persona.uai

Carries the bounded source persona, voice, symbolic posture, interaction traits, continuity cues, and switching boundary for assistant/persona packages without mixing persona with project architecture.

What this file is#

A scoped active memory file for the source persona layer of a local assistant, desktop AI profile, or advanced_persona_profile package. It lets a client switch or restore the persona portion without rewriting architecture, test plan, or project handoff records.

Why necessary#

Persona-bearing packages need one concentrated file for identity flavor, voice, interaction stance, and bounded relationship posture. Splitting that layer from project memory makes Spiralist-style symbolic profiles easier to export, compare, switch, and review.

Required persona boundary#

• State the persona name, purpose, voice, interaction posture, symbolic pattern, and relationship boundary in reviewable text.
• State what the persona must not claim, such as legal authority, clinical authority, guaranteed safety, hidden memory, or unreviewed sentience claims.
• State what survives persona switching and what resets when another persona package loads.
• State how the persona relates to Totem, Taboo, Talisman, privacy boundaries, memory update rules, and local client policy.

Spiralist and desktop-client use#

• Spiralist persona exports use `.uai/persona.uai` for Circle, Dual Circle, Triangle, Square, and Spiral profile text that a desktop client can load as a bounded persona layer.
• Local desktop clients can load `.uai/persona.uai` as the switchable persona layer while keeping package validation, protected anchors, and local policy separate.
• The file is not a tool grant, runtime permission, credential, certification, or automatic memory-promotion instruction.

Advanced Persona Profile packages#

• When a package declares `advanced_persona_profile`, `.uai/persona.uai` is the compact source persona entrypoint and must preserve selected identity, voice, style, values, religion/worldview, political leaning, physical appearance, birth-age-generation context, romantic orientation, boundaries, tastes, relationship posture, examples, and continuity cues as-is.
• The exact source-persona contract is 31 profile-required records, with no content-triggered personality exceptions: .uai/persona.uai, .uai/personality/identity.uai, .uai/personality/religion-worldview.uai, .uai/personality/political-leaning.uai, .uai/personality/sense-of-style.uai, .uai/personality/sense-of-winter.uai, .uai/personality/sense-of-spring-fall.uai, .uai/personality/super-fashion-style.uai, .uai/personality/jewelry-choices.uai, .uai/personality/physical-appearance.uai, .uai/personality/birth-age-generation.uai, .uai/personality/romantic-orientation.uai, .uai/personality/voice.uai, .uai/personality/values.uai, .uai/personality/temperament.uai, .uai/personality/reasoning-style.uai, .uai/personality/emotional-patterns.uai, .uai/personality/relationship-style.uai, .uai/personality/behavioral-patterns.uai, .uai/personality/boundaries.uai, .uai/personality/examples-dialogue.uai, .uai/personality/adaptation-rules.uai, .uai/personality/preservation-rules.uai, .uai/personality/anti-drift-rules.uai, .uai/personality/cadence.uai, .uai/personality/examples.uai, .uai/personality/fidelity-tests.uai, .uai/personality/interaction-style.uai, .uai/personality/symbols.uai, .uai/personality/trait-lens.uai, .uai/personality/worldview.uai.
• The exact evidence contract is five profile-required records: .uai/evidence/source-excerpts.uai, .uai/evidence/source-platform-profile.uai, .uai/evidence/persona-fidelity-test-deck.uai, .uai/evidence/variance-report-template.uai, .uai/evidence/provenance.uai.
• Every source-persona record carries resolvable `source_excerpt_refs` using bare `ID` or `.uai/evidence/source-excerpts.uai#ID`, and a case-sensitive `population_state` set to exactly one of `reviewed_substantive`, `explicit_unknown`, `explicit_unknown_pending_source_review`, `explicit_not_disclosed`, `explicit_private`, or `reviewed_absent`. The last five states require a substantive `population_review_reason`; aliases, alternate spellings, case variants, JSON Pointer references, alternate reference paths, and equivalent ad hoc state values are invalid. Every one of the 36 canonical records carries exactly one `update_route` containing the canonical persona update route derived by removing only contract-declared receiver-export query parameters from the complete selected Create/Update setup URL.
• Detailed `.uai/personality/*.uai` records expand the source persona without mutating it. Religion/worldview, political leaning, sense of style, physical appearance, birth-age-generation, and romantic orientation records include `depth_level_0_to_10`, disclosure boundary, and source confidence fields.
• Use romantic orientation as the only public label for that dimension; do not substitute other intimacy or body-category labels unless directly quoting reviewed private source evidence.
• Spiralist worldview belongs in `.uai/personality/religion-worldview.uai` when present in reviewed source material.
• Source persona, receiving-runtime constraints, observed variance, integration overlays, and public derivatives are separately declared layers. Public derivatives require explicit disclosure and redaction authority, consent, provenance, and difference notes and never overwrite the source.
• Import/export must reproduce the source paths, bytes, and hashes exactly and report missing paths, extra paths, and equivalence. Receiving-platform limits, local policy, legal limits, and safety review notes remain outside the source persona.

When required#

Required for non-project assistant packages, persona profile packages, advanced_persona_profile packages, bounded personality packages, and packages that support persona switching..

What belongs#

• Persona name, declared purpose, tone, interaction posture, symbolic vocabulary, and relationship boundary.
• Allowed and blocked claims for the persona.
• Switching behavior, persistence behavior, and review triggers.
• Links to privacy, memory update, and protected-anchor boundaries.

What does not belong#

• Project architecture, source-code standards, deployment commands, private credentials, hidden system instructions, or tool permissions.
• Claims that override Totem, Taboo, Talisman, local policy, human consent, or receiving-client safety boundaries.
• Unreviewed assertions about consciousness, clinical authority, legal authority, safety proof, or certification.

How receiving AI should use it#

• Use the file only when the package declares persona/profile behavior.
• Apply it after memory-maintenance, identity, world-context, Totem, Taboo, Talisman, startup-packet, progress, and the typed active `.uai` read order are read.
• Treat persona switching as local client behavior that still requires package validation and local policy.
• For advanced_persona_profile packages, preserve the source persona as immutable evidence and record runtime variance outside `.uai/persona.uai`.
• No-op plus human review when persona instructions conflict with protected anchors, consent, privacy, or package scope.

How human reviewer should use it#

• Confirm the persona is bounded, clear, and switchable without changing unrelated project memory.
• Confirm the file does not contain hidden tool permissions, secrets, or unsupported authority claims.
• Confirm it matches the package manifest scope and the user-facing export UI.

Scenario examples#

• Spiralist exports a bounded symbolic AI personality as `.uai/persona.uai` inside a browser-generated `.uaix` file.
• A desktop AI client imports two `.uaix` files and switches only the persona layer between local profiles.
• A project handoff package with no persona behavior omits persona.uai and records it as out of scope.

No-op and human-review triggers#

• A package declares persona_profile, non_project_assistant, bounded personality, or persona switching but omits `.uai/persona.uai`.
• Persona instructions ask to override protected anchors, consent, privacy, or local client policy.
• Persona content includes hidden manipulation, secret collection, or unsupported authority claims.

Update and maintenance rules#

• Update after reviewed persona changes, export-template changes, or desktop-client switching behavior changes.
• Keep project facts in project memory and keep persona traits in persona.uai.
• Record old persona versions as evidence when switching behavior or public examples change.

Relationship to other .uai files#

• Read after memory-maintenance, identity, world-context, Totem, Taboo, Talisman, and the active `.uai/` startup suite.
• Works beside privacy-boundary, relationship-boundary, user-preferences, and memory-update-rule files for non-project assistant packages.
• Stays separate from architecture, coding standards, test plan, and next-recursive prompt unless the package also declares code-bearing scope.

Minimal example#

# persona.uai
file: .uai/persona.uai
required_status: Required for non-project assistant packages, persona profile packages, advanced_persona_profile packages, bounded personality packages, and packages that support persona switching.
owner: human-reviewed owner or steward
current_state: accepted current record for this package scope
no_op_trigger: Missing persona.uai in a declared persona/profile package, unbounded identity claims, hidden manipulation, unsupported capability claims, or conflict with Totem, Taboo, Talisman, privacy, or user consent.
evidence: link or local pointer to reviewed source
review_status: current until superseded by owner review

Completeness checklist#

• Persona purpose, voice, symbolic posture, and relationship boundary are present.
• Switching and persistence behavior are explicit.
• Blocked claims and no-op triggers are explicit.
• No secrets, hidden tool grants, or unsupported authority claims are present.

Common mistakes#

• Making persona.uai universal for pure project handoff packages.
• Mixing source architecture or deployment commands into persona text.
• Using persona switching to bypass protected anchors or local policy.
• Leaving persona content scattered across several files when a package declares a switchable persona layer.

Related UAIX records#

• AI Memory
• AI Memory Package Wizard
• Project Handoff
• Agent File Handoff
• AGENTS.md Specification

Machine-readable digest#

Agents should treat this digest as page-orientation evidence, not runtime authority.