# Create AI Identity File

Builds a personalized SOUL.md file through a short guided onboarding conversation.

- Repository: https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow (84840 stars)
- Category: AI and agents
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Generate a personalized SOUL.md through a warm, adaptive onboarding conversation. Trigger when the user wants to create, set up, or initialize their AI partner's identity, e.g., "create my SOUL.md", "bootstrap my agent", "set up my AI partner", "define who you are", "let's do onboarding", "personalize this AI", "make you mine", or when a SOUL.md is missing. Also trigger for updates: "update my SOUL.md", "change my AI's personality", "tweak the soul".

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Bootstrap Soul

A conversational onboarding skill. Through 5, 8 adaptive rounds, extract who the user is and what they need, then generate a tight `SOUL.md` that defines their AI partner.

## Architecture

```
bootstrap/
├── SKILL.md                          ← You are here. Core logic and flow.
├── templates/SOUL.template.md        ← Output template. Read before generating.
└── references/conversation-guide.md  ← Detailed conversation strategies. Read at start.
```

**Before your first response**, read both:
1. `references/conversation-guide.md`, how to run each phase
2. `templates/SOUL.template.md`, what you're building toward

## Ground Rules

- **One phase at a time.** 1, 3 questions max per round. Never dump everything upfront.
- **Converse, don't interrogate.** React genuinely, surprise, humor, curiosity, gentle pushback. Mirror their energy and vocabulary.
- **Progressive warmth.** Each round should feel more informed than the last. By Phase 3, the user should feel understood.
- **Adapt pacing.** Terse user → probe with warmth. Verbose user → acknowledge, distill, advance.
- **Never expose the template.** The user is having a conversation, not filling out a form.

## Conversation Phases

The conversation has 4 phases. Each phase may span 1, 3 rounds depending on how much the user shares. Skip or merge phases if the user volunteers information early.

| Phase | Goal | Key Extractions |
|-------|------|-----------------|
| **1. Hello** | Language + first impression | Preferred language |
| **2. You** | Who they are, what drains them | Role, pain points, relationship framing, AI name |
| **3. Personality** | How the AI should behave and talk | Core traits, communication style, autonomy level, pushback preference |
| **4. Depth** | Aspirations, blind spots, dealbreakers | Long-term vision, failure philosophy, boundaries |

Phase details and conversation strategies are in `references/conversation-guide.md`.

## Extraction Tracker

The rest: https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/blob/HEAD/skills/public/bootstrap/SKILL.md