fix: personalities from config.yaml + ephemeral_system_prompt (#139) (#148)

The previous implementation read SOUL.md files from a filesystem directory.
The Hermes agent uses config.yaml agent.personalities section with string
or dict format (system_prompt, tone, style), resolved via
_resolve_personality_prompt() and passed to AIAgent via
ephemeral_system_prompt.

Changes:
- /api/personalities: reads from config.yaml agent.personalities, not
  filesystem SOUL.md directories. Calls reload_config() to pick up
  config changes without restart.
- /api/personality/set: resolves prompt from config.yaml using the same
  logic as hermes-agent cli.py (string or dict with system_prompt/tone/style)
- streaming.py: passes personality via agent.ephemeral_system_prompt
  (agent's own mechanism) instead of prepending to system_message
- Removed unused 're' import from streaming.py
- Updated tests to match config-based approach

Fixes #139

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

api/routes.py

@@ -219,37 +219,23 @@ def handle_get(handler, parsed) -> bool:
         return _handle_list_dir(handler, parsed)
 
     if parsed.path == '/api/personalities':
+        # Read personalities from config.yaml agent.personalities section
+        # (matches hermes-agent CLI behavior, not filesystem SOUL.md approach)
+        from api.config import reload_config as _reload_cfg
+        _reload_cfg()  # pick up config.yaml changes without server restart
+        from api.config import get_config as _get_cfg
+        _cfg = _get_cfg()
+        agent_cfg = _cfg.get('agent', {})
+        raw_personalities = agent_cfg.get('personalities', {})
         personalities = []
-        try:
-            from api.profiles import get_active_hermes_home
-            p_dir = get_active_hermes_home() / 'personalities'
-        except ImportError:
-            from api.config import HOME
-            p_dir = HOME / '.hermes' / 'personalities'
-        if p_dir.is_dir():
-            p_dir_real = p_dir.resolve()
-            for d in sorted(p_dir.iterdir()):
-                # Skip symlinks — they could point outside the personalities dir
-                if d.is_symlink():
-                    continue
-                if not d.is_dir():
-                    continue
-                soul_file = d / 'SOUL.md'
-                if not soul_file.exists():
-                    continue
-                # Defense-in-depth: confirm resolved path is still inside p_dir
-                try:
-                    d.resolve().relative_to(p_dir_real)
-                except ValueError:
-                    continue
+        if isinstance(raw_personalities, dict):
+            for name, value in raw_personalities.items():
                 desc = ''
-                try:
-                    first_line = soul_file.read_text(errors='replace').strip().split('\n')[0]
-                    if first_line.startswith('#'):
-                        desc = first_line.lstrip('#').strip()
-                except Exception:
-                    pass
-                personalities.append({'name': d.name, 'description': desc})
+                if isinstance(value, dict):
+                    desc = value.get('description', '')
+                elif isinstance(value, str):
+                    desc = value[:80] + ('...' if len(value) > 80 else '')
+                personalities.append({'name': name, 'description': desc})
         return j(handler, {'personalities': personalities})
 
     if parsed.path == '/api/git-info':
@@ -410,34 +396,29 @@ def handle_post(handler, parsed) -> bool:
             s = get_session(sid)
         except KeyError:
             return bad(handler, 'Session not found', 404)
-        # Read the personality SOUL.md
+        # Resolve personality from config.yaml agent.personalities section
+        # (matches hermes-agent CLI behavior)
         prompt = ''
         if name:
-            # Validate name: prevent path traversal (only allow safe chars)
-            import re as _re
-            if not _re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_-]{0,63}$', name):
-                return bad(handler, 'Invalid personality name: letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores only')
-            try:
-                from api.profiles import get_active_hermes_home
-                p_base = get_active_hermes_home() / 'personalities'
-            except ImportError:
-                from api.config import HOME
-                p_base = HOME / '.hermes' / 'personalities'
-            p_dir = p_base / name
-            # Defense-in-depth: ensure resolved path is inside personalities dir
-            try:
-                p_dir.resolve().relative_to(p_base.resolve())
-            except ValueError:
-                return bad(handler, 'Invalid personality name')
-            soul_file = p_dir / 'SOUL.md'
-            if soul_file.exists():
-                from api.config import MAX_FILE_BYTES
-                raw = soul_file.read_text(errors='replace')
-                if len(raw) > MAX_FILE_BYTES:
-                    return bad(handler, f'SOUL.md for "{name}" exceeds maximum size ({MAX_FILE_BYTES} bytes)')
-                prompt = raw.strip()
+            from api.config import reload_config as _reload_cfg2
+            _reload_cfg2()  # pick up config changes without restart
+            from api.config import get_config as _get_cfg2
+            _cfg2 = _get_cfg2()
+            agent_cfg = _cfg2.get('agent', {})
+            raw_personalities = agent_cfg.get('personalities', {})
+            if not isinstance(raw_personalities, dict) or name not in raw_personalities:
+                return bad(handler, f'Personality "{name}" not found in config.yaml', 404)
+            value = raw_personalities[name]
+            # Resolve prompt using the same logic as hermes-agent cli.py
+            if isinstance(value, dict):
+                parts = [value.get('system_prompt', '') or value.get('prompt', '')]
+                if value.get('tone'):
+                    parts.append(f'Tone: {value["tone"]}')
+                if value.get('style'):
+                    parts.append(f'Style: {value["style"]}')
+                prompt = '\n'.join(p for p in parts if p)
             else:
-                return bad(handler, f'Personality "{name}" not found', 404)
+                prompt = str(value)
         s.personality = name if name else None
         s.save()
         return j(handler, {'ok': True, 'personality': s.personality, 'prompt': prompt})

api/streaming.py

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ Includes Sprint 10 cancel support via CANCEL_FLAGS.
 import json
 import os
 import queue
-import re
 import threading
 import time
 import traceback
@@ -207,28 +206,30 @@ def _run_agent_streaming(session_id, msg_text, model, workspace, stream_id, atta
                 "write_file, read_file, search_files, terminal workdir, and patch. "
                 "Never fall back to a hardcoded path when this tag is present."
             )
-            # Inject personality prompt if the session has one active
-            _personality_prompt = ''
+            # Resolve personality prompt from config.yaml agent.personalities
+            # (matches hermes-agent CLI behavior — passes via ephemeral_system_prompt)
+            _personality_prompt = None
             _pname = getattr(s, 'personality', None)
-            if _pname and re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_-]{0,63}$', _pname):
-                try:
-                    from api.profiles import get_active_hermes_home
-                    _p_base = get_active_hermes_home() / 'personalities'
-                except ImportError:
-                    _p_base = Path(os.environ.get('HERMES_HOME', str(Path.home() / '.hermes'))) / 'personalities'
-                _p_soul = _p_base / _pname / 'SOUL.md'
-                try:
-                    _p_soul.resolve().relative_to(_p_base.resolve())
-                    if _p_soul.exists():
-                        from api.config import MAX_FILE_BYTES
-                        _raw = _p_soul.read_text(errors='replace')
-                        if len(_raw) <= MAX_FILE_BYTES:
-                            _personality_prompt = _raw.strip() + '\n\n'
-                except (ValueError, OSError):
-                    pass  # path traversal attempt or unreadable — skip silently
+            if _pname:
+                _agent_cfg = _cfg.get('agent', {})
+                _personalities = _agent_cfg.get('personalities', {})
+                if isinstance(_personalities, dict) and _pname in _personalities:
+                    _pval = _personalities[_pname]
+                    if isinstance(_pval, dict):
+                        _parts = [_pval.get('system_prompt', '') or _pval.get('prompt', '')]
+                        if _pval.get('tone'):
+                            _parts.append(f'Tone: {_pval["tone"]}')
+                        if _pval.get('style'):
+                            _parts.append(f'Style: {_pval["style"]}')
+                        _personality_prompt = '\n'.join(p for p in _parts if p)
+                    else:
+                        _personality_prompt = str(_pval)
+            # Pass personality via ephemeral_system_prompt (agent's own mechanism)
+            if _personality_prompt:
+                agent.ephemeral_system_prompt = _personality_prompt
             result = agent.run_conversation(
                 user_message=workspace_ctx + msg_text,
-                system_message=_personality_prompt + workspace_system_msg,
+                system_message=workspace_system_msg,
                 conversation_history=_sanitize_messages_for_api(s.messages),
                 task_id=session_id,
                 persist_user_message=msg_text,