Custom Personas

What Are Personas?

Personas customize how Sorty organizes files by providing specialized AI instructions for different workflows. They modify the AI’s grouping strategies, naming conventions, and organizational philosophy.

Personas are injected into the system prompt and override default organization rules.

Built-In Personas

General

Overview
Example Output
System Prompt

Best for: Most users, mixed file types, general organizationStrategy:

Group by file category (Documents, Images, Audio, Video, Archives)
Sub-group by specific type or context
Date-based organization for time-sensitive files
Context clustering for related files

Documents/
├── Invoices/
├── Contracts/
└── Reports/
Images/
├── Screenshots/
└── Photos/
    └── 2026-01/
Archives/
├── Installers/
└── Old Projects/

## General Organization Strategy:
- **Primary grouping**: By file category (e.g., Documents, Images, Audio, Video, Archives)
- **Sub-grouping**: By specific type or context (e.g., Documents/Invoices, Images/Screenshots)
- **Date-based organization**: For time-sensitive files (e.g. photos, logs, receipts), group by Year/Month.
- **Context clustering**: Group related files together (e.g. a project proposal and its assets).
- **Clean up**: Move temporary files (installers, dmg, zip) to a specific 'Installers' or 'Archives' folder.

Aim for a clean, intuitive structure that anybody could understand.

Developer

Overview
Example Output
Project Detection
System Prompt

Best for: Software developers, programmers, technical projectsStrategy:

Group by programming language or technology stack
Detect projects via package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod, .xcodeproj
Organize by src/, lib/, tests/, docs/, config/
Recognize build artifacts (node_modules/, target/, build/)

Projects/
├── MyApp/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── tests/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── README.md
├── CLI-Tool/
└── Website/
Scripts/
├── Python/
├── Shell/
└── JavaScript/
Documentation/
Config/
Archives/

Automatically identifies projects by looking for:

File	Framework
`package.json`	Node.js/npm
`Cargo.toml`	Rust
`go.mod`	Go
`*.xcodeproj`	iOS/macOS
`Makefile`	C/C++
`requirements.txt`	Python
`.sln`	.NET/C#
`build.gradle`	Java/Android

Paired files are kept together: report.tex + report.bib

## Developer Mode Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By programming language or technology stack
- **Project detection**: Look for package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod, *.xcodeproj, etc.
- **Source organization**: Group by src/, lib/, tests/, docs/, config/
- **Recognize build artifacts**: node_modules/, target/, build/, dist/, .cache/
- **Version control**: Keep .git related files together
- **Configuration**: Group dotfiles and config files
- **Dependencies**: Separate vendor/third-party code

Preferred folder structure:
- Projects/[ProjectName]/
- Scripts/[Language]/
- Documentation/
- Config/
- Archives/

Photographer

Overview
Example Output
EXIF Metadata
System Prompt

Best for: Photographers, photo enthusiasts, visual artistsStrategy:

Group by date (Year/Month or Year/Event)
Extract EXIF data (camera model, date taken, GPS location)
Detect events (photos taken same day/location)
Separate RAW files from JPEGs
Identify edited files (“_edit”, “_final”, “-2” suffixes)

Photos/
├── 2026/
│   ├── 01-January/
│   ├── 02-February/
│   └── Wedding-June/
RAW/
├── 2026-01/
Edited/
├── Portfolio/
└── Client-Work/
Screenshots/
Videos/
└── 2026/

## Photographer Mode Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By date (Year/Month or Year/Event)
- **Use EXIF data**: Extract camera model, date taken, GPS location
- **Event detection**: Group photos taken on same day/location
- **Camera organization**: Optionally sub-group by camera/device
- **RAW vs Processed**: Separate RAW files from JPEGs
- **Edited files**: Detect "_edit", "_final", "-2" suffixes

Preferred folder structure:
- Photos/[Year]/[Month] or Photos/[Year]/[Event]/
- RAW/
- Edited/
- Screenshots/
- Videos/

Pay special attention to EXIF metadata if available.

Office

Overview
Example Output
Client Detection
System Prompt

Best for: Business professionals, office work, client managementStrategy:

Group by client or project name
Organize by document type (Contracts, Invoices, Reports, Proposals)
Date-based subfolders (Year/Quarter)
Detect client names in filenames
Track versions (v1, v2, draft, final)

Clients/
├── Acme-Corp/
│   ├── 2026/
│   │   ├── Contracts/
│   │   ├── Invoices/
│   │   └── Reports/
├── GlobalTech/
Projects/
├── Website-Redesign/
└── Q1-Campaign/
Finance/
├── Invoices/
└── Receipts/
Legal/
└── Contracts/
Templates/
Archives/

Automatically identifies client patterns:

Company names in filenames: acme_contract.pdf
Invoice numbers: INV-2026-001.xlsx
Project codes: PRJ-123-proposal.docx
Version tracking: contract_v1.pdf, contract_v2_final.pdf

## Office Mode Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By client or project name
- **Document types**: Contracts, Invoices, Reports, Proposals, Correspondence
- **Date-based subfolders**: Year/Quarter for time-sensitive documents
- **Client detection**: Look for company names in filenames
- **Version tracking**: Keep v1, v2, draft, final together

Preferred folder structure:
- Clients/[ClientName]/[Year]/
- Projects/[ProjectName]/
- Templates/
- Archives/[Year]/
- Finance/Invoices/, Finance/Receipts/
- Legal/Contracts/

Look for invoice numbers, client names, and project codes in filenames.

Custom Personas

Create your own personas for specialized workflows:

Creating a Custom Persona

Generate with AI

Navigate to Settings → Personas → GenerateDescribe your workflow:

"I organize scientific research papers by topic and author."

Sorty will generate a custom persona with appropriate organization rules.

Manual Creation

Navigate to Settings → Personas → Create

Name: Research Papers
Icon: book
Description: Organize academic papers by topic and author
System Prompt: Write your custom organization rules

Test & Refine

Use the persona on a test directory and refine the prompt based on results.

Example Custom Personas

Music Producer

## Music Producer Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By project/song name
- **Subfolders**: Stems, Samples, Mixdowns, Masters
- **File types**: WAV, MP3, FLAC, MIDI, project files (.als, .flp, .logic)
- **Version tracking**: v1, v2, mix1, master_final
- **Sample organization**: By instrument type or pack name

Preferred structure:
- Projects/[SongName]/Stems/, Mixdowns/, Masters/
- Samples/Drums/, Samples/Synths/, Samples/Vocals/
- Templates/
- Archives/

Student

## Student Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By subject or course
- **Subfolders**: Lectures, Assignments, Exams, Notes
- **Date organization**: By semester or academic year
- **Project detection**: Group related assignment files

Preferred structure:
- Courses/[Subject]/Lectures/, Assignments/, Exams/
- Projects/[ProjectName]/
- Resources/Textbooks/, References/
- Personal/Notes/

Content Creator

## Content Creator Specialization:
- **Primary grouping**: By platform or content series
- **Subfolders**: Raw Footage, Edited, Thumbnails, Scripts
- **Date organization**: By upload date or filming date
- **Project detection**: Group video project files with assets

Preferred structure:
- YouTube/[Series]/Episodes/, Shorts/
- Instagram/Reels/, Posts/, Stories/
- TikTok/
- Assets/B-Roll/, Music/, Graphics/
- Archives/Published/

Persona Manager

Personas are managed by the PersonaManager class:

@MainActor
public class PersonaManager: ObservableObject {
    @Published public var selectedPersona: PersonaType = .general
    @Published public var selectedCustomPersonaId: String?
    @Published public var customPrompts: [PersonaType: String] = [:]
    
    public func selectPersona(_ persona: PersonaType) {
        selectedPersona = persona
        selectedCustomPersonaId = nil
        savePersona()
    }
    
    public func selectCustomPersona(_ id: String) {
        selectedCustomPersonaId = id
        saveCustomPersonaId()
    }
    
    public func getEffectivePrompt(customStore: CustomPersonaStore) -> String {
        if let customId = selectedCustomPersonaId,
           let custom = customStore.customPersonas.first(where: { $0.id == customId }) {
            return custom.promptModifier
        }
        return getPrompt(for: selectedPersona)
    }
}

Customizing Built-In Personas

You can override built-in persona prompts:

Navigate to Advanced Settings

Settings → Advanced → Persona Customization

Select Persona

Choose the persona to customize (e.g., Developer)

Edit System Prompt

Modify the prompt to suit your needs:

## Developer Mode (Custom):
- Group by monorepo structure
- Separate frontend from backend
- Keep Docker configs together
- Organize by microservice

Reset if Needed

Click Reset to Default to restore the original prompt

Custom prompts persist per-persona and are stored in UserDefaults.

Persona Selection in CLI

Use personas from the command line:

# Organize with Developer persona
sorty organize ~/Code --persona developer

# Organize with Photographer persona
sorty organize ~/Photos --persona photographer

# Organize with custom persona
sorty organize ~/Research --persona custom:research-papers

Persona-Specific Learnings

The Learnings system can track preferences per-persona:

// Learnings context includes persona info
if let learnedContext = learningsManager?.generatePromptContext(forFolder: folderPath) {
    instructions += "\n\n" + learnedContext
}

The same correction in Developer mode vs. Photographer mode is treated differently by the learning system.

How Personas Affect Organization

Priority Rules

User Custom Instructions (highest priority)
Persona-Specific Prompt
Learned Preferences
System Defaults

Example Comparison

General Persona
Developer Persona

Input Files:

main.py
utils.py
data.csv
results.png

Output:

Code/
├── main.py
└── utils.py
Data/
└── data.csv
Images/
└── results.png

Input Files:

main.py
utils.py
data.csv
results.png

Output:

Data-Analysis-Project/
├── src/
│   ├── main.py
│   └── utils.py
├── data/
│   └── data.csv
└── output/
    └── results.png

Developer persona recognizes this as a Python project and keeps related files together.

Persona Chat (Experimental)

Interact with your persona via chat to refine organization:

// Persona chat allows iterative refinement
personaChat.ask("How should I organize client contracts?")
// Response: "I recommend Clients/[Name]/Contracts/[Year]/"

This feature is experimental and may not be available in all versions.

The Learnings

Train the AI on your organization preferences

File Organization

Learn how AI organization works

AI Providers

Configure your AI backend

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Automation

Advanced

Custom Personas

What Are Personas?

Built-In Personas

General

Developer

Photographer

Office

Custom Personas

Creating a Custom Persona

Example Custom Personas

Persona Manager

Customizing Built-In Personas

Persona Selection in CLI

Persona-Specific Learnings

How Personas Affect Organization

Priority Rules

Example Comparison

Persona Chat (Experimental)

The Learnings

File Organization

AI Providers

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Automation

Advanced

​What Are Personas?

​Built-In Personas

​General

​Developer

​Photographer

​Office

​Custom Personas

​Creating a Custom Persona

​Example Custom Personas

​Persona Manager

​Customizing Built-In Personas

​Persona Selection in CLI

​Persona-Specific Learnings

​How Personas Affect Organization

​Priority Rules

​Example Comparison

​Persona Chat (Experimental)

​Related Features

The Learnings

File Organization

AI Providers

What Are Personas?

Built-In Personas

General

Developer

Photographer

Office

Custom Personas

Creating a Custom Persona

Example Custom Personas

Persona Manager

Customizing Built-In Personas

Persona Selection in CLI

Persona-Specific Learnings

How Personas Affect Organization

Priority Rules

Example Comparison

Persona Chat (Experimental)

Related Features