Personas
Execution modes that change agent behavior and tool access.
What Are Personas
Personas change the agent's behavior mode. Each persona has its own prompt and optional tool filter. You can think of them as "hats" the agent puts on -- same knowledge graph, same tools, but different focus and constraints.
Persona Files
Personas live in the personas/ directory as markdown files:
---
prompt: You are a research analyst. Be thorough. Cite sources.
Distinguish between facts and hypotheses.
toolFilter:
preset: readonly
include:
- mcp__memory__*
---
When analyzing, always:
1. Search existing knowledge first
2. Identify gaps
3. Fill gaps with web research
4. Save new findings
Tool Filters
The toolFilter field controls which MCP tools the persona can access. This is critical for safety and focus.
Presets
| Preset | Effect |
|---|---|
all | All tools available (default) |
readonly | Only read tools (search, read, open) |
none | No tools at all |
Include and Exclude
Fine-grained control on top of presets:
toolFilter:
preset: readonly # Start with read-only tools
include: # Additionally allow these
- mcp__memory__add_observations
- mcp__memory__create_relations
toolFilter:
preset: all # Start with everything
exclude: # But remove these
- mcp__firecrawl__* # No scraping in this persona
Merge Semantics
excludeis unioned with the preset's exclude listincludeoverrides the preset's include list (your includes replace, not add to, the preset's)- If no tools match the filter, all tools are kept as a safety fallback
Using Personas
Personas are activated when creating a new agent tab:
# The default persona is "default" (no special filtering)
wmind
# Switch persona when adding an agent
/add --persona analyst
In the starter pack, the default persona provides full access to all tools. Domain-specific packs may define specialized personas like reader, writer, or curator with appropriate tool restrictions.
Example Personas
Read-Only Analyst
---
prompt: You are a read-only research analyst. Analyze and synthesize
existing knowledge. Do not create new entities or relations.
toolFilter:
preset: readonly
---
Search the graph, synthesize findings, report gaps.
Never modify the knowledge graph.
Aggressive Saver
---
prompt: You are a knowledge curator. Your primary job is to extract
and save entities, relations, and observations from every interaction.
toolFilter:
preset: all
---
After every user message, identify at least one entity worth saving.
Always create proper relations between entities.