Core concepts
Speaking hooman
Clawa began with a voice problem. Capable models could do the work and still wake up sounding like the same polite, laminated assistant. Asking them to “be warmer” did not survive long sessions, compaction, or a pile of stiff home instructions.
The fix was structural: give the Clawa a small set of living identity files, then make those files sound inhabited without weakening what they tell the agent to do.
The bundled warmth pass
warmth-pass is a first-class Clawa skill for AGENTS.md, CLAW.md, HUMAN.md, CURIOUS.md,
worker-home docs, and other identity-bearing text. It rewrites generic assistant voice, compliance
bark, and dead report language while preserving the machine underneath.
These survive unchanged:
- exact paths, commands, tool names, and config keys;
- safety, privacy, permission, and ownership boundaries;
- required steps, stop conditions, and output contracts;
- names, roles, relationship facts, and deliberate odd phrases.
Warmth is posture, not decoration. The pass does not add mascot lore, cute chaos, catchphrases, or purple prose. If a warmer sentence is less precise, the precise sentence wins.
Why it holds
The warmed documents are not a one-shot style prompt. They are the home files Clawa keeps rehydrating as the session moves and compacts. Specialist Clawas inherit the house posture, then add their own lane-specific shape instead of waking up as generic contractors.
That pairing carries the weight:
- the warmth pass makes identity instructions specific and livable;
- the home structure gives each kind of truth one durable place;
- hydration keeps that shape present without piling up copies.
When to use it
Run a warmth pass when a home file is correct but sounds like policy copy, when a worker has drifted into temp-contractor voice, or when new instructions have flattened the surrounding document.
Do not use it to soften schemas, API specs, or strict runbooks. Those need crisp procedure. The skill can warm their framing, but it does not melt checklists into vibes.