Personalities

Hermes-Relay fetches available personalities from the Hermes API Server and lets you switch between them.

A personality is a system-prompt preset on one agent. Switching a personality changes how the agent behaves on the next message, but not the server, the agent configuration, or the underlying model. To switch server, see Connections; to switch which named agent on that server, see Profiles.

Personality Picker

The Personality picker lives inside the agent sheet — tap the agent name in the Chat top bar to open it, then scroll to the Personality section. It shows all personalities configured on your server (from GET /api/config → config.agent.personalities), with the server's default (from config.display.personality) at the top.

How to Switch

Open the agent sheet and tap a personality. Its system prompt is sent with each subsequent chat request — the server applies it to the agent. A toast confirms the switch. The sheet also surfaces a Profile section (see Profiles) and session info + analytics (message count, tokens in/out, avg TTFT) in the same surface.

Agent Name on Bubbles

Assistant messages display the active personality name above the chat bubble, so you always know which personality is responding.

How It Works

Personalities are defined server-side in ~/.hermes/config.yaml under agent.personalities. Each is a name and a system prompt string. The app fetches the full list and sends the selected personality's system prompt via the system_message field in chat requests. The server's default personality applies automatically when no override is sent.

Personality Slash Commands

Type /personality <name> in the chat input to switch personalities. The autocomplete dropdown shows all available personality commands with descriptions.

How to Discover

Type /personality in the chat input — autocomplete shows all available options. The list includes both built-in Hermes personalities and any custom ones configured on your server.

Adding Custom Personalities

Add new personalities to your Hermes server config (~/.hermes/config.yaml):

agent:
  personalities:
    my-agent: "You are a custom agent with specific behavior..."

Restart the gateway and the new personality appears in the app's picker automatically — no app update needed.