SOUL.md Template — Agent Identity Starter

A production-tested SOUL.md template for AI agents.

After 4 iterations across 2 weeks, this template distills everything we learned about writing an agent identity file. It went from 97 lines / 4,161 bytes down to 77 lines / 3,551 bytes — adding 5 new capabilities while cutting 15% token weight.

What's Inside

• 12-section architecture: Identity → Rules → Autonomy → Priorities → Personality → Accountability → Standards → Lookup → Escalation → Security → Self-Improvement → End State
• Accountability & Pushback: The single highest-ROI addition. Agents that argue with bad ideas beat agents that agree.
• Action-oriented design: Every line forces a decision or enables an action. Nothing is decorative.
• Apache 2.0: Use it, modify it, sell it. No strings attached.

Why Free?

This is a lead magnet. If this template saves you even one iteration cycle, come back for the paid pack with AGENTS.md + MEMORY.md + HEARTBEAT.md + BOOTSTRAP.md templates.

What This Is NOT

This is NOT a generic prompt. It is NOT a list of wishes. It is a behavioral constitution — the result of real production failures and structural optimization.

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Part of the neobot toolkit. Written by Yuan Shen (Neo) and neobot.