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Persona Evolution Guides

Updated in v1.7.0. This landing page indexes the 25 evolution guides that now ship with the framework: the 15 original guides from v1.5.3 (personas introduced in v1.4.1 → v1.5.0) plus 10 new guides added in v1.7.0 covering the v1.6.x operational roles and the 5 new v1.7.0 personas. Each guide is ~1,700–2,000 words and follows the 5-section template: Career Path, Skill Milestones, First 90 Days, Common Pitfalls, Escalation Points.

The guides complement three foundational references that should be read first:

  • ../evolution-pathways.md — the four-stage EvolutionStage maturity model (FOUNDATIONAL → STRUCTURED → SEMANTIC → FEDERATED) that every persona walks through.
  • ../archetype-atlas.md — the 37-archetype canonical taxonomy (new in v1.5.3) mapped onto the FCC workflow graphs.
  • ../archetype-families.md — the six-family coarse taxonomy (auto-generated from the persona YAMLs).

When to use an evolution guide: you are either onboarding into the persona, mentoring someone else into it, or auditing a team that owns the role. The three-pointed structure — career path, skill milestones, onboarding playbook — means the same document serves all three audiences without fragmenting into role-specific and team-specific variants.

Guides shipped in v1.5.3

# ID Persona Category Phase Archetype Added
1 SMC SAFe Metrics Crafter jv_governance Ops The Metrics Crafter v1.4.4
2 ZCA Zachman Classifier Agent knowledge_graph Critique The Classifier v1.4.1
3 SFBI SAFe-FCC Bridge Interpreter jv_governance Orchestration The Translator v1.4.4
4 TLDR Three-Layer Doc Reconciler docs_as_code Critique The Reconciler v1.4.4
5 VDS Vocabulary Drift Sentinel knowledge_graph Critique The Sentinel v1.4.1
6 LAR Lane-Router Architect protocol_engineering Build The Switchboard Operator v1.4.2
7 OTO OpenTelemetry Orchestrator protocol_engineering Ops The Observatory Keeper v1.4.2
8 PCT Patent Claim Tracer governance Critique The Claim Cartographer v1.4.3
9 RHL Research Handoff Liaison jv_collaboration Critique The Ambassador v1.4.3
10 IHL Innovation Handoff Liaison jv_collaboration Critique The Bridge Diplomat v1.4.3
11 OSCU Open-Science Curator open_science Critique The Curator v1.4.4
12 PHV Pattern Harvester docs_as_code Find The Scout v1.4.4
13 KGSE Knowledge Graph Serializer Elevator knowledge_graph Find The Elevator Operator v1.5.0
14 LTAS Long-Term Archive Steward data_engineering Build The Archivist v1.5.0
15 DAR Decision Archaeologist governance Find The Archaeologist v1.5.0

Guides added in v1.7.0

These 10 guides cover the five v1.7.0 personas (EDM, LPA, MDC, IHR, RCRS) and five v1.6.x operational roles that did not previously have dedicated evolution coverage.

# ID Persona / Role Category Phase Archetype Added
16 EDM Ecosystem Docs Maintainer docs_as_code Critique The Cartographer v1.7.0
17 LPA Local-Path Auditor governance Critique The Inspector v1.7.0
18 MDC Mermaid Diagram Critic docs_as_code Critique The Draftsman v1.7.0
19 IHR i18n Human Reviewer docs_as_code Critique The Interpreter v1.7.0
20 RCRS Real-Corpus Refresh Steward data_engineering Find The Steward v1.7.0
21 chromium-sandbox-operator Chromium Sandbox Operator devops Build The Mechanic v1.6.0
22 seed-canonical-reviewer Seed Canonical Reviewer governance Critique The Gatekeeper v1.6.1
23 lyra-integrator LYRA Integrator jv_collaboration Build The Bridge Builder v1.6.0
24 pillar-c-translator Pillar-C Translator docs_as_code Build The Prompt Engineer v1.6.2
25 pillar-a-steward Pillar-A Steward data_engineering Find The Custodian v1.6.1

Guides added in v1.7.2

These 2 guides cover new composite operational roles introduced alongside the v1.7.1 tri-authority coordination model. Each guide anchors three existing personas (no new persona YAMLs) and maps them onto a cross-cutting concern.

# ID Role Archetype anchors Added
26 coordination-record-steward Coordination Record Steward TLDR + PHV + RHL v1.7.2
27 tri-authority-orchestrator Tri-Authority Orchestrator IHL + RHL + EDM v1.7.2

Reading paths by audience

If you are adopting the role for the first time — read Career Path and First 90 Days back-to-back, then tackle Skill Milestones and Common Pitfalls as you hit each checkpoint. Treat Escalation Points as the reference you open when stuck.

If you are mentoring a new adopter — start with Common Pitfalls and Escalation Points so you know what to watch for; use Skill Milestones as the check-in scaffold for 30/60/90-day retros.

If you are auditing an existing team — sample two guides per audit: one for the role being audited and one for an upstream or downstream partner. Cross-check the escalation matrices against the cross-reference matrix in ../archetype-interaction-atlas.md.

Related content shipped in v1.5.3

  • Tutorial matrix — ../../tutorials/tutorial-matrix.md (new in v1.5.3 Pool G) cross-links each guide to the relevant sample-prompt file, notebook, and audience tier.
  • Sample prompts — one dedicated prompt file per new persona at docs/tutorials/sample-prompts/persona-{id}-prompts.md (Pool C).
  • Audience-tier pages — seven new audience pages covering auditors, knowledge engineers, data architects, scientists, educators, and beginners (Pool E).
  • Pool G meta-sync — tutorial indexes, mkdocs nav, README, CHANGELOG, ROADMAP, and Helm chart bump to 0.4.3 / appVersion 1.5.3.

Scope and non-goals

The 15 guides in this folder cover only the personas introduced in v1.4.1–v1.5.0. The other 148 personas ship with their auto-generated model cards and are indexed by ../archetype-interaction-atlas.md; future releases may add bespoke evolution guides for high-traffic existing roles (RC, BC, UG, ACO, OA) but that work is out of scope for v1.5.3.

Each guide is hand-curated, not generated on every build. Update the guide when the persona YAML changes in a way that affects the collaborator graph, the constraints, or the discernment matrix. Trivial YAML edits (typo fixes, description polishing) do not require a guide update.

See also