Customize with skills, memories, and rules

HoloDesktop CLI reads a few optional files from ~/.holo/ at the start of every run and folds them into the agent’s instructions. Use them to carry context across runs without repeating it in each task. The snapshot is taken once when a run starts and frozen for that run, so edits apply to the next run, not the one in flight.

Standing instructions

Put durable, always-on guidance in ~/.holo/agents.md. It is prepended to every run.

~/.holo/agents.md

Prefer keyboard shortcuts over mouse clicks.
When a task is ambiguous, choose the least destructive option and report what you did.

An optional name in frontmatter personalizes the opening line:

~/.holo/agents.md

---
name: Antoine
---
Default to dark mode when an app offers it.

Memories and rules

memories.md and rules.md are lists. Separate entries with a blank line. A file with no blank lines is read one entry per line.

The expense portal is at https://expenses.internal.example.com.

My default browser is Firefox.

Never submit a form without showing me the final values first.

Stop and ask before deleting files.

File	Contains	Written by
`agents.md`	Standing instructions, prepended to every run	You
`memories.md`	Context the agent may use	You
`rules.md`	Constraints the agent should follow	You
`holo-memories.md`	The CLI’s own notes	The CLI, leave it alone

All four load into every run. Each file is capped at 128 KB and content past the cap is truncated with a marker, so keep entries short and specific.

Skills

A skill is a reusable, named procedure the agent can pull in when a task matches its description. Each lives in its own directory:

~/.holo/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md

The directory name becomes the skill name, so keep it lowercase and hyphenated. SKILL.md needs YAML frontmatter with a description (used for matching, 280 characters max) and a markdown body with the steps:

~/.holo/skills/file-an-expense/SKILL.md

---
description: File an expense report in the internal portal from a receipt image.
---

1. Open the expense portal in the browser.
2. Click "New expense" and upload the receipt.
3. Fill amount, date, and category from the receipt.
4. Show the filled form and stop before submitting.

HoloDesktop CLI seeds its bundled skills into ~/.holo/skills/ on the first run and tracks them in ~/.holo/settings.json, so your own skills sit alongside them. A skill that is missing its description or body is skipped with a warning. To package a skill so an agent host can install it, see Use HoloDesktop CLI as a skill.

Verify what loaded

holo doctor reports how many skills are seeded under ~/.holo/:

holo doctor

For the full list of customization files and other local state, see Paths and files.

Get started

Integrations

How-to guides

Reference

Examples

Customize with skills, memories, and rules

Standing instructions

Memories and rules

Skills

Verify what loaded

Next steps

Paths and files

Use as a skill

​Standing instructions

​Memories and rules

​Skills

​Verify what loaded

​Next steps

Paths and files

Use as a skill

Standing instructions

Memories and rules

Skills

Verify what loaded

Next steps