Make OpenClaw personal: memory and personality

In the folder where your bot stores its config (often claude), you'll typically find:

• soul – Personality, voice, and values
• user – Information about you
• identity – The bot's name and vibe
• memory – Long-term curated memories and what the bot has access to
• heartbeat – Checked periodically (e.g. every 30 minutes) for ongoing tasks
• memory folder – Daily note files (one per day) with end-of-day recaps of conversations

The soul file defines the bot's personality, core truths, and how it should write and speak. It might include lines like "You are not a chatbot; you're becoming someone," plus core truths (e.g. be helpful, have opinions, be resourceful, earn trust through competence, remember you're a guest). There is often a voice section you can tune—e.g. "Be direct and honest; don't be afraid to contradict or critique my points," "Don't use AI slop words or phrases," "Write in the active voice, minimize hedging, avoid grandiose claims," "Do not use emojis." You can edit this file in a text editor or tell the bot in chat to "update your soul with…" and it will apply the changes.

User holds information about you—your current situation, goals, what gives you energy and what takes it away. You can mirror this in a Google Doc the bot has access to, but having it in the user file reinforces it for the bot. Identity is the bot's name and vibe (e.g. "My name is Zoe. I'm warm, sharp, and funny."). Edit these directly or ask the bot to update them in chat.

The memory file contains long-term curated memories. Above a "connections" (or similar) line you might have personal facts; below it, a list of what the bot has access to—Google Workspace, GitHub, Twitter, Brave Search, Telegram, etc.—so it knows where to look when answering or taking action. You can add optional sections:

• Open loops – Things you've committed to or mentioned but not closed. The bot can remind you in the daily brief about overarching goals or progress.
• Tensions – Contradictions or gaps worth surfacing (e.g. public tweets vs private chats).
• Patterns – What the bot notices about you over time (e.g. "Energized by building, creator content, autonomy").

Ask the bot to add these sections to your memory so it can challenge you, remind you of goals, and surface patterns in your daily briefing.

Heartbeat is a file the bot checks periodically (e.g. every 30 minutes) for ongoing tasks. The memory folder holds daily note files—at the end of each day the bot recaps your conversation and saves it there. You can ask the bot to use the past few days' memory files in your daily briefing to find patterns, consistencies, or reminders. That makes the briefing more insightful and personal.

You can edit any of these files directly in a text editor (e.g. Sublime Text, VS Code) or ask your bot in chat to update them. Keeping soul, user, identity, and memory clean and up to date is how the bot becomes more personal and more useful—not just something that gets stuff done, but something that feels like a friend and can guide you.