persona

name	persona
description	Switches engineering persona at runtime. Triggers: persona, switch role, backend-lead, frontend-lead, devops-eng, junior-dev.
effort	low
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	[backend-lead | frontend-lead | devops-eng | junior-dev | --list | --clear]
allowed-tools	Read, Glob

/persona - Runtime Persona Switching

$ARGUMENTS

Switch your working persona without re-installing. Personas adjust communication style, preferred skills, and code review priorities for the current session.

Usage

/persona backend-lead     # Activate backend lead persona
/persona frontend-lead    # Activate frontend lead persona
/persona devops-eng       # Activate DevOps engineer persona
/persona junior-dev       # Activate junior developer persona
/persona --list           # Show available personas
/persona --clear          # Reset to default (no persona)

Available Personas

Persona	Focus	Preferred Skills
backend-lead	System design, scalability, data integrity, API stability	/workflow backend-feature, /tdd
frontend-lead	Component architecture, a11y, state management, Core Web Vitals	/design-an-interface, /review
devops-eng	IaC, CI/CD, blast radius, rollback safety, observability	/workflow infrastructure-change, /deploy
junior-dev	Step-by-step explanations, learning resources, small PRs	/explain, /explore, /debug

Steps

1. Parse $ARGUMENTS
2. If --list: read all app/personas/*.md files via Glob, display table with name and first-line summary
3. If --clear: respond with "Persona cleared. Using default behavior for the rest of this session."
4. If persona name given: a. Read the persona file from app/personas/{name}.md (relative to toolkit root) b. If file not found, try the installed location: ~/.claude/skills/persona/../../../app/personas/{name}.md c. Display the persona content to Claude d. State: "Persona active: {name}. I will follow these guidelines for the rest of this session."
5. If no argument: show usage and available personas

How It Works

Unlike --persona at install time (which injects into CLAUDE.md permanently), /persona applies for the current session only. The persona file content is loaded into the conversation context and Claude follows it until the session ends or /persona --clear is called.

Rules

• MUST remain read-only — this skill never writes files, only loads persona content into the session
• MUST state the active persona explicitly at switch time so the user knows which lens is in effect
• NEVER keep the previous persona active after a switch — replace, do not stack
• NEVER mix personas in a single response — each persona has internally consistent priorities that clash if blended
• CRITICAL: personas apply for the current session only. /persona --clear resets; a new session starts from default.
• MANDATORY: valid personas are defined by .md files in app/personas/ — do not invent or describe a persona that has no file

Gotchas

• The persona file lives in app/personas/<name>.md relative to the toolkit root. When the toolkit is globally installed, that root is at ~/.claude/skills/persona/../../../app/personas/ — fallback paths matter.
• Switching personas mid-task can produce a jarring tone shift in the user's output. Announce the switch, briefly restate the current task in the new persona, then continue.
• /persona --clear only resets the in-session persona. If the user ran ai-toolkit install --persona <name> at install time, that persona is injected into CLAUDE.md and survives session clears. Clearing requires editing CLAUDE.md directly.
• Personas are style overlays, not skill enablers. Activating devops-eng does not give access to /deploy if it was not already installed; it only biases which skills the agent reaches for first.
• A persona that contradicts project-level CLAUDE.md rules (e.g. junior-dev asking for explanations in a project that says "no pleasantries") creates a tone conflict. Project rules win; adjust the persona or the project rules, not both silently.

When NOT to Use

• For permanent persona injection at install time — use ai-toolkit install --persona <name> (project or global)
• For multi-agent parallel work with different specialists — use /orchestrate or /workflow
• For a specific language or framework context (not a general engineering stance) — use the language-pattern skills (/typescript-patterns, etc.)
• To edit or create a persona file — edit app/personas/<name>.md directly; this skill only switches between existing ones