From 996a3f89d5f3835009236782f2b3a93409b090cf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tyler <109685178+tlongwell-block@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:05:41 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): allow saving personas with an empty system
 prompt (#1276)

Signed-off-by: Tyler Longwell <tlongwell@block.xyz>
Co-authored-by: npub1qyvc0c5kl4gqv2fd97fsk46tu378sqgy35vc83rvgfwne90sel7s0ed67d <011987e296fd5006292d2f930b574be47c7801048d1983c46c425d3c95f0cffd@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Co-authored-by: Tyler Longwell <tlongwell@block.xyz>
---
 desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs    |  6 ++--
 .../src/features/agents/ui/PersonaDialog.tsx  |  7 ++--
 .../agents/ui/personaDialogState.test.mjs     | 32 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts  | 14 ++++++++
 4 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs
index 8dc77eaa5..562112427 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/src/commands/personas.rs
@@ -167,13 +167,13 @@ pub fn create_persona(
     state: State<'_, AppState>,
 ) -> Result<PersonaRecord, String> {
     let display_name = trim_required(&input.display_name, "Display name")?;
-    let system_prompt = trim_required(&input.system_prompt, "System prompt")?;
+    // System prompt optional: core memory is auto-injected. Empty is valid.
+    let system_prompt = input.system_prompt.trim().to_string();
     let avatar_url = trim_optional(input.avatar_url);
     let runtime = trim_optional(input.runtime);
     let model = trim_optional(input.model);
     let provider = trim_optional(input.provider);
     let now = now_iso();
-
     let _store_guard = state
         .managed_agents_store_lock
         .lock()
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ pub fn update_persona(
     state: State<'_, AppState>,
 ) -> Result<PersonaRecord, String> {
     let display_name = trim_required(&input.display_name, "Display name")?;
-    let system_prompt = trim_required(&input.system_prompt, "System prompt")?;
+    let system_prompt = input.system_prompt.trim().to_string();
     let avatar_url = trim_optional(input.avatar_url);
     let runtime = trim_optional(input.runtime);
     let model = trim_optional(input.model);
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/PersonaDialog.tsx b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/PersonaDialog.tsx
index e2e42a14a..df6d3fcce 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/PersonaDialog.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/PersonaDialog.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   getImportErrorLabel,
   IMPORT_ERROR_VISIBILITY_MS,
 } from "./personaDialogImportState";
+import { canSubmitPersonaDialog } from "./personaDialogState";
 
 type PersonaDialogProps = {
   open: boolean;
@@ -519,11 +520,7 @@ export function PersonaDialog({
                 Cancel
               </Button>
               <Button
-                disabled={
-                  displayName.trim().length === 0 ||
-                  systemPrompt.trim().length === 0 ||
-                  isPending
-                }
+                disabled={!canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName, isPending })}
                 onClick={() => void handleSubmit()}
                 size="sm"
                 type="button"
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.test.mjs b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.test.mjs
index 948ae77f1..f15439769 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.test.mjs
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.test.mjs
@@ -2,12 +2,44 @@ import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import test from "node:test";
 
 import {
+  canSubmitPersonaDialog,
   createPersonaDialogState,
   duplicatePersonaDialogState,
   editPersonaDialogState,
   importPersonaDialogState,
 } from "./personaDialogState.ts";
 
+test("canSubmitPersonaDialog requires a display name but not a system prompt", () => {
+  // Empty system prompt is allowed: core memory is auto-injected, so the
+  // persona prompt is optional. Only the display name gates submission.
+  assert.equal(
+    canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName: "Coder", isPending: false }),
+    true,
+  );
+  assert.equal(
+    canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName: "  Coder  ", isPending: false }),
+    true,
+  );
+});
+
+test("canSubmitPersonaDialog blocks an empty or whitespace display name", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName: "", isPending: false }),
+    false,
+  );
+  assert.equal(
+    canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName: "   ", isPending: false }),
+    false,
+  );
+});
+
+test("canSubmitPersonaDialog blocks while a save is pending", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    canSubmitPersonaDialog({ displayName: "Coder", isPending: true }),
+    false,
+  );
+});
+
 test("createPersonaDialogState returns a fresh empty draft", () => {
   const first = createPersonaDialogState();
   const second = createPersonaDialogState();
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts
index d1631dea5..0a8c2a914 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/agents/ui/personaDialogState.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,20 @@ export type PersonaDialogState = {
 
 type ParsedPersonaDraft = ParsePersonaFilesResult["personas"][number];
 
+/**
+ * Whether the persona dialog's save action should be enabled.
+ *
+ * A display name is the only required field. The system prompt is optional:
+ * core memory is auto-injected at runtime, so a persona need not carry its
+ * own prompt. `isPending` blocks double-submits while a save is in flight.
+ */
+export function canSubmitPersonaDialog(args: {
+  displayName: string;
+  isPending: boolean;
+}): boolean {
+  return args.displayName.trim().length > 0 && !args.isPending;
+}
+
 export function createPersonaDialogState(): PersonaDialogState {
   return {
     title: "Create persona",