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The bot can only help with what it knows. USER.md gives it persistent context about you — your work, schedule, ADHD patterns, and priorities. This context survives conversation resets and compaction, so the bot doesn’t lose track of who you are.

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Why this matters

Without USER.md, the bot learns about you through conversation — but that context gradually fades as older messages get compacted. Writing things down in USER.md means the bot always has access to your baseline context, even after a /clear or a long break.

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Where to create it

Create the file at ~/.ollim-bot/USER.md. Unlike IDENTITY.md, this file is not created automatically — you write it yourself when you’re ready. ~ is your home directory — /home/you on Linux, /Users/you on macOS, or C:\Users\you on Windows.
Tell the bot to create or update it:
“Create a USER.md with the following: I’m in Pacific time, I work from home, and I have ADHD — mornings are my hardest time to get started.”
The bot will write the file for you and keep the new context in mind for the rest of the session — no restart needed.

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What to include

The file is freeform, but here are useful categories:
USER.md
# About me

- Pacific timezone, work from home
- Usually available 9am-5pm weekdays
- Kids get picked up at 3:30 — don't schedule anything 3-4pm

# ADHD patterns

- Mornings are the hardest — I need help getting started
- Once I'm focused, don't interrupt unless it's urgent
- I tend to forget things that aren't written down

# Current priorities

- Finish quarterly report (due Friday)
- Schedule dentist appointment (been putting it off)
- Plan weekend trip

# Preferences

- Give me one thing at a time, not a full list
- Ping me about deadlines, skip routine check-ins
- I use Google Tasks for everything
You don’t need all of these sections. Start with whatever feels most useful and add more over time.

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The bot can update it too

The bot has permission to read and edit USER.md at runtime. If you tell it something important during conversation, you can ask it to save that to your profile:
“Add to my USER.md that Tuesdays and Thursdays I have calls from 1-2pm — don’t ping me during those.”
This is especially useful for context that comes up naturally — you don’t have to remember to edit the file later. The bot keeps the new context in mind immediately, not just for future sessions.

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When changes take effect

It depends on how the change was made:
  • You or the bot added it during conversation — the bot already knows what changed and acts on it immediately. The file is also saved, so the context persists across restarts.
  • The change happened in a fork — the fork sends an update to the main session summarizing what was added, so the main session knows about it too.
  • You edited the file yourself — the bot doesn’t watch the file for changes, so ask it to re-read USER.md, or run /compact to rebuild the session with your changes.

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Next steps

Customize personality

Change the bot’s tone, humor, and communication style.

Data directory

Technical reference for profile files and the data directory.