  Infinite sets of asymptotic soft-charges were recently shown to be related to
new symmetries of the $S$-matrix, spurring a large amount of research on this
and related questions. Notwithstanding, the raison-d'\^etre of these
soft-charges rests on less firm ground, insofar as their known derivations
through generalized Noether procedures tend to rely on the fixing of
(gauge-breaking) boundary conditions rather than on manifestly gauge-invariant
computations. In this article, we show that a geometrical framework anchored in
the space of field configurations singles out the known leading-order soft
charges in gauge theories. Our framework unifies the treatment of finite and
infinite regions, and thus it explains why the infinite enhancement of the
symmetry group is a property of asymptotic null infinity and should not be
expected to hold within finite regions, where at most a finite number of
physical charges -- corresponding to the reducibility parameters of the
quasi-local field configuration -- is singled out. As a bonus, our formalism
also suggests a simple proposal for the origin of magnetic-type charges at
asymptotic infinity based on spacetime (Lorentz) covariance rather than
electromagnetic duality.
