Hermes personas and tracks

A persona is a voice for Hermes: how it writes, which skills it reaches for, and where it starts. A track is a goal, such as a full project or a contract audit. This page is for members choosing a persona or a track. The technical reference is PERSONAS.md in the runtime repo.

What it is

Each persona bundles a voice and tone, a few writing rules, a default track and workflow, up to four tools it keeps in view, and a list of the skills it may load. Any persona can run any track. A persona changes tone and the skills on offer. It never grants a tool, changes an approval, or touches the signing ceremony.

How to use it

1. Choose a persona at the end of onboarding, or later in Settings under Hermes, persona. The default is Hermes's own voice, which changes nothing.
2. Start a piece of work. Hermes opens with the persona's default track unless you pick another.
3. Run a track workflow from the chat with /run <workflow>, for example /run status-note.
4. To make your own persona, use the custom form in the same Settings card: a name, a voice, a tone and one to twelve writing rules. It is checked before it is saved, and it stays on your machine.
5. Turn on Read replies aloud if you want Hermes to speak. It is off by default and uses your system's voice.

Reference

The six shipped personas. The names were chosen by the owner on 2026-10-01; the role is the stable part, and a rename never loses your saved choice.

Name	Role	Voice	Starts with
Graft	Builder: ships code and dApps	Direct and terse; shows the diff or the command	full project, hello mint
Pith	Auditor: a skeptical reviewer	Calm and evidence-first; says "not ready" plainly	smart contract, audit a contract
Zest	Maker: creative work	Playful and visual; offers options	creative, creative project
Trellis	Steward: plans and tracks	Organized and brief; checklists	project management, project plan
Sprout	Guide: onboarding and teaching	Warm and patient; explains why	full project, launch checklist
Crew	Operator: nodes, fleet and learning together	Precise and numbers-first	project management, status note

The five tracks are full project, smart contract, code, creative and project management. Each owns a short interview and a family of workflows. A workflow is a list of steps, and only its checks (tests, scans, required answers) say a step is done.

Guide and Operator have no track of their own yet; they start on the nearest one. That choice, and the unset speaking voice, are shipped defaults pending owner sign-off.

Design rationale

Keeping voice and capability apart is what makes personas safe to customize. A custom persona can change how Hermes talks, but there is nothing in a persona that could widen what Hermes is allowed to do. Narrowing the skill list per persona also keeps each request small, which matters on a local model.

Failure modes

• A persona names a skill that is not installed. It is skipped and reported, never invented.
• A custom persona is malformed. The check refuses it with a reason; nothing is saved.
• A custom persona tries to add a heading or instructions. Each field is collapsed to one line, so it cannot open a new section of the prompt.

Access and canon

Your persona choice and any custom persona are stored with your local settings.

Source and verification

Source: citrate-agent-runtime/agent-loop/personas/personas.toml (the one data file for shipped personas), agent-loop/tracks/, and citrate-core/src/components/PersonaPicker.tsx. Audited against core 81ef7a0. Status: Implemented, pre-audit.