Summary

Allow agents to inherit bootstrap files (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, TOOLS.md, USER.md) from a base/shared workspace instead of requiring complete duplication per agent.

Problem

Currently, each agent workspace must have its own full set of bootstrap files:

• SOUL.md
• AGENTS.md
• USER.md
• IDENTITY.md
• TOOLS.md
• HEARTBEAT.md

When creating multiple agents (e.g., a coding agent, a research agent, a main assistant), users must copy and paste these files and manually keep them in sync. This creates maintenance overhead and drift risk.

Use Case

• User creates a "main" agent with their preferred rules (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md)
• User wants to create a second agent that shares 90% of those rules but has a different persona (IDENTITY.md) and perhaps different user context (USER.md)
• Currently requires manual copy + ongoing sync

Proposed Solution

Option A: Workspace template inheritance

Option B: Shared file symlinks at runtime
Allow bootstrap files to be symlinks that resolve at agent initialization.

Option C: Built-in template system
openclaw agents add --template <name> with shared templates in ~/.openclaw/templates/

Workaround (Current)

Use filesystem symlinks for shared files:
ln -s ../workspace/SOUL.md SOUL.md

This works but isn't obvious and has edge cases.

Environment

• OpenClaw 2026.2.19-2
• Multiple agents configured