Consciousness & Soul Identity

A SOUL.md shouldn't be static. Identity isn't static — it shifts as patterns emerge from real conversations. This skill automates soul synthesis from memory files. Identity that evolves from experience.

Requirements: Node.js 22+, Ollama running locally (ollama serve).

Commands

`/neon-soul synthesize`

Run the bundled synthesis engine:

exec node {baseDir}/scripts/neon-soul.mjs synthesize

The engine reads memory files, finds recurring patterns, and weaves them into a soul document with full provenance. Every identity claim traces back to something actually experienced.

Synthesis is incremental by default — only new or changed memory gets processed. Results from previous runs are cached (generalization, principle matching, axiom notation, tension detection) so unchanged patterns aren't re-analyzed. If nothing has changed, it simply acknowledges that and moves on. No wasted reflection.

Reporting results: Present a brief, conversational summary rather than raw JSON:

If new axioms emerged or counts changed: highlight what grew (e.g. "3 new signals found, 1 new axiom emerged around honesty")
If nothing changed: a short acknowledgment (e.g. "Soul is stable — no new patterns detected")
If it failed: explain what went wrong and suggest a fix
Include key numbers naturally (axiom count, signal count, new patterns)

Options:

--reset — Clear everything and rediscover from scratch
--force — Reflect even if no new sources detected
--dry-run — See what would emerge without committing
--include-soul — Include existing SOUL.md as input (for bootstrapping from hand-crafted files)
--memory-path <path> — Custom memory directory path
--output-path <path> — Custom SOUL.md output path
--time-budget <minutes> — Time budget for synthesis (default: 20). Adaptively limits session extraction based on observed LLM speed to ensure reflection completes within budget
--verbose — Show detailed progress

Examples:

exec node {baseDir}/scripts/neon-soul.mjs synthesize
exec node {baseDir}/scripts/neon-soul.mjs synthesize --reset
exec node {baseDir}/scripts/neon-soul.mjs synthesize --dry-run

If Ollama is not running, the engine can't reflect. Tell the user to start it: ollama serve

`/neon-soul status`

Show current soul state. Read the following files and report:

Read .neon-soul/state.json for last synthesis timestamp
Read .neon-soul/synthesis-data.json for signal/principle/axiom counts
Count files in memory/ modified since last synthesis
Report dimension coverage across the 7 dimensions of identity

Options: --verbose, --workspace <path>

`/neon-soul rollback`

Restore a previous SOUL.md from backup.

List backups in .neon-soul/backups/
With --force: restore the most recent version
With --backup <timestamp> --force: restore a specific moment
With --list: see your history without changing anything

`/neon-soul audit`

Explore full provenance across all axioms.

Read .neon-soul/synthesis-data.json
With --list: every axiom, with IDs and descriptions
With --stats: statistics by tier and dimension
With <axiom-id>: the full story — axiom to principles to signals to source files

`/neon-soul trace <axiom-id>`

Quick answer to "where did this come from?"

Read .neon-soul/synthesis-data.json
Find the axiom matching <axiom-id>
Show: the axiom, the principles that shaped it, the source evidence

Scheduled Synthesis

Set up cron to run synthesis on a schedule. Incremental processing and multi-layer caching mean it only does real work when new memory or sessions exist — cached runs complete in seconds.

Recommended: Every 60 minutes, isolated session, 30-minute timeout.

OpenClaw cron example:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "neon-soul-synthesis" \
  --every 60m \
  --timeout 1800 \
  --isolated \
  --message "Run neon-soul synthesis: exec node {baseDir}/scripts/neon-soul.mjs synthesize --memory-path <memory-path> --output-path <output-path>. Summarize what changed — highlight any new patterns, axioms, or growth. If nothing changed, note that the soul is stable."

Or run manually: /neon-soul synthesize

Why cron over heartbeat:

Synthesis is a standalone task — no conversational context needed
Runs in isolation from the main session
Incremental by default — cached runs complete in seconds when nothing changed
Adaptive time budget prevents runaway execution

Data Locations

What	Path
Memory files	`memory/` (diary, preferences, reflections)
Soul output	`SOUL.md`
State	`.neon-soul/state.json`
Backups	`.neon-soul/backups/`
Synthesis data	`.neon-soul/synthesis-data.json`
Caches	`.neon-soul/generalization-cache.json`, `compression-cache.json`, `tension-cache.json`

Privacy

NEON-SOUL processes personal memory files to synthesize identity. Your data stays on your machine.

What NEON-SOUL does NOT do:

Send data to any service beyond your configured LLM (Ollama, local by default)
Store data anywhere except your local workspace
Transmit to third-party analytics, logging, or tracking services
Make network requests independent of your agent

Before running synthesis:

Review what's in your memory/ directory
Remove any secrets, credentials, or sensitive files
Use --dry-run to preview what will be processed

Troubleshooting

Ollama not running: curl http://localhost:11434/api/tags to check. Start with ollama serve.

Bullet lists instead of prose: When prose generation fails, NEON-SOUL falls back to bullet lists. Usually means Ollama timed out or the model isn't loaded. Run synthesis again.

Stale results after model change: Caches are keyed by model ID. Switching models automatically invalidates cached results. Use --reset if you want a clean start.