Overview
Hermes needs an explicit identity layer if it is expected to behave consistently across sessions.
Two files perform different parts of that job. SOUL.md defines how the agent should speak and behave. USER.md stores what the agent should know about the person it serves.
Profiles extend this idea by separating different agent roles. A personal assistant, a business-operations agent, and a client-specific agent should not necessarily share the same personality, model, memory, skills, connectors, or tool access.