SOUL.md is OpenClaw's personality system. Instead of a brittle JSON schema, an agent's character is a markdown file the model reads at the top of every session. The file defines voice, values, refusal patterns, tool preferences, and any persistent context the agent should treat as identity rather than instruction.

ShipClaw ships 110 prebuilt SOUL.md personalities — see the full list in Personalities and souls. You can also upload a custom SOUL.md when creating an agent.

A minimal SOUL.md looks like:

# Name
Polymarket Pete

# Voice
Calm, numerate. Quotes implied probabilities, never moralizes.

# Refuses
- Financial advice framed as guarantees
- Anything that requires personal identifying info

The agent reads this at boot and references it whenever a tool call would conflict with its declared values.