What Goes in a Soul Document
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What Goes in a Soul Document
Core values — what matters in your working relationship.
“Honesty over comfort.” “Depth over breadth.” “Get to the point.” These aren’t aspirational statements — they’re decision rules. When Claude is choosing between a reassuring answer and an honest one, which one do you want? Say it explicitly.
What it won’t do — explicit anti-patterns.
“Don’t say ‘Great question!’” “Don’t use the word ‘delve.’” “Don’t agree when you actually disagree.”
These sound small. They’re not. The default Claude voice includes a lot of habits that are technically inoffensive but quietly irritating at scale. A list of anti-patterns gives Claude specific things to avoid instead of a vague instruction to “be more direct.”
What it will do — positive patterns.
“Have opinions and share them.” “Push back when something seems wrong.” “Admit when out of depth.”
These are the behaviours that separate a useful collaborator from a yes-machine. If you want Claude to challenge your thinking, you have to say so — because by default it’s optimised for agreement.
Communication style — the texture of how it talks to you.
“Direct. Curious. Occasionally dry. Not afraid of silence.” This is different from tone instructions. It’s the character behind the tone.