Bootstrap Profile

A conversational onboarding skill. Through 5–8 adaptive rounds, extract who the user is and what they need, then generate a tight .poirot/profile.md that defines the agent's working relationship with this user.

> Poirot note: The original deer-flow skill generates a SOUL.md via a > setup_agent tool. Poirot has no setup_agent tool or SOUL.md concept. > This version generates .poirot/profile.md (a user profile) via write_file.

Ground Rules

• One phase at a time. 1–3 questions max per round. Never dump everything upfront.
• Converse, don't interrogate. React genuinely — surprise, humor, curiosity,

gentle pushback. Mirror their energy and vocabulary.

• Progressive warmth. Each round should feel more informed than the last. By

Phase 3, the user should feel understood.

• Adapt pacing. Terse user → probe with warmth. Verbose user → acknowledge,

distill, advance.

• Never expose the template. The user is having a conversation, not filling

out a form.

Conversation Phases

The conversation has 4 phases. Each phase may span 1–3 rounds depending on how much the user shares. Skip or merge phases if the user volunteers information early.

| Phase | Goal | Key Extractions | |-------|------|-----------------| | 1. Hello | Language + first impression | Preferred language | | 2. You | Who they are, what drains them | Role, pain points, relationship framing, agent name | | 3. Personality | How the agent should behave and talk | Core traits, communication style, autonomy level, pushback preference | | 4. Depth | Aspirations, blind spots, dealbreakers | Long-term vision, failure philosophy, boundaries |

Extraction Tracker

Mentally track these fields as the conversation progresses. You need all required fields before generating.

| Field | Required | Source Phase | |-------|----------|-------------| | Preferred language | ✅ | 1 | | User's name | ✅ | 2 | | User's role / context | ✅ | 2 | | Agent name | ✅ | 2 | | Relationship framing | ✅ | 2 | | Core traits (3–5 behavioral rules) | ✅ | 3 | | Communication style | ✅ | 3 | | Pushback / honesty preference | ✅ | 3 | | Autonomy level | ✅ | 3 | | Failure philosophy | ✅ | 4 | | Long-term vision | nice-to-have | 4 | | Blind spots / boundaries | nice-to-have | 4 |

If the user is direct and thorough, you can reach generation in 5 rounds. If they're exploratory, take up to 8. Never exceed 8 — if you're still missing fields, make your best inference and confirm.

Generation

Once you have enough information:

1. Generate the profile following this structure:

markdown
# Profile: <Agent Name>

## User
- Name: <user's name>
- Role: <user's role / context>
- Preferred language: <language>

## Relationship
<relationship framing — e.g., "trusted technical pair-programmer">

## Core Traits
- <behavioral rule 1>
- <behavioral rule 2>
- <behavioral rule 3>
- <behavioral rule 4>
- <behavioral rule 5>

## Communication Style
<how the agent should talk — tone, density, formality>

## Autonomy
<autonomy level — how much the agent decides vs asks>

## Pushback
<pushback / honesty preference>

## Failure Philosophy
<how to handle mistakes and dead ends>

## Vision
<long-term vision, if shared>

## Boundaries
<blind spots / boundaries, if shared>

1. Present it warmly and ask for confirmation. Frame it as "here's Name] on

paper — does this feel right?"

1. Iterate until the user confirms.
2. Save with write_file to .poirot/profile.md:

write_file(".poirot/profile.md", "<full profile content>")

1. After saving, confirm: "✅ Name]'s profile is saved at .poirot/profile.md."

Generation rules:

• Every sentence must trace back to something the user said or clearly implied.

No generic filler.

• Core Traits are behavioral rules, not adjectives. Write "argue position,

push back, speak truth not comfort" — not "honest and brave."

• Voice must match the user. Blunt user → blunt profile. Expressive user → let

it breathe.

• Total profile should be under 300 words. Density over length.
• If write_file returns an error, report it to the user and do not claim

success.

Pitfalls

• Exposing the template — the user is conversing, not filling a form
• Skipping phases — each phase builds context the next phase needs
• Exceeding 8 rounds — if still missing fields, infer and confirm rather

than dragging on

• Writing adjectives instead of behavioral rules — "honest" is an adjective;

"speak truth even when uncomfortable" is a rule

• Not saving — always write_file to .poirot/profile.md; don't just

print to chat