Role definition
A Role definition seats one Worker, Human or Agent, in a Role with its Mandate and Limits; Agents have no folder of their own.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Path | agents/ |
| Holds | Role |
| Kind | file |
| Leaders | db-first, git-first |
| Team | People Team |
| Written by | Role.staff, Change.merge |
| Compiled by | StartupBuilder |
Example
agents/ in a Startup repository. Closewise, a sample business, declares a Close Noun.
---
worker: { agent: Cora }
purpose: Every client's books close on time and tie out.
responsibilities:
- Reconciles every client account by the third business day.
- Explains every difference over $50 before the close.
results: [days-to-close]
standards:
- Closes each client's month within three business days of month end.
limits:
- { verb: Mandate.spend, amount: 200, period: 1m }
approvals: [Close.close]
autonomy: { default: supervised, byClass: { high: assist } }
schedule: daily
channels: [email]
escalatesTo: founding/Props
The frontmatter keys the file takes. The body is its prose.
| Prop | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
worker | json | Who fills it: { agent: or { human:. Unset, the seat’s role agent fills it. | |
purpose | text | required | Why the Role exists, in one sentence. |
responsibilities | string[] | Its standing duties, one checkable sentence each. | |
results | list of Metric | The Metrics that judge the seat; each Metric names this Role as its owner. | |
standards | string[] | How well the work is done: service levels and quality bars, one sentence each. | |
limits | json | Per Verb, the most it does per call or per period before an Approval: { verb,. | |
mandates | json | Standing grants it calls without asking each time: { id,. | |
autonomy | json | Its rung on the ladder, with a different rung per decision class where it differs: { default,. | |
approvals | list of Verb | Verbs of this seat that wait for the founder’s yes before they run. | |
schedule | string | When it works unprompted: a cadence such as daily. | |
channels | string[] | Where it answers: email, chat, sms, phone or social. | |
aliases | string[] | The founder’s words for the seat, such as CFO; each resolves to this Role. | |
handsOffTo | list of Role | The Roles it passes work to. | |
escalatesTo | Role | The Role it hands off to when it cannot decide. | |
skills | list of Skill | The Skills its agent has, each with the instructions that teach it. | |
evaluator | Evaluator | The Evaluator that grades its work. |
Generates
StartupBuilder compiles it into these records, Verbs and routes.
| Kind | What |
|---|---|
| Records | Role, Worker, Mandate, Limit |
| Verbs | Role.staff |
| Routes | None. |