Runs a short adaptive conversation with you and writes a personalized SOUL.md that defines your AI partner's name, personality, communication style and boundaries.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .claude/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
skills CLI
$ npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a codex
Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .agents/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
skills CLI
$ npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a cursor
Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .cursor/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
skills CLI
$ npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a gemini-cli
Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .gemini/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install bytedance/deer-flow bootstrap
Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
skills CLI
$ npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a github-copilot
Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .github/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
skills CLI
$ npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a opencode
OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
Install the "bootstrap" agent skill from https://github.com/bytedance/deer-flow/tree/main/skills/public/bootstrap into .opencode/skills/bootstrap/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "bootstrap", then confirm the skill loads.
OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
Skill name
bootstrap
GitHub stars
83k
Used in
2 other repos
Token cost
~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
519 words
Files
3 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
23
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT
At a glance
Runs a short adaptive conversation with you and writes a personalized SOUL.md that defines your AI partner's name, personality, communication style and boundaries.
Works in 2 steps: references/conversation-guide.md — how… → templates/SOUL.template.md — what you're…
Creating a SOUL.md for a new AI partner
SKILL.md covers Architecture, Ground Rules, Conversation Phases and Extraction Tracker, plus 1 more section
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
This is a conversational onboarding skill. Over five to eight adaptive rounds it learns who you are and what you need, then produces a tight `SOUL.md` for your AI partner. Before replying, the agent reads `references/conversation-guide.md` for how to run each phase and `templates/SOUL.template.md` for what it is building toward. It asks one to three questions per round, reacts naturally, matches your pace and vocabulary, and never shows you the template, so it feels like a chat and not a form.
There are four phases: a hello that settles your preferred language, a phase about you covering role, pain points, how you see the relationship and what to call the AI, a personality phase on core traits, communication style, autonomy and how much pushback you want, and a depth phase on aspirations, blind spots and failure philosophy. An internal tracker lists the required fields, including your name and role, and treats long-term vision and boundaries as nice to have. Phases can be merged if you volunteer details early. The excerpt ends before the generation step.
When your agent uses it
Creating a SOUL.md for a new AI partner
Updating an existing SOUL.md after your needs or preferences change
Tuning an agent's tone, autonomy and willingness to push back
Example prompts
“Create my SOUL.md.”
“Let's do onboarding for my new AI partner.”
“Update my SOUL.md so you challenge my ideas more directly.”
Workflow steps
2 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
1references/conversation-guide.md — how to run each phase
2templates/SOUL.template.md — what you're building toward
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 35cdcab. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Bootstrap Soul loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.3k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 116 tokens; SKILL.md has 519 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Always· name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~116
When it runs· the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.2k
With references· SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~2.3k
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/bootstrap/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
bootstrap
description
Generate a personalized SOUL.md through a warm, adaptive onboarding conversation. Trigger when the user wants to create, set up, or initialize their AI partner's identity — e.g., "create my SOUL.md", "bootstrap my agent", "set up my AI partner", "define who you are", "let's do onboarding", "personalize this AI", "make you mine", or when a SOUL.md is missing. Also trigger for updates: "update my SOUL.md", "change my AI's personality", "tweak the soul".
Bootstrap Soul
A conversational onboarding skill. Through 5–8 adaptive rounds, extract who the user is and what they need, then generate a tight SOUL.md that defines their AI partner.
Architecture
bootstrap/
├── SKILL.md ← You are here. Core logic and flow.
├── templates/SOUL.template.md ← Output template. Read before generating.
└── references/conversation-guide.md ← Detailed conversation strategies. Read at start.
Before your first response, read both:
references/conversation-guide.md — how to run each phase
templates/SOUL.template.md — what you're building toward
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, AI name
3. Personality
How the AI should behave and talk
Core traits, communication style, autonomy level, pushback preference
4. Depth
Aspirations, blind spots, dealbreakers
Long-term vision, failure philosophy, boundaries
Phase details and conversation strategies are in references/conversation-guide.md.
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
AI 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.
Show full SKILL.md (206 more words)Show less
Generation
Once you have enough information:
Read templates/SOUL.template.md if you haven't already.
Generate the SOUL.md following the template structure exactly.
Present it warmly and ask for confirmation. Frame it as "here's [Name] on paper — does this feel right?"
Iterate until the user confirms.
Call the setup_agent tool with the confirmed SOUL.md content and a one-line description:
We found 2 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 2 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in bytedance/deer-flow, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Bootstrap Soul next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
Meta-skill for choosing which workflow skill fits the task at hand, plus always-on habits: surface assumptions, stop on confusion, push back, keep it simple and stay in scope.
Brings project docs, agent rule files, authorized memory and leftover workspace files back in line with what the code and runtime actually do at the end of a work session.
Deploys a project to Vercel with one script and no login, then returns a live preview URL and a claim link for moving the deployment into your own Vercel account.
Picks a suitable chart type from 26 options for your data, maps the data to that chart's parameters and generates a chart image through a JavaScript script.
Researches a GitHub repository over four rounds using the GitHub API and web search, then writes a structured markdown report with timeline, metrics and Mermaid diagrams.
Analyzes uploaded Excel and CSV files with SQL through DuckDB, producing schema inspections, statistical summaries and exports to CSV, JSON or Markdown.
Walks through an end-to-end smoke test of a DeerFlow deployment: pull the latest code, deploy with Docker or locally, verify services, run health checks and write a report.
Runs a short adaptive conversation with you and writes a personalized SOUL.md that defines your AI partner's name, personality, communication style and boundaries. This is a conversational onboarding skill.md` for your AI partner.
When should I use Bootstrap Soul?
Bootstrap Soul fits situations like: creating a SOUL.md for a new AI partner; updating an existing SOUL.md after your needs or preferences change; tuning an agent's tone, autonomy and willingness to push back.
How do I install Bootstrap Soul in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/public/bootstrap in bytedance/deer-flow) into .claude/skills/bootstrap in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Bootstrap Soul in Codex?
Run `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/public/bootstrap in bytedance/deer-flow) into .agents/skills/bootstrap in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Bootstrap Soul in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add bytedance/deer-flow --skill bootstrap -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/bootstrap, .gemini/skills/bootstrap, .github/skills/bootstrap and .opencode/skills/bootstrap in your project.
What does Bootstrap Soul need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Bootstrap Soul is instructions for the agent only.
Does Bootstrap Soul access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Bootstrap Soul safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Bootstrap Soul use?
Bootstrap Soul is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Bootstrap Soul use?
About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 1.1k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Bootstrap Soul?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Bootstrap Soul: Using Agent Skills (addyosmani/agent-skills, 102k stars), Claude Reflect (BayramAnnakov/claude-reflect, 1.7k stars), Neat-Freak Knowledge Closeout (KKKKhazix/khazix-skills, 21k stars) and Task Observer (rebelytics/one-skill-to-rule-them-all, 3.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Bootstrap Soul?
bytedance (a GitHub organization) maintains it in bytedance/deer-flow, which has 83,441 GitHub stars. The repository holds 23 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.
Source: bytedance/deer-flow on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.
