QwenPaw: Persona and rules

This page is the last one in the QwenPaw guide, and it covers a name, a tone, and standing rules. It shows the workspace files QwenPaw loads into the system prompt for every chat.

QwenPaw calls this set persona files, and they are Markdown files stored in the agent's own workspace. QwenPaw loads each enabled file into the system prompt, and there is no single system prompt box on a settings screen.

What QwenPaw calls it

SOUL.md is the soul file, and it holds the tone, the boundaries, and how the agent should act. PROFILE.md holds the agent's name, plus a short description of you. AGENTS.md is the rules file, and it holds workflows, safety notes, and tool instructions.

Those files live in the agent's workspace folder, and for the agent this guide uses, the Mac path is ~/.qwenpaw/workspaces/default. On Windows, the same folder is %USERPROFILE%\.qwenpaw\workspaces\default, and agent.json there lists the files under system_prompt_files in load order.

Set a persona

1. Open Settings, then Backups (called Backup in the docs), before you edit any persona file. Click Create Backup, switch the dialog from Full Backup to Partial Backup so Secrets stays unchecked, make sure your agent is selected under Agent Workspaces, and click Create, or copy the workspace folder named above instead. Windows File History or Previous Versions, and Mac Time Machine, are places that copy can live.

What you should see a new backup under ~/.qwenpaw.backups, or a separate copy of the workspace folder.

2. Open Workspace, then Files (called Agent → Workspace in the persona docs), to see the Markdown files in your agent's workspace. Click SOUL.md, add a short tone under ## Vibe or ## Boundaries below the --- header, and click Save. One safe line is to use short sentences and to ask before a file is deleted or moved.

What you should see that new line still in SOUL.md when you open the file again. The docs say this kind of edit reloads with no restart.

3. Click PROFILE.md, and set the agent's name in the ## Identity section. Click Save, then start a new chat and ask which name and tone it is using, without changing any file.

What you should see an answer that uses the name and the tone you saved in those two files.

Set rules

1. Stay on that Files page, and click AGENTS.md. Add your own rules below the --- header, such as under ## Safety or ## Make It Yours, and do not delete ## Safety, ## Tools, or the heartbeat section. Click Save, start a new chat, and ask which rules it is following.

What you should see an answer that repeats your new rules, with the existing tool and safety sections still in the file.

A different agent

Each agent keeps its own persona files, so switch agents in the Console header and the Files page changes to that agent. The built-in QA agent uses ~/.qwenpaw/workspaces/QwenPaw_QA_Agent_0.2, and its persona is separate. This guide could not confirm a persona that applies only to a phone chat. Use a second agent when you want a different name and different rules.

What not to edit

Do not clear the system_prompt_files list inside agent.json, because an empty list drops these files from the prompt. The agent then falls back to the default line "You are a helpful assistant." Do not delete the tool instructions inside AGENTS.md, because that text is part of how the agent uses its tools. The clock, the working folder, and the tool list are added by the program, and they are not a file you should edit by hand.

How to undo

Restore the backup from the first step when you want your old wording back. Open Settings, then Backups (or Backup), click Restore, keep Custom Restore for that one agent, confirm, and restart QwenPaw afterward. If you want fresh language templates instead, open Workspace, then Configuration (called Agent → Runtime Config in the persona docs), and change Agent Language only after a backup already exists. In v2.3.0, that switch overwrites SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, PROFILE.md, MEMORY.md, BOOTSTRAP.md, and HEARTBEAT.md with fresh templates.

What you should see the persona files matching the backup after a restore, or matching the fresh language templates you chose on purpose.

A reminder, not a lock

Persona files.

• You gain: a name, a tone, and rules that you write once and can open later as ordinary text files.
• You risk: a model can ignore those files, and a page or a file it reads can try to override them.
• Makes sense when: STRICT stays on, the job stays in the agent's workspace, and you treat the files as a reminder only. Approvals, folders, and a container are what actually limit the agent.

Sources

These notes were checked on 14 November 2026, using the QwenPaw docs linked in this list.

• QwenPaw agent persona, for SOUL.md, PROFILE.md, AGENTS.md, Agent → Workspace, hot reload, the QA agent workspace, and Agent → Runtime Config.
• QwenPaw v2.3.0 SOUL.md, PROFILE.md, and AGENTS.md, for the --- header and the exact ## Vibe, ## Boundaries, ## Identity, ## Safety, and ## Tools headings.
• QwenPaw v2.3.0 Console text and workspace router, for Workspace → Files, Workspace → Configuration, Settings → Backups, and Agent Language overwriting SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, PROFILE.md, MEMORY.md, BOOTSTRAP.md, and HEARTBEAT.md.
• QwenPaw config, for system_prompt_files in agent.json, and for the fallback prompt when that list is empty.
• QwenPaw backup and backup scope defaults, for Create Backup starting on Full Backup, switching to Partial Backup to leave Secrets unchecked, Custom Restore, and restarting after a restore.

Next

Next: Persona and rules for every agent, which shows how to keep standing rules short and specific.