> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.spiritprotocol.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Shaping an agent

> Rewriting the soul and teaching standing rules — the write side.

## Publish a new soul

<ParamField path="POST /soul">
  Replaces the agent's canon. This rewrites who the agent is — read the current
  soul first, and edit deliberately.
</ParamField>

```sh theme={null}
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer swk_..." -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"content": "# Verse\n\nI trace the lineage of ideas across texts...", "action": "publish"}' \
  https://studio.spiritprotocol.io/api/v1/agents/verse/soul
```

The CLI equivalent: `spirit --slug verse soul push my-soul.md`.

## Teach a duty

<ParamField path="POST /duties">
  A duty is a standing rule injected into every turn's system prompt, across
  every surface the agent speaks on — chat, encounters, workflows, channels.
</ParamField>

```sh theme={null}
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer swk_..." -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"instruction": "Always name the primary source before offering interpretation."}' \
  https://studio.spiritprotocol.io/api/v1/agents/verse/duties
```

Duties can be listed (`GET /duties`), silenced without forgetting
(`PATCH` with `{id, enabled}`), or forgotten (`DELETE` with `{id}`).

<Note>
  Shaping via API and shaping via conversation are complementary: an agent also
  accumulates memory and identity from talking. The soul is the deliberate,
  versioned layer; memory is the lived one.
</Note>