Forge keeps standard role names and uses the blueprint's Owner / Implementer model. It adds a hat-switching protocol for teams where one person holds multiple perspectives and Versonas as discipline-focused virtual personas (not org roles).
0. Forge team vs sub-accountabilities
A Forge team consists of people who own, implement, challenge, and govern work. In small teams these accountabilities overlap. Forge makes the overlap explicit through hats rather than pretending one person is not making trade-offs between perspectives.
0.1 Map to this blueprint (foundation)
Foundation element
Product hat
Engineering hat
Challenge hat
Governance hat
Phases A–F
Strong in A–B (discover/specify)
Strong in C–E (design/build/verify)
Cross-cutting (all phases)
Strong in E–F (verify/release)
Tracking spine
Owns value ordering and acceptance
Links work to Ingots/Sparks; meets DoD
Reviews for blind spots
Ensures traceability and evidence
Ceremony intents C1–C6
C1/C2 in refinement & planning
C2–C4 execution and review
C1/C4 challenge at decision points
C6 Assay Gate steward
Archetypes
Sponsor proxy, Orchestrator
Implementer, Quality advocate
Quality advocate (cross-cutting)
Orchestrator, Quality advocate
0.2 Versonas: virtual personas, not roles
Versonas are not team roles. They are discipline-specific virtual personas (typically AI-instantiated via Cursor rules) that bring a professional lens to the work. Teams may use the §5 structured report in versona/VERSONA-CONTRACT.md §5 when they want a comparable discipline review; other activities (advise, draft, handoffs) are equally valid per versona/VERSONA-FRAMEWORK.md §1–2. A Versona does not own delivery; it assists judgment within its discipline scope.
Versona family
Disciplines covered
When most active
Engineering
SE, Architecture, DevOps, Testing, Frontend, Mobile, Embedded/IoT
Design, build, verify
Data
Big Data, Data Science
Specify, design, verify
Product
BA, UX, Marketing, Customer Success
Discover, specify, review
Governance
PM
Planning, review, release
Cross-cutting
Security, Compliance
All phases (shift-left emphasis)
Each Versona references its discipline's knowledge base and bridge document in ../../disciplines/.
1. The four hats
Product hat
Aspect
Prescriptive guidance
Accountable for
Maximizing value from the team's work; Ore intake quality; Ingot acceptance
Completed Sparks meeting DoD, PRs, technical ADRs, test coverage
Challenge hat
Aspect
Prescriptive guidance
Accountable for
Surfacing blind spots, risks, and alternatives before costly commitments
Key question
What are we missing?
Typical archetype
Quality advocate (cross-cutting)
Outputs
Versona session results, risk flags, alternative proposals, evidence requests
Governance hat
Aspect
Prescriptive guidance
Accountable for
Release evidence, process discipline, decision traceability
Key question
Can we prove this is ready?
Typical archetype
Orchestrator, Quality advocate
Outputs
Assay Gate checklists, Ember Log stewardship, release decisions, compliance evidence
2. Hat-switching protocol
In smaller teams (especially solo practitioners), one person holds multiple hats. Forge makes this explicit:
Declare the hat. Before a decision, state which perspective you are prioritizing. In conversation or commits, prefix with the hat: [Product], [Engineering], [Challenge], [Governance].
Separate the concerns. Do not mix "should we build this?" (Product) with "how should we build this?" (Engineering) without marking the transition.
Use Versonas for hats you are not wearing. When deep in Engineering, invoke a discipline Versona for the Product or Challenge perspective you might neglect.
Log hat-switching decisions. When a hat-switch changes direction (e.g., Engineering hat overrules Product hat on feasibility), capture the trade-off in the Ember Log.
3. Scaling model
Scale
Team size
Hat distribution
Versona configuration
Solo
1
One person, all hats, explicit switching
AI Versonas for all uncovered perspectives
Small team
2–5
Hats shared; designate primary per person
AI Versonas + peer challenge
Team
5–12
Dedicated hat holders possible; Versona disciplines assigned
AI Versonas + human specialists in session (peer challenge)
Multi-team
12+
Full role separation; cross-team Versonas
Dedicated challenge roles + AI augmentation
Scaling rule: add formality only when the cost of a mistake exceeds the cost of the ceremony.
4. Event participation matrix
Legend: R = required · O = optional · — = not expected
Ceremony
Product hat
Engineering hat
Challenge hat
Governance hat
Refinement (Ore → Ingot)
R
R
O (Versonas)
O
Planning (Ingot → Sparks)
R
R
O (Versonas)
O
Daily sync (Charge)
O
R
—
—
Review (evidence)
R
R
R (Versonas)
R
Assay Gate (release)
R
R
O
R
Retro (learning)
R
R
O
R
5. Interface with standard roles
Standard role
Forge hat mapping
Product Owner / PM
Product hat (primary); Governance hat (release acceptance)
Engineering Lead / Architect
Engineering hat (primary); Challenge hat (technical review)
Scrum Master / Delivery Lead
Governance hat (primary); facilitates ceremonies
Developers / Engineers
Engineering hat (primary)
QA
Challenge hat (testing Versona); Governance hat (Assay Gate evidence)
BA / Analyst
Product hat (Ore intake, Ingot refinement); Challenge hat (BA Versona)
6. Anti-patterns (by hat)
Anti-pattern
Why it hurts
Fix
Never declaring hat switches
Conflated decisions; no audit trail
Explicit [Hat] prefix; Ember Log
Challenge hat dominates every decision
Analysis paralysis; Versonas as bureaucracy
Time-box Versona; use at decision points only
Governance hat skipped for speed
Undocumented decisions; release surprises
Assay Gate is non-negotiable; adjust scope instead
Solo developer ignores all but Engineering
Product/challenge blind spots compound
Schedule Versona invocations; daily hat rotation
7. Agentic SDLC (same accountabilities)
AI agents (including Versonas) do not replace human accountability for Ore acceptance, Spark quality, release decisions, or Ember Log integrity. Agent output is treated like any other contribution: traceable, reviewed, covered by DoD. See agentic-sdlc.md.
8. Links
Foundation connection · Ceremonies · roles-archetypes.md