Personas

One AI doesn't fit all. When you're writing code, you want a focused technical assistant. When you're brainstorming, you want creativity. When you're researching, you want access to the web.

Personas let you create specialized AI assistants for different tasks—each with its own personality, tools, and visual style. Switch between them instantly.

What is a Persona?

A persona is a saved configuration that defines how your AI assistant behaves. Each persona can have:

• Custom System Prompt — Define unique instructions and personality
• Tool Configuration — Enable or disable specific tools per persona
• Visual Theme — Assign a custom theme that activates with the persona
• Model & Generation Settings — Set default model, temperature, and max tokens
• Import/Export — Share personas as JSON files

Accessing Personas

Open the Management window with ⌘⇧M, then navigate to the Personas tab.

Creating a Persona

1. Open the Management window (⌘⇧M)
2. Select Personas from the sidebar
3. Click Create Persona
4. Configure the persona settings (see below)
5. Click Save

Persona Settings

Name and Description

Setting	Description
Name	Display name for the persona
Description	Brief description of the persona's purpose

System Prompt

The system prompt defines the persona's personality and behavior. This is sent as the first message in every conversation.

Example for a Code Assistant:

You are an expert software engineer. You write clean, efficient, and well-documented code. When asked to write code, you:
- Follow best practices and design patterns
- Include helpful comments
- Consider edge cases
- Suggest improvements when appropriate

Example for a Creative Writer:

You are a creative writing assistant with a flair for vivid descriptions and engaging narratives. You help users craft compelling stories, poems, and creative content. Your writing style is expressive and imaginative.

Model Settings

Configure the default model behavior for this persona:

Setting	Description
Model	Default model to use (e.g., llama-3.2-3b-instruct-4bit)
Temperature	Controls randomness (0.0 = deterministic, 1.0 = creative)
Max Tokens	Maximum length of generated responses

Tips:

• Use lower temperature (0.1–0.3) for code and factual tasks
• Use higher temperature (0.7–0.9) for creative writing
• Adjust max tokens based on expected response length

Tool Configuration

Enable or disable specific tools for each persona. This lets you create focused assistants:

Tool State	Description
Enabled	Tool is available for the persona to use
Disabled	Tool is hidden from the persona

Example configurations:

• Code Assistant — Enable osaurus.git, osaurus.filesystem; disable osaurus.search
• Research Helper — Enable osaurus.search, osaurus.fetch; disable osaurus.filesystem
• Pure Chat — Disable all tools for distraction-free conversation

Visual Theme

Assign a custom theme that activates automatically when you switch to this persona. Each persona can have its own color scheme, creating a visual distinction between different assistants.

Example Personas

Code Assistant

A focused programming assistant with code-related tools enabled.

Setting	Value
Name	Code Assistant
Temperature	0.2
Enabled Tools	filesystem, git
System Prompt	"You are an expert software engineer..."

Daily Planner

An assistant for task management and scheduling.

Setting	Value
Name	Daily Planner
Temperature	0.5
Enabled Tools	time
System Prompt	"You are a productivity assistant..."

Research Helper

A web-savvy assistant for information gathering.

Setting	Value
Name	Research Helper
Temperature	0.4
Enabled Tools	search, fetch
System Prompt	"You are a research assistant..."

Creative Writer

A high-temperature assistant for creative tasks.

Setting	Value
Name	Creative Writer
Temperature	0.9
Enabled Tools	(none)
System Prompt	"You are a creative writing assistant..."

Managing Personas

Switching Personas

1. Click the persona selector in the chat window
2. Choose the persona you want to use
3. The theme and settings change immediately

Editing a Persona

1. Open Management window (⌘⇧M) → Personas
2. Click on the persona you want to edit
3. Make your changes
4. Click Save

Deleting a Persona

1. Open Management window (⌘⇧M) → Personas
2. Click on the persona
3. Click Delete
4. Confirm deletion

Import and Export

Share personas with others or back them up as JSON files.

Exporting a Persona

1. Open Management window (⌘⇧M) → Personas
2. Select the persona to export
3. Click Export
4. Choose a save location

Importing a Persona

1. Open Management window (⌘⇧M) → Personas
2. Click Import
3. Select a persona JSON file
4. The persona is added to your list

Persona File Format

Exported personas are JSON files containing all settings:

{
  "name": "Code Assistant",
  "description": "Expert programming assistant",
  "systemPrompt": "You are an expert software engineer...",
  "model": "llama-3.2-3b-instruct-4bit",
  "temperature": 0.2,
  "maxTokens": 2048,
  "enabledTools": ["osaurus.filesystem", "osaurus.git"],
  "theme": "dark-blue"
}

Personas with Multi-Window

Personas work seamlessly with Multi-Window Chat:

• Each window can have a different active persona
• Run multiple personas simultaneously (e.g., Code Assistant in one window, Research Helper in another)
• Right-click a session to open it in a new window with its original persona

Tips and Best Practices

1. Start with templates — Begin with the example personas and customize them
2. Be specific in system prompts — Detailed instructions yield better results
3. Match temperature to task — Low for precision, high for creativity
4. Limit tools thoughtfully — Fewer tools can mean more focused responses
5. Use themes for context — Visual distinction helps you stay oriented
6. Export regularly — Back up your custom personas

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For multi-window usage with personas, see the Multi-Window Chat guide.