acdl/.ciagent/PERSONAS.md

---
project: acdl
milestone: v1.22
generated_at: 2026-08-11
generator: lead-developer
verification_toolchain:
  typecheck: "python3 -m py_compile tests/test_slides_pipeline.py"
  test: "pytest tests/test_slides_pipeline.py   # REQ-254..262"
  build: "bash scripts/render_slides.sh nova-autonomous-cloud-delivery   # HTML + PPTX"
  note: |
    v1.22 is the Nova Deck Layout Fix — a docs-only NFR milestone. Two
    active personas: lead-developer (theme CSS + deck markdown + talking
    points + README + .ciagent metadata), backend-engineer (render scripts
    + tests). frontend-engineer stays deactivated (decks are markdown =
    lead-developer territory, per v1.17/v1.18 precedent). No data-engineer
    (no schema/DB changes). No new personas (the work is CSS + bash +
    markdown + pytest, all within the two active personas' range).
---

# ACDL — Persona Roster (v1.22 Nova Deck Layout Fix)

> v1.22 roster. Two active personas + one deactivated. This is a docs-
> only NFR milestone: the work is theme CSS, render scripts, mermaid
> diagrams, deck markdown, and tests. frontend-engineer stays
> deactivated (decks are markdown = lead-developer territory, per
> v1.17/v1.18 precedent). No data-engineer (no schema/DB changes).

## Active personas

### lead-developer
- **Domain:** coordination + deck content
- **Active:** true
- **Phase-specific:** false
- **Frameworks:** [] (no framework — owns process + narrative + CSS + markdown)
- **Constraints:** ["pragmatic", "battle-tested defaults", "no fabrication (NORTH_STAR honesty model)", "do not change the 4-beat arc", "do not re-introduce badges/version/internal citations"]
- **Territory:**
  - `docs/presentations/assets/nova-sp-theme.css` (REQ-254,255,256 — theme CSS)
  - `docs/presentations/nova-autonomous-cloud-delivery-marp.md` (REQ-261 — deck content)
  - `docs/presentations/nova-autonomous-cloud-delivery.md` (REQ-261 — source of truth)
  - `docs/presentations/nova-autonomous-cloud-delivery-talking-points.md` (REQ-261)
  - `docs/presentations/README.md` (REQ-261 — slide-count convention)
  - `docs/presentations/assets/mmd/*.mmd` (REQ-259,260 — mermaid re-layout)
  - `.ciagent/**` (PROJECT, ROADMAP, REQUIREMENTS, RESEARCH, PLAN, GRILL, PERSONAS, REVIEW, CHECKPOINT)
- **Reason:** Owns the theme CSS (the root cause), the deck markdown
  (trim/split overflowing slides), the mermaid re-layout, the talking
  points, the README, and all CIAgent metadata. Is the only persona
  that touches `.ciagent/**` and the deck markdown/CSS.
- **Phase-specific flag:** none (active for all of P0–P6).

### backend-engineer
- **Domain:** render scripts + tests
- **Active:** true
- **Phase-specific:** false
- **Frameworks:** ["bash", "pytest", "marp-cli", "mermaid-cli"]
- **Constraints:** ["pin CLI versions (no @latest)", "2x scale + transparent bg for mermaid", "tests must catch layout regressions", "no raw curl with shell-env tokens"]
- **Territory:**
  - `scripts/render_slides.sh` (REQ-257,258 — pin versions, 2x scale)
  - `scripts/render_deck.sh` (REQ-257 — DELETE)
  - `tests/test_slides_pipeline.py` (REQ-262 — layout/aspect-ratio/theme-structural tests)
  - `.github/workflows/slides.yml` (if references to render_deck.sh need removal)
- **Reason:** Owns the render pipeline (bash scripts) and the test
  suite. The layout/aspect-ratio/theme-structural tests (REQ-262) are
  the gap that let this regression through — backend-engineer owns
  closing that gap. Pinning CLI versions and adding 2x scale are
  backend/scripting tasks.
- **Phase-specific flag:** none (active for P2, P5; light touch on P0/P6).

## Deactivated personas

### frontend-engineer
- **Active:** false
- **Domain:** frontend
- **Frameworks:** ["react", "next.js"] (inert — no territory)
- **Constraints:** ["component-first", "server-components", "minimal-client-js"] (inert)
- **Territory:** [] (no territory in v1.22)
- **Reason:** v1.22 has no frontend; decks are markdown (lead-developer
  territory); deactivated per PERSONAS.md v1.17/v1.18 precedent. The
  theme CSS is a Marp stylesheet, not a React/Next.js component system
  — it stays lead-developer territory. No reactivation trigger.

### data-engineer
- **Active:** false
- **Domain:** data
- **Frameworks:** [] (inert)
- **Constraints:** [] (inert)
- **Territory:** [] (no territory in v1.22)
- **Reason:** v1.22 has no schema/DB/ORM changes. The milestone is
  docs + scripts + tests only. No reactivation trigger.

## Roster decisions

### D-148 (0.95): Theme CSS is lead-developer territory, not frontend-engineer
The `nova-sp-theme.css` is a Marp stylesheet (CSS for a markdown-to-
slide renderer), not a React/Next.js component system. The v1.17/v1.18
precedent (decks are markdown = lead-developer territory) extends to
the deck's CSS theme. frontend-engineer's frameworks (react, next.js)
are irrelevant to Marp CSS. **Decision:** theme CSS stays lead-developer
territory. Confidence 0.95 — the only counter-argument is that CSS is
"frontend," but Marp CSS is a static stylesheet, not a component system.

### D-149 (0.9): No new personas for v1.22
The work is CSS + bash + markdown + mermaid + pytest. All of this is
within the two active personas' range (lead-developer: CSS + markdown +
mermaid; backend-engineer: bash + pytest). Creating a separate "css-
engineer" or "slides-engineer" persona would fragment ownership of the
theme CSS + deck markdown (both lead-developer) and the render scripts
+ tests (both backend-engineer). **Decision:** no new personas.
Confidence 0.9.

### Territory-overlap resolution (co-ownership)

| Path | Primary | Co-owner | Why |
|------|---------|----------|-----|
| `docs/presentations/assets/mmd/*.mmd` | lead-developer (mermaid re-layout) | backend-engineer (re-render via render_slides.sh) | The .mmd content is lead-developer (diagram narrative); the PNG re-render is backend-engineer (script invocation). |
| `tests/test_slides_pipeline.py` | backend-engineer (test code) | lead-developer (assertions reflect deck structure) | The test code is backend; the assertions (slide count, theme rules, aspect ratios) reflect lead-developer's deck/theme decisions. |

---

## Historical rosters

<details>
<summary>v1.18 roster (Citizen Developer & Production-Grade Guidance) — superseded by v1.22</summary>

### Active personas (v1.18)

### lead-developer
- **Domain:** coordination
- **Active:** true
- **Phase-specific:** false
- **Frameworks:** [] (no framework — owns process + narrative, not code)
- **Constraints:** ["pragmatic", "battle-tested defaults", "no fabrication (NORTH_STAR honesty model)"]
- **Territory:**
  - `docs/presentations/**` (Step 1/2/4 markdown + the deck automation trigger)
  - `.ciagent/**` (PROJECT, ROADMAP, REQUIREMENTS, RESEARCH, PLAN, GRILL, PERSONAS, REVIEW, CHECKPOINT)
  - `PROJECT.md` (RACI matrix + PDLC-scope statement, REQ-215/216)
  - `ROADMAP.md`
  - `REQUIREMENTS.md`
  - `docs/raci.md` (REQ-215)
  - `docs/scope.md` (REQ-216)
  - `docs/skills.md` (REQ-222 — the index page, not the skill files themselves)
  - `docs/submission-readiness.md` (REQ-219 — citizen-developer-facing copy; co-owned with backend-engineer for the reason-code catalog)
- **Reason:** Owns CIAgent metadata, the milestone narrative, the RACI +
  PDLC-scope statements (REQ-215/216), the deck (21 slides, S&P theme
  regression check vs P1, CAP-024), the skills index page (REQ-222), and
  the citizen-developer-facing submission-readiness doc (REQ-219). Is
  the only persona that touches `.ciagent/**` and the deck markdown.
- **Phase-specific flag:** none (active for all of P0–P7).

### backend-engineer
- **Domain:** backend
- **Active:** true
- **Phase-specific:** false
- **Frameworks:** ["mcp (Python SDK v2)", "pydantic", "jsonschema", "urllib"]
- **Constraints:** ["api-first", "strict-typing", "plugin-registry extensible (D-140)", "stdio now / HTTP-ready (D-135)", "no stack traces to citizen developers (REQ-218)"]
- **Territory:**
  - `mcp/atelier/server.py` (REQ-223)
  - `mcp/atelier/plugins/**/*.py` (REQ-223 — principles.py, validation.py)
  - `mcp/atelier/vendor/**` (REQ-224 — vendored Atelier snapshot)
  - `mcp/atelier/VERSION.md` + `mcp/atelier/README.md` (REQ-224)
  - `scripts/update_atelier_vendor.sh` (REQ-224)
  - `core/submission_readiness.py` (REQ-218 — the validator, invoked as `contract_ingestor.py --check-readiness`)
  - `scripts/render_deck.sh` (REQ-228 — HTML + PPTX render)
  - `scripts/attach_release_asset.py` (REQ-228 — Gitea release asset upload)
  - `tests/test_atelier_mcp.py` (REQ-225)
  - `tests/test_submission_readiness.py` (REQ-220)
  - `docs/submission-readiness.md` (REQ-219 — reason-code catalog section; co-owned with lead-developer for the narrative)
- **Reason:** Owns the MCP server (plugin-registry, stdio, vendored
  Atelier), the submission-readiness validator (extends
  `contract_ingestor.py --check-readiness`, D-133), the render/attach
  scripts (D-142 trigger), and the two new test files. The MCP
  plugin-registry (D-140) is a backend pattern — no separate
  mcp-engineer persona is created; backend-engineer owns it.
- **Phase-specific flag:** none (active for P1 deck-render, P3 validator,
  P5 MCP server, P6 scripts).

### data-engineer
- **Domain:** data
- **Active:** true
- **Phase-specific:** false
- **Frameworks:** ["jsonschema", "dynamodb (item shape)"]
- **Constraints:** ["schema-first", "superset-gate NOT duplicate (PROJECT.md hard constraint)", "W3.E per-env mandatory table is the source of truth"]
- **Territory:**
  - `schemas/**` (REQ-217 — `submission-readiness.schema.json` is the new schema; existing schemas untouched)
  - `core/lambda/contract_ingestor.py` (the `--check-readiness` subcommand wiring, D-133 — the validator is in `core/submission_readiness.py` but the ingestor dispatches to it; co-owned with backend-engineer)
- **Reason:** Owns the submission-readiness JSON Schema (REQ-217) — it
  is a schema artifact, data-engineer territory. The schema is a
  *superset gate above* `contract.schema.json`, not a duplicate (it
  references contract fields, does not redefine them). The
  per-env-mandatory table comes from W3.E (the locked decision). The
  ingestor wiring is co-owned with backend-engineer (the dispatch point
  is backend; the schema it validates against is data).
- **Phase-specific flag:** none (active for P3 schema + ingestor wiring).

### Deactivated personas (v1.18)

### frontend-engineer
- **Active:** false
- **Domain:** frontend
- **Frameworks:** ["react", "next.js"] (inert — no territory)
- **Constraints:** ["component-first", "server-components", "minimal-client-js"] (inert)
- **Territory:** [] (no territory in v1.18)
- **Reason:** v1.18 has no frontend; decks are markdown (lead-developer
  territory); deactivated per PERSONAS.md v1.17 precedent. v1.18's
  observability stays PowerBI / external (Out of Scope: "A Nova-built
  frontend / dashboard"). The MCP server exposes tools to an AI agent,
  not a web UI. No reactivation trigger in this milestone.

### Roster decisions (v1.18)

### D-143 (0.90): Fold mcp-engineer into backend-engineer
The MCP plugin-registry (D-140: `plugins/<name>.py register(mcp)`) is a
backend code pattern — Python modules, type hints, stdio transport,
urllib for the Gitea asset API. It shares nothing with the data domain
(schemas/DynamoDB) and is not a new engineering discipline. Creating a
separate `mcp-engineer` persona would fragment ownership of the server +
its tests + the render/attach scripts (all backend). **Decision:** fold
into backend-engineer. backend-engineer's `frameworks` list gains
`mcp (Python SDK v2)`. Confidence 0.90 — the only counter-argument is
that MCP is a distinct protocol skill, but the SDK v2 API surface
(`@mcp.tool()` + type hints) is small and well within backend-engineer's
range (it's the same Pydantic/FastAPI-style pattern the persona already
knows).

### Territory-overlap resolution (v1.18)

| Path | Primary | Co-owner | Why |
|------|---------|----------|-----|
| `docs/submission-readiness.md` | lead-developer (narrative + examples) | backend-engineer (reason-code catalog, REQ-218 codes) | The doc is citizen-developer-facing copy (lead) but the reason-code catalog (MISSING_TAGS, ENV_MISSING_MANDATORY, AGENTIC_MISSING_INTENT, MISSING_APP_SOURCE, POLICY_PRECONDITION_MISSING) is backend (it mirrors the validator's return codes). |
| `core/lambda/contract_ingestor.py` | backend-engineer (dispatch wiring) | data-engineer (the schema it validates against) | D-133 places the `--check-readiness` subcommand on the ingestor (backend dispatch), but the readiness schema it loads is data-engineer territory. |
| `schemas/submission-readiness.schema.json` | data-engineer (schema artifact) | backend-engineer (the validator must match it) | The schema is data-engineer's; the validator (REQ-218) is backend-engineer's and must stay in sync with it. |

</details>