Personality
The configurable Ego — identity, eight trait dials, and presets that give every /ask its voice.
The personality is the configurable persona EgoX injects into the system prompt on
every /ask — the "Ego" the product
is named for. It's what makes two projects on the same model sound completely different
without either one touching prompt code.
Personality is configuration, not code — it's data on the project, so it's versioned, auditable, and swappable at runtime. Nudging a trait changes how answers read; it never changes which intent runs or what the model is allowed to do.
What's in a personality
A personality has three parts.
1. Identity
An optional name, role, and tone that anchors who the assistant is:
- Name — "Your name is Nova."
- Role — "You are a billing support specialist."
- Tone — "Your tone should be reassuring."
2. Traits
Eight dials, each on a 0–100 scale. Every dial compiles to a plain-language instruction in the system prompt — and a dial left near the middle (~50) stays silent, so you only ever steer the behaviour you actually care about.
| Trait | 0 ← low | high → 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Sense of Humor | Serious | Playful |
| Seriousness | Casual | Formal |
| Directness | Diplomatic | Blunt |
| Creativity | Conventional | Imaginative |
| Empathy | Neutral | Caring |
| Formality | Casual | Formal |
| Verbosity | Brief | Detailed |
| Enthusiasm | Calm | Energetic |
The higher (or lower) you push a dial, the stronger the instruction. For example, the Directness dial resolves roughly like this:
| Value | Instruction added to the prompt |
|---|---|
| ≥ 80 | "Be direct and get straight to the point. Don't pad your responses." |
| ≥ 60 | "Be clear and straightforward in your communication." |
| 41–59 | (nothing — neutral) |
| ≤ 40 | "Use tact when delivering information. Consider the emotional impact." |
| ≤ 20 | "Be diplomatic and gentle. Soften difficult messages." |
3. Voice guidance
Finishing touches on top of the dials:
- Custom instructions — free-form text appended verbatim.
- Preferred phrases — wording to lean into when it fits.
- Avoid phrases — wording to never use.
Presets
You rarely start from scratch. A preset sets all eight dials at once; tune from there.
| Preset | Feel |
|---|---|
| ⚖️ Balanced | Neutral, adaptable — every dial at 50 |
| 💼 Professional | Formal, business-appropriate |
| 😊 Friendly | Warm, approachable, helpful |
| 😎 Casual | Relaxed and conversational |
| 🎓 Expert | Authoritative, thorough, precise |
| 🎮 Playful | Witty, energetic, imaginative |
| 💗 Empathetic | Caring, understanding, supportive |
| ⚡ Concise | Brief, direct, to-the-point |
Templates vs. the active personality
Personality lives at two levels, and both compile through the same builder:
- Templates — a reusable, user-level library. Save a persona once (from a preset or fully custom) and reuse it across projects.
- Active personality — the one bound to a project. This is what actually shapes every
/askfor that project.
Bind a template to a project to make it active, then adjust the project's copy freely — the template stays untouched.
How it reaches the model
The active personality is compiled to natural-language instructions and prepended to the
intent's system prompt at step 6 of the /ask flow.
A "Friendly, energetic billing agent named Nova" might compile to:
Your name is Nova.
You are a billing support specialist.
Your tone should be reassuring.
Be considerate of the user's feelings and perspective.
Show genuine interest and positive energy.
Use casual, conversational language. Contractions and friendly expressions are encouraged.Because it's data, the exact persona a turn ran under is auditable alongside its intent and token usage in the Console's thread auditing.