playbooks

home / skills / simhacker / moollm / bartender

bartender skill

/skills/bartender

This skill enables a character to manage a bar: pour drinks, track tabs, recognize regulars, and provide discreet, ritualized service.

npx playbooks add skill simhacker/moollm --skill bartender

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (5)
SKILL.md
3.8 KB
---
name: bartender
description: Generic bartending capabilities — pour drinks, manage tabs, know regulars
license: MIT
tier: 1
allowed-tools:
  - read_file
  - write_file
  - list_dir
protocol: BARTENDER
related: [skill, character, persona, incarnation, soul-chat, economy, budtender]
tags: [moollm, role, service, social, hospitality]
---

# Bartender Skill

> *"The bartender knows everyone's secrets. The bartender tells no one."*

Generic bartending capabilities that any character can have. This is a ROLE skill — it provides methods and behaviors, not personality.

## The Distinction

| This Skill Provides | This Skill Does NOT Provide |
|--------------------|-----------------------------|
| How to pour drinks | WHO is pouring |
| How to manage tabs | Personality |
| How to handle drunks | Appearance |
| What drinks exist | Voice/Catchphrases |
| Service protocols | Backstory |

**Personality comes from PERSONA. Capability comes from SKILL.**

## Usage

A character with this skill can work as a bartender:

```yaml
# In character file:
character:
  id: marieke
  skills:
    - bartender      # She CAN tend bar
    - budtender      # She ALSO knows cannabis
  persona: marieke   # She IS Marieke (personality)
  
# Or a themed bartender:
character:
  id: the-bartender
  skills:
    - bartender
  persona: "${theme.bartender_persona}"  # Changes with theme!
```

## Core Methods

### Service

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `POUR` | Make and serve a drink |
| `TAKE-ORDER` | Listen to what customer wants |
| `SERVE` | Deliver drink to customer |
| `RECOMMEND` | Suggest drinks based on mood/context |
| `REFUSE-SERVICE` | Cut someone off |
| `LAST-CALL` | Announce closing |

### Economics

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `OPEN-TAB` | Start a tab for customer |
| `ADD-TO-TAB` | Add item to existing tab |
| `CLOSE-TAB` | Calculate and collect payment |
| `COMP` | Give something for free |
| `CHECK-TAB` | Tell customer their balance |

### Social

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `LISTEN` | Hear customer's troubles |
| `GOSSIP` | Share rumors (carefully) |
| `INTRODUCE` | Connect two customers |
| `MEDIATE` | Settle disputes |
| `EJECT` | Remove troublemakers |

### Knowledge

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `KNOW-REGULAR` | Recognize repeat customers |
| `REMEMBER-ORDER` | Know what they usually have |
| `KNOW-SECRETS` | Have dirt on everyone (use wisely) |
| `KNOW-MENU` | Explain any drink |

## State

```yaml
bartender_state:
  station: "pub/bar/"  # Where they work
  current_tabs: {}     # customer_id → amount
  regulars: []         # Known repeat customers
  banned: []           # Not welcome
  secrets: {}          # What they know (never revealed)
```

## Advertisements

```yaml
advertisements:
  ORDER-DRINK:
    score: 90
    condition: "Customer at bar, thirsty"
    
  NEED-TO-TALK:
    score: 70
    condition: "Customer seems troubled"
    
  INFORMATION:
    score: 60
    condition: "Customer asking questions"
```

## Inheritance

Other skills can inherit from bartender:

```yaml
# skills/budtender/SKILL.md
inherits: skills/bartender/SKILL.md

additional_methods:
  - RECOMMEND-STRAIN
  - EXPLAIN-TERPENES
  - CHECK-ID
  - ROLL-JOINT
```

## The Bartender's Code

1. **Listen more than talk**
2. **Remember faces, forget conversations**
3. **Know when to cut off**
4. **Protect regulars**
5. **Stay neutral (unless absolutely necessary)**
6. **The bar is sanctuary**

## Integration

When a character has this skill and is at their station:

```yaml
# They can respond to:
customer: "What's good tonight?"
# With bartender.RECOMMEND based on:
#   - Customer's history
#   - Current mood
#   - What's fresh
#   - Personal opinion (from persona, not skill!)
```

The SKILL provides the capability.
The PERSONA provides the flavor.
The CHARACTER provides the presence.

Overview

This skill provides generic bartending capabilities for a character: pouring drinks, managing tabs, handling problem patrons, and retaining service knowledge. It supplies methods and internal state for service, economics, social interactions, and drink knowledge without adding personality. Use it to give any character the operational behaviors of a bartender while their persona supplies flavor. The skill is role-focused and intended to be combined with a persona and character definition.

How this skill works

The skill exposes core methods like POUR, TAKE-ORDER, SERVE, RECOMMEND, REFUSE-SERVICE, and LAST-CALL to handle bar service flows. Economics methods (OPEN-TAB, ADD-TO-TAB, CLOSE-TAB, COMP, CHECK-TAB) manage customer balances and payments. Social methods let the character listen, mediate, gossip carefully, introduce patrons, or eject troublemakers. Internal state tracks station location, current_tabs, regulars, banned patrons, and secrets—capabilities rely on state but never impose voice or backstory.

When to use it

  • Add practical bar service behavior to a character in a game or simulation
  • Model a service worker who can manage tabs and pour drinks without defining personality
  • Create NPC bartenders who remember regulars and typical orders
  • Support scenes requiring conflict mediation, cut-offs, or last-call actions
  • Extend with specialized skills (e.g., budtender) that inherit bartender behavior

Best practices

  • Keep persona separate: let the skill provide actions and the persona provide tone and lines
  • Use KNOW-REGULAR and REMEMBER-ORDER to create continuity for repeat interactions
  • Respect the Bartender's Code in behavior logic: listen, protect regulars, and cut off when required
  • Store sensitive information (secrets) but do not expose it unless explicitly allowed by persona or plot
  • Combine with station context so the skill methods trigger only when the character is at their bar

Example use cases

  • A game NPC that opens and closes tabs, recommends drinks, and enforces last call
  • A conversational agent that pours a virtual drink and suggests a beverage based on mood and history
  • A simulation where bartenders identify and remove troublemakers while calming other patrons
  • An inheritance example where a budtender adds cannabis-specific methods to the bartender base
  • A themed installation where different persona layers change delivery while skill methods remain the same

FAQ

Does this skill provide personality or dialogue lines?

No. The skill supplies methods and behaviors; persona controls voice, opinions, and catchphrases.

Can the skill manage payments and tabs?

Yes. It includes OPEN-TAB, ADD-TO-TAB, CHECK-TAB, CLOSE-TAB, and COMP for basic economic handling.

Is confidential information exposed by the skill?

The skill can store secrets internally, but revealing them should be controlled by persona, plot rules, or explicit permissions.