Templates and SOUL profiles

SOUL profiles

A SOUL profile is a reusable starting point for the agent's core operating instructions.

In practice, teams use SOUL profiles to standardize:

• tone and working style
• operating boundaries
• decision-making preferences
• role-specific behavior

You can think of a SOUL profile as the personality and operating pattern layer for a class of agents.

Global template defaults

ClawControl also lets you manage shared defaults for the supporting files that are generated during provisioning.

Current template areas include:

• AGENTS.md
• IDENTITY.md
• USER.md
• TOOLS.md
• HEARTBEAT.md
• MEMORY.md
• BOOTSTRAP.md

These defaults help every newly provisioned agent start from a consistent base.

How templates are applied

When you create or update an agent, ClawControl builds a template snapshot for that agent. That snapshot combines:

• the selected SOUL profile, if any
• the current global defaults
• the per-agent edits you make during setup

This matters because the agent keeps a record of what was applied at the time it was provisioned.

Applied files and skipped files

During updates, ClawControl lets you control which files should be reapplied and which should be left alone.

That gives teams a practical balance:

• standardize the files that should stay consistent
• preserve the files that need local customization

Rendered previews

The templates area shows rendered previews so you can see how variables resolve before provisioning. This makes it easier to spot confusing wording or broken placeholders early.

Good template practices

• Keep reusable instructions short and specific
• Use SOUL profiles for durable behavior, not task-specific content
• Put org-wide defaults in the global template set
• Avoid making every agent unique unless there is a real reason
• Review previews before rolling changes out broadly

When to create a new SOUL profile

Create a new profile when the operating style is meaningfully different, such as:

• a lead agent versus a specialist
• a coding agent versus a research agent
• an internal operations agent versus a customer-facing agent

Do not create a new profile just to capture one small temporary task.

Read next

• Create and manage agents
• Key components