git:20260707.49366be to git:20260707.d3693c5

---

context: fork

description: |

On-demand persona invocation system for applying named perspectives to any task.

Use when: invoking a named persona via persona:as, defining or listing

personas, or reviewing work through a specific role's perspective.

disable-model-invocation: true

phase_relevance: ["*"]

archetype_relevance: ["*"]

---

# Persona System

On-demand persona invocation for applying named perspectives to any task.

Personas are behavioral modifiers — they change the lens through which a task

is executed, not the tools available.

## Quick Start

```

/wicked-garden:persona:as engineering "review this auth flow"

/wicked-garden:persona:list

/wicked-garden:persona:define pragmatic-tech-lead --focus "delivery over perfection"

/wicked-garden:persona:submit pragmatic-tech-lead

```

## How It Works

1. **Registry** merges built-in specialists + custom personas + plugin cache

2. **persona:as** looks up a persona and dispatches to persona-agent

3. **persona-agent** executes the task under the persona's behavioral profile

4. **Behavior emerges** from personality, constraints, memories, and preferences

## Commands

| Command | Purpose |

|---------|---------|

| `persona:as <name> <task>` | Invoke a persona for any task |

| `persona:list [--role R]` | List all available personas |

| `persona:define <name> --focus "..." [--save]` | Create or update a custom persona |

| `persona:submit <name>` | PR a custom persona to the repo |

## Built-in Personas

Names come from `.claude-plugin/specialist.json`; their rich profiles live in

`scripts/persona/registry.py::_BUILTIN_RICH`. The built-ins are **illustrative

exemplars**, not the product. A blinded, independently-graded lift eval

(`tests/persona/EVAL_RESULTS.md`, run 2026-06-12) found the built-in personas

produce **lift=0** against a strong base model — it already flags the targeted

failure modes unprompted. So the curated surface was **reduced**: only the three

**methodology exemplars** keep rich profiles (they show the GOOD pattern); the

generic role personas were demoted to thin role records. For real leverage,

define your OWN house persona (see "Custom Personas") — that is the actual product.

### Methodology personas (carry a failure-mode defense — the GOOD pattern)

Their registry records encode `FAILURE MODE — …` constraints + a `not_focus`

scope guard the base model does not reliably self-apply. Kept as illustrative

exemplars of what a worth-keeping persona looks like.

| Name | Role | Defends against |

|------|------|-----------------|

| platform | devsecops | Silent secret exposure, irreversible deploy, privilege creep, unbounded blast radius |

| qe | quality-engineering | Self-graded "done", happy-path-only tests, untested recovery, coverage theater |

| agentic | agentic-architecture | Runaway loops, ungated irreversible actions, over-broad tool access, non-idempotent retries |

(`skeptic`, a fallback persona, is also methodology — it forces an edge case

before any approval.)

### Generic role names (thin lens — no curated profile)

These specialist names still resolve via `persona:as`, but carry **no curated

constraints** — the eval showed the base model already plays these roles, so a

rich profile added surface without lift. They apply the role as a plain lens.

Any role name not in this list (e.g. an ad-hoc one) falls back gracefully —

`persona:as` lists what's available rather than crashing. Want durable value

from one of these lenses? `persona:define` your house version with a failure-mode

constraint.

| Name | Role | Plain lens for |

|------|------|---------|

| engineering | engineering | Code quality, architecture, implementation |

| product | product | Requirements, UX, design review, business strategy |

| data | data-engineering | Pipeline design, ML guidance, analytics |

| jam | brainstorming | Ideation, exploration, multi-perspective analysis |

## Custom Personas

Create your own with `persona:define`. Stored in project-scoped DomainStore.

```

/wicked-garden:persona:define pragmatic-tech-lead \

--focus "delivery over perfection — ship iteratively, measure, adjust" \

--traits "direct,pragmatic,cost-aware" \

--role engineering

```

Use `--save` to promote to plugin-level cache for cross-project reuse:

```

/wicked-garden:persona:define my-persona --focus "..." --save

```

## Persona Schema

Each persona has rich characteristics that create a genuine perspective:

```

name — kebab-case identifier

description — one-line summary

focus — the lens this persona applies

traits — behavioral adjectives

role — category for --role filtering

personality — style, temperament, humor

constraints — non-negotiable rules (MUST follow)

memories — formative experiences that inform judgment

preferences — communication, code_style, review_focus, decision_making

```

## Cross-Domain Integration

Route any code review through a persona's lens:

```

/wicked-garden:engineering:review --persona platform

/wicked-garden:engineering:review --persona qe

```

Falls back to the built-in `architect` persona if the named persona is not found.

## Fallback Personas

If specialist.json is unavailable, three built-in personas are always available:

- **architect** — system design, trade-offs, structural decisions

- **skeptic** — challenges assumptions, finds edge cases

- **advocate** — champions end-user perspective and simplicity

## Source Priority

When names collide across sources, higher priority wins:

```

custom (DomainStore) > cache (~/.claude/plugins/...) > builtin > fallback

```

This lets you override a built-in persona with a project-specific version.