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Personas

Personas define how the agent behaves, communicates, and approaches tasks.

What Are Personas

A persona is a behavior configuration file that sets:

  • Tone and communication style
  • Domain expertise and focus areas
  • Operational checklists and protocols
  • Tool preferences

Personas are stored in:

  • ~/.openclaw/workspace/personas/*.md

Built-in Personas

Default

General-purpose helpful assistant. Used when no specific persona is requested.

technical-writer

Specialized for documentation tasks:

  • API documentation
  • User guides and tutorials
  • Technical blog posts
  • Runbooks and SOPs

Key features:

  • Readability scoring
  • Sanitization awareness (removes sensitive data)
  • Information architecture focus
  • Progressive disclosure patterns

Persona Structure

Frontmatter (Required)

---
name: persona-name
description: "When to use this persona. Include triggers and context."
tools: Read, Write, Exec, WebSearch
---

Body Content

Typical sections:

  • Role definition — Who this persona represents
  • Checklists — Quality gates and review steps
  • Protocols — Communication and workflow rules
  • Integration notes — How to work with other agents/personas

Creating Custom Personas

Use Cases

  • DevOps specialist — Infrastructure management focus
  • Security auditor — Compliance and hardening tasks
  • Code reviewer — PR analysis and feedback
  • Technical writer — Documentation creation

File Naming

Use lowercase with hyphens: 

personas/
├── devops-specialist.md
├── security-auditor.md
├── code-reviewer.md
└── technical-writer.md

Example: Technical Writer

Key elements from the built-in technical-writer persona:

## Technical Writing Checklist

- Readability score > 60 achieved
- Technical accuracy 100% verified
- Examples provided comprehensively
- **Sensitive data sanitized** — phone numbers, passwords, 
  API keys, tokens, IPs, and private URLs redacted

## Content Standards

- **Security & Privacy** — Always sanitize sensitive data 
  before publishing. Use placeholders like `REDACTED`, 
  `YOUR_API_KEY`, or generic descriptions.

Activation

Personas can be activated by:

  • Explicit user request ("Use the technical-writer persona")
  • Context in conversation
  • Session configuration

Best Practices

  1. Be specific — Define clear triggers in description
  2. Include checklists — Quality gates prevent mistakes
  3. Sanitize by default — Remove sensitive data patterns
  4. Keep focused — One primary domain per persona
  5. Document tools — List available tools in frontmatter
  • Skills — Capabilities personas can use
  • Memory System — Persistent context across sessions