diff --git a/src/gateway/gateway.ts b/src/gateway/gateway.ts
index 89ea5be..f4ca405 100644
--- a/src/gateway/gateway.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/gateway.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import type { TransportAdapter } from "../transports";
 import { hostname } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { injectToolsSection } from "./tools-inject";
-import { injectPersonaSection } from "./persona-inject";
+import { injectPersonaSection, loadPersona } from "./persona-inject";
 
 /** Bot username for command suffix validation (set during gateway init) */
 let _botUsername = "";
@@ -328,6 +328,9 @@ export class Gateway {
       await handleOrAbort(thread, message);
     });
 
+    // ── Load persona files at startup (cached for process lifetime) ───
+    loadPersona();
+
     // ── Handle inline keyboard callbacks ───
     this.chat.onAction(MODEL_ACTION_ID, async (event: any) => {
       await handleModelAction({ value: event.value, thread: event.thread });
diff --git a/src/gateway/persona-inject.ts b/src/gateway/persona-inject.ts
index 7d5ba89..7625593 100644
--- a/src/gateway/persona-inject.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/persona-inject.ts
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
  * prepends them as a structured section so the agent has identity and
  * user context on every turn.
  *
- * No caching — these files are expected to be updated by the agent
- * during conversations (especially user.md). Files are small (<2KB),
- * so readFileSync on each turn is negligible.
+ * Cached on first load (gateway startup). Call reloadPersona() after
+ * the agent edits user.md/soul.md to pick up changes within the same
+ * process lifetime. Otherwise changes take effect on next restart.
  */
 
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import { join, dirname } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { ROUNDHOUSE_DIR } from "../config";
 
+let cachedPersona: string | null = null;
+
 function loadFile(filename: string): string {
   const userPath = join(ROUNDHOUSE_DIR, filename);
   const bundledPath = join(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), filename);
@@ -30,20 +32,40 @@ function loadFile(filename: string): string {
   }
 }
 
-/**
- * Prepend a <persona> section to the prompt text.
- * Only injects if soul.md or user.md have content.
- */
-export function injectPersonaSection(text: string): string {
+function buildPersona(): string {
   const soul = loadFile("soul.md").trim();
   const user = loadFile("user.md").trim();
 
-  if (!soul && !user) return text;
+  if (!soul && !user) return "";
 
   const parts: string[] = [];
   if (soul) parts.push(soul);
   if (user) parts.push(user);
-  const persona = parts.join("\n\n---\n\n");
+  return parts.join("\n\n---\n\n");
+}
+
+/**
+ * Load persona files and cache the result.
+ * Call at gateway startup to eagerly load.
+ */
+export function loadPersona(): void {
+  cachedPersona = buildPersona();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reload persona from disk. Call after agent edits user.md/soul.md
+ * (e.g. from an IPC handler or post-tool-execution hook).
+ */
+export function reloadPersona(): void {
+  cachedPersona = buildPersona();
+}
 
-  return `<persona>\n${persona}\n</persona>\n\n${text}`;
+/**
+ * Prepend a <persona> section to the prompt text.
+ * Only injects if soul.md or user.md have content.
+ */
+export function injectPersonaSection(text: string): string {
+  if (cachedPersona === null) loadPersona();
+  if (!cachedPersona) return text;
+  return `<persona>\n${cachedPersona}\n</persona>\n\n${text}`;
 }