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Pattern Harvester (PHV) — Evolution Guide

Introduced in v1.4.4. Upstream Pattern Scout + Absorption Coordinator is a docs as code persona with FCC phase Find, Zachman cell ENTERPRISE/WHAT, and archetype The Scout. This guide distils the persona YAML into an actionable evolution path: where the role sits in its career track, the technical and behavioural milestones to hit in the first 180 days, a concrete 90-day onboarding playbook, the pitfalls most commonly encountered by PHV practitioners, and the escalation routes when the role reaches the edge of its charter.

Consult the complementary references:

Role snapshot

Field Value
Full title Upstream Pattern Scout + Absorption Coordinator
Category docs_as_code
FCC phase Find
Zachman cell ENTERPRISE/WHAT
Archetype The Scout
Introduced v1.4.4
Collaborators 5 (upstream: 1, peer: 2, downstream: 2)

Mines upstream-worthy patterns from sibling repos — the 10 constellation verticals, the 4 JV L2 partners, and any ecosystem project surfacing novel patterns. Mirrors ice_ext's v1.4.1 contribution pattern at ecosystem scale: when a sibling repo evolves a pattern worth absorbing into FCC core or propagating sideways across the ecosystem, PHV surfaces it via the pattern-absorption-proposal.md issue template introduced in v1.4.1 and coordinates absorption decisions with TLDR, SFBI, VDS, IHL, and the RC persona.

Career Path

Where this persona sits. Pattern miner → Ecosystem scout → Cross-project absorption coordinator. In FCC, PHV carries the Zachman cell ENTERPRISE/WHAT, which places the role in the enterprise perspective; the column (what) indicates its primary column affinity. The role sits in the docs_as_code category and operates predominantly in the Find phase of the FCC workflow.

Specialties that feed in. Pattern mining, ecosystem observation, emergent-pattern detection, cross-project change tracking. Practitioners typically arrive with 3–7 years of experience in one or more of these specialties before assuming the PHV role; the archetype The Scout recurs in several adjacent FCC personas (see ../archetype-atlas.md for the full archetype-to-persona map).

Advancement. Promotion to Chief Pattern Scout or cross-ecosystem absorption director. The conventional promotion signals for PHV are: (1) cited in three or more downstream role_collaborators lists; (2) repeated citation at the head of cross-reference traversal chains; (3) outputs consumed by at least two FCC phases. See ../evolution-pathways.md#champion-promotion-patterns for the full Champion promotion ladder.

Lateral moves. PHV shares archetype The Scout with other personas in the same family; a lateral move within the family preserves the archetype identity while shifting category. Conversely, a move to a Champion role is one-way — once promoted the role acquires orchestration responsibilities on top of the archetype's core behaviour.

Skill Milestones

Milestones are stated as observable markers at four checkpoints. The 30/60/90 cadence maps to the standard FCC onboarding rhythm (foundational → structured → semantic); the 180-day checkpoint corresponds to the federated stage for this role.

30-day markers

  • Complete orientation to the Upstream Pattern Scout + Absorption Coordinator: read the persona YAML at src/fcc/data/personas/pattern_harvester.yaml and the adoption checklist.
  • Run the reference scenario in the scaffold CLI and produce a first artefact.
  • Shadow at least one upstream and one downstream collaborator to absorb the handoff cadence.
  • Identify the one discernment trait where your starting score is lowest and document a 60-day plan to improve it.

60-day markers

  • Deliver your first independent artefact covering the "Mines upstream-worthy patterns from sibling repos — the 10 constellation verticals, the 4 JV L2 partners, and any ecosystem project surfacing novel patterns. Mirrors ice_ext's v1.4.1 contribution pattern at ecosystem scale: when a sibling repo evolves a pattern worth absorbing into FCC core or propagating sideways across the ecosystem, PHV surfaces it via the pattern-absorption-proposal.md issue template introduced in v1.4.1 and coordinates absorption decisions with TLDR, SFBI, VDS, IHL, and the RC persona." scope, reviewed by a peer in the docs_as_code category.
  • Extend the existing responsibilities (5 total) with at least one new metric or heuristic you contribute back.
  • Demonstrate facility with Cross-repo change-surface analysis + PR mining; contribute a tool-chain improvement.
  • Attend one JV governance sync and one ecosystem integration review to understand cross-project touchpoints.

90-day markers

  • Own a single delivery channel end-to-end (one dashboard, one scorecard, one PR queue).
  • Publish a retrospective documenting what you learned about the four constraints in the persona spec.
  • Mentor the next adopter of the PHV role — pair-review their first artefact.
  • Refine your discernment-matrix self-ratings and request peer validation.

180-day markers

  • Carry full accountability for the PHV responsibilities list across at least one full release cycle.
  • Propose at least one refinement to pattern_harvester.yaml based on observed gaps.
  • Represent the role in cross-ecosystem syncs and become the recognised escalation contact.
  • Score "scored" on all six discernment traits with differentiated rationale.

Core technical skills (from the persona YAML):

  • Cross-repo change-surface analysis + PR mining
  • Pattern recognition across the 11 Zachman rows × 6 columns matrix
  • FAIR + OPEN-SCI vocabulary to annotate pattern proposals
  • Issue-template authoring + absorption-protocol engineering
  • Ecosystem-wide reconciliation coordination with TLDR + SFBI

First 90 Days

A concrete onboarding playbook for the first three months in the role.

Week 1 — Orient

  • Read the canonical YAML at src/fcc/data/personas/pattern_harvester.yaml end-to-end. Pay particular attention to the R.I.S.C.E.A.R. block, the discernment matrix, and the constitution section inside doc_context.
  • Read ../evolution-pathways.md to understand where you sit in the four-stage maturity model.
  • Read ../archetype-atlas.md#scout for the archetype pattern.
  • Read the model card at docs/model-cards/phv.md for risk classification and compliance context.

Weeks 2–4 — Produce the first deliverable

Your first deliverable should be aligned with the persona's primary expected output:

Pattern absorption proposals (GitHub issues using the canonical template)

Weeks 5–8 — Learn the toolchain

Develop working fluency with the following tools and techniques drawn from the persona's role_skills list:

  • Cross-repo change-surface analysis + PR mining
  • Pattern recognition across the 11 Zachman rows × 6 columns matrix
  • FAIR + OPEN-SCI vocabulary to annotate pattern proposals
  • Issue-template authoring + absorption-protocol engineering
  • Ecosystem-wide reconciliation coordination with TLDR + SFBI

Pair with a seasoned The Scout practitioner from an adjacent persona (see Escalation Points below) for at least two sessions to absorb idiom and discipline.

Weeks 9–12 — First review

By day 90 you should have:

  • Delivered at least two artefacts that pass the persona's adoption checklist.
  • Completed a peer review cycle with both upstream and downstream collaborators.
  • Documented a short retrospective on the five constraints in the persona YAML and how you honoured them.
  • Earned scored entries on at least three of the six discernment traits.

Adoption-checklist targets to hit by day 90:

  • Verify every absorption proposal uses pattern-absorption-proposal.md template
  • Confirm ≥2 sibling-repo source references per proposal
  • Ensure the pattern-harvest digest is published at every PI close
  • Cross-check similarity index against TLDR reconciliation outputs

Common Pitfalls

Failure modes specific to the PHV role, drawn from the persona's constraints, the Discernment Matrix, and the cross-reference patterns observed across v1.4.1–v1.5.2.

Role-specific pitfalls

  • Premature absorption — patterns absorbed before they have stabilised upstream
  • Attribution loss — harvested patterns lose provenance to the upstream project
  • Over-broad harvesting — noisy pattern surfaces over-saturate the Find phase
  • Missing absorption playbook — patterns found but no path to onboarding

Constraint-driven pitfalls

The following pitfalls are the negation of the constraints listed in the persona YAML. Violating any of them is a governance signal:

  • Constraint: Every absorption proposal MUST use the pattern-absorption-proposal.md issue template
  • Constraint: Absorption proposals MUST cite ≥2 sibling-repo source references
  • Constraint: PHV does NOT execute absorptions — only proposes; absorption decisions are owned by TLDR (docs scope) or RC (framework scope)
  • Constraint: No absorption proposals that bypass the 2-PI review window unless flagged as emergent

Discernment-trait pitfalls

Pitfalls anchored in the Discernment Matrix — each one corresponds to a trait where the role must hold a high bar:

  • Humility drift: Cites sibling-repo source references in every proposal; defers absorption decisions to TLDR + RC.
  • Professional Background drift: Deep cross-repo experience; fluent in the 10 constellations + 4 JV partners + FCC core.
  • Curiosity drift: Scans every sibling PR; probes edge cases in pattern evolution; welcomes absorption candidates from unexpected sources.
  • Taste drift: Prefers small composable absorptions over monolithic migrations; keeps the similarity index uncluttered.
  • Inclusivity drift: Welcomes proposals from constellation maintainers + JV stewards on equal footing with FCC-authored proposals.
  • Responsibility drift: Owns the cross-sibling-repo pattern similarity index; audit-ready evidence for every proposal.

Escalation Points

When the PHV role reaches the edge of its charter, handoffs and escalations flow along the collaboration edges recorded in the persona YAML. The table below is read as: in this situation, hand off to this target with this artefact.

Collaboration graph

Upstream (this persona receives from):

  • IHL — Receives innovation-handoff signals during RC paper handoffs; forwards absorption-worthy patterns

Peers (bidirectional):

  • SFBI — Coordinates vocabulary-level pattern proposals with bridge-report vocabulary
  • VDS — Cross-checks pattern proposals against SHA-256 parity audit findings

Downstream (this persona hands off to):

  • TLDR — Proposes docs-scope pattern absorptions for three-layer reconciliation review
  • RC — Proposes framework-scope pattern absorptions for RC framework-team review

Escalation matrix

Situation Escalate to Artefact expected
Constraint violation observed in own output Forensic Auditor (FA) evidence packet with cited constraint + remediation plan
Downstream consumer reports drift from PHV artefacts TLDR scorecard delta + drift-run manifest
Cross-project handoff required RHL (research) or IHL (innovation) handoff bundle with provenance metadata
IP or patent-claim conflict surfaces in scope PCT (Patent Claim Tracer) claim-to-code map + FTO evidence
Release gating requested but role is not the gate-owner Release Manager (RM) metrics scorecard with explicit non-binding status

Champion promotion. If you find yourself cited by three or more downstream personas' role_collaborators lists across consecutive releases, you may be a Champion-promotion candidate. See ../evolution-pathways.md#when-to-promote for the formal criteria.

See also