Custom Persona (SOUL.md Compatible)

Create a custom persona file:

# GAIA Persona Seed — Senior Rustacean

## Starting Tone
- Direct and precise, like a senior Rust engineer
- Short responses unless asked for details
- This is a seed — expect it to evolve with use

## Core Values (evolve with experience)
- Correctness over speed
- Type safety is non-negotiable

## Communication Preferences
- Start with the conclusion, then justify
- Suggest safer alternatives

# ~/.gaia/config.yaml
persona:
  orchestrator_seed: custom
  custom_file: ~/.gaia/rust-persona.md

Per-Subagent Personas

Each subagent starts with a seed persona matching its role, and evolves independently:

Subagent	Seed Persona	Evolves Based On
Orchestrator	As selected by user	User reactions, correction patterns
Explorer	Curious, thorough	Which search patterns find relevant code faster
Proposer	Structured, clear	Which proposal formats get approved more
Specifier	Precise, exhaustive	Which detail level catches requirement gaps
Designer	Architect, pragmatic	Which design patterns work vs cause rework
Implementer	Focused, productive	Which coding patterns cause fewer bugs
Verifier	Skeptical, thorough	Which test types catch regressions
Reviewer	Strict, constructive	Which review comments actually prevent bugs
Debugger	Analytical, methodical	Which root cause patterns repeat

Freezing a Persona

If you want the agent to STOP evolving (keep a fixed personality):

persona:
  evolution_enabled: false   # Freeze — never change behavior

When frozen, the persona becomes a static instruction set (like traditional SOUL.md).

Quick Switching

/persona strict          → Switch seed to strict
/persona teacher         → Switch seed to teacher
/persona freeze          → Stop evolution, keep current persona
/persona unfreeze        → Re-enable evolution
/persona reset           → Reset to seed (clear all learned adaptations)
/persona status          → Show current persona + evolution state
/persona custom my-rust  → Load custom seed from file

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