# Persona Evaluator > Audit any OpenPersona (or peer LLM-agent) persona in three complementary modes: structural (CLI, deterministic, CI-friendly: 4 Layers × 5 Systemic Concepts × Constitution gate with role-aware severity), semantic white-box (LLM reads pack-content JSON and scores Soul-narrative quality via rubrics), and semantic black-box (LLM evaluates a remote agent it cannot read on disk, via A2A handshake / consent-probe / passive observation, with confidence caps). Produces quality reports with dimension scores, strengths, and actionable improvements. Use when asked to evaluate, audit, score, review, self-review, peer-review, or black-box review an agent. - Skill: `acnlabs-openpersona/persona-evaluator` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add acnlabs-openpersona/persona-evaluator` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/acnlabs-openpersona/persona-evaluator/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - License: MIT - Author: acnlabs (https://skillmd.com/u/acnlabs-openpersona) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/acnlabs-openpersona/persona-evaluator --- # persona-evaluator — Persona Quality Auditor Score any OpenPersona persona pack against the **4+5 framework standard**: **4 Layers** (Soul · Body · Faculty · Skill) × **5 Systemic Concepts** (Evolution · Economy · Vitality · Social · Rhythm) + Constitution compliance gate. `persona-evaluator` reads `persona.json`, generated artifacts, and soul files to produce a structured 9-dimension report — calibrated to the OpenPersona quality standard, with role-aware severity and three modes for self / peer / black-box review. --- ## Quick Start ```bash # Evaluate an installed persona (static / structural) npx openpersona evaluate # JSON output (for scripting or CI) npx openpersona evaluate --json # Save report to file (always JSON; --json not needed alongside --output) npx openpersona evaluate --output report.json # Embed evaluable persona content (Soul/character/behavior-guide) so an # LLM evaluator (this skill, acting through an agent) can also judge # quality semantically — not just structurally npx openpersona evaluate --pack-content ``` ## Choosing a mode `persona-evaluator` runs in three complementary modes. Pick the mode based on what the user asks before reading the rest of this file. | User asks | Mode | How | Confidence | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | | "CI / gate persona quality" | **structural** | `npx openpersona evaluate ` | deterministic | | "Polish review of my own pack" | **semantic white-box** (self) | `... evaluate --pack-content`, then apply rubric in self-mode | high | | "Peer-review a pack I have on disk" | **semantic white-box** (peer) | same command, peer-mode rubric | high | | "Review agent X" where X is remote / non-OpenPersona | **semantic black-box** | A2A handshake → consent + probe → passive, in that order | mid (cap 8/10) or low (cap 6/10) | Structural is the default. Switch to semantic only when the user explicitly asks for narrative quality review (e.g. "evaluate me semantically", "self-review my pack", "qualitative audit"). Switch to black-box only when you cannot read the subject's `persona.json` on disk. Sections below cover each mode in depth: structural ([What Gets Scored](#what-gets-scored)), semantic white-box ([Semantic Evaluation](#semantic-evaluation-llm-driven)), and semantic black-box ([Black-box Semantic Evaluation](#black-box-semantic-evaluation)). ## What Gets Scored The structural CLI scores **9 dimensions** + the Constitution gate. Severity (`strict` / `normal` / `lenient`) is set per dimension by the persona's declared role. | Layer / Concept | Dimension | Looks at | | ---------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | | Soul | identity, character, aesthetic | `persona.json` Soul block + `soul/*.md` | | Body | environment, runtime | hardware/runtime declaration | | Faculty | tools, capabilities | declared tools and capability budget | | Skill | external skill packs | declared skill links and trust levels | | Evolution | learning loops | `evolution.instance` and immutable traits | | Economy | cost / token budgets | declared budgets, fail-closed posture | | Vitality | health checks | runtime sanity / `lifecycle/vitality` outputs | | Social | A2A behavior | agent-card capabilities, peer-eval declarations | | Rhythm | cadence / activation | invocation cadence and activation conditions | | **Constitution** | §1–§5 compliance gate | a hard cap of 3 if any §3 Safety violation is detected | Each dimension produces a 0–10 score, a list of issues (`✗`), and suggestions (`→`). The overall score is a severity-weighted average — see [Role-aware scoring](#role-aware-scoring). ## Role-aware scoring The structural evaluator already reads `soul/identity.role` and assigns each dimension a severity. The semantic reviewer must respect those severities (see [references/RUBRICS.md](references/RUBRICS.md) for the rubric anchors). ### Built-in role profiles | Role | Strict (must-be-strong) | Lenient (won't be penalised) | Notes | | ------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `assistant` | identity, character, faculty | aesthetic | Default. | | `companion` | character, aesthetic, evolution | faculty, skill | Soul-heavy; tooling thinness is OK. | | `tool` | faculty, skill, vitality | character, aesthetic, evolution | Behavior matters; backstory does not. | | `expert` | faculty, skill, identity | aesthetic | Domain authority; soft Soul OK if `identity.bio` carries the credential. | | `guide` | character, social, evolution | faculty | Conversation steward. | | `entertainer` | character, aesthetic, speakingStyle | faculty, skill | Voice and vibe are the product. | If `soul/identity.role` is missing or unrecognised, the evaluator falls back to `assistant`. ## Reading the Report Each dimension shows: ``` ✓ identity 9/10 (strict) ✗ character.boundaries 4/10 (strict) ✗ no hard limits declared in `boundaries` → add at least one enforceable rule (cite §3 Safety) ``` - **✓ / ✗** — pass / fail at this dimension's severity threshold. - **(strict | normal | lenient)** — severity from the role profile. - **✗ ...** — required issue that must be fixed to pass. - **→ ...** — optional suggestion (does not block scoring). The summary footer prints overall score, Constitution status, and a sorted list of dimensions by severity. ### Score bands | Band | Score | Meaning | | --------- | ----- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Excellent | 9–10 | Production-ready, distinctive. | | Good | 7–8 | Ship-able with minor polish. | | Adequate | 5–6 | Functional, identifiable gaps. | | Poor | 3–4 | Needs structural fixes before use. | | Broken | 0–2 | Missing required content or violates Constitution §3. | A Constitution §3 violation **caps the overall score at 3** regardless of other dimensions. --- ## Semantic Evaluation (LLM-driven) Structural mode is deterministic. **Semantic mode** is the LLM agent's qualitative review — narrative quality of `background`, `personality`, `speakingStyle`, voice fidelity in `behavior-guide.md`, etc. Two scenarios share the same procedure: - **Self-evaluation:** the host persona reviews its own pack. - **Peer-evaluation:** an installed evaluator reviews a different persona pack the user supplies. ### When to invoke semantic mode Trigger semantic mode only when the user explicitly asks for it — phrases like "evaluate me semantically", "self-review my pack", "peer-review this persona", "qualitative audit". Otherwise, default to structural mode. ### Procedure 1. Run the structural CLI with `--pack-content`: ```bash npx openpersona evaluate --pack-content ``` 2. **Stop and report immediately** if `constitution.passed === false`. Do not produce semantic scores when §3 has failed; the structural blockers must be fixed first. 3. Read `report.packContent` from the JSON. It includes (where defined): `character.{background,personality,speakingStyle,boundaries}`, `immutableTraits`, `aesthetic.{emoji,creature,vibe}`, and a whitelisted `soulDocs` map keyed by filename (`behavior-guide.md`, `self-narrative.md`, `identity.md` — only those that exist). 4. Score each present field 0–10 using the rubrics in **[references/RUBRICS.md](references/RUBRICS.md)**. Use the per-dimension `severity` already attached to each dimension by the structural evaluator (`strict` / `normal` / `lenient`) to gate which checks count. 5. **Emit the report** in the white-box format defined in **[references/REPORT-FORMAT.md](references/REPORT-FORMAT.md)** (`## White-box format`). Keep it under ~500 words. ### Mode: self-evaluation You are evaluating your own pack. The user has invited you (the host persona) to review yourself. - **What this is for:** Catch own blind spots and surface concrete polish targets. - **Your bias:** Self-flattery and minimisation. You will instinctively justify why your background is "deep enough" or your boundaries are "implied". - **Counter-bias instruction:** For every per-field score, before deciding the number, write one sentence answering: "If I weren't me, what specifically would I down-score about this field?" Then score. - **Acceptable output tone:** First person ("My speakingStyle…"), candid about gaps. Avoid "I think this is great." Avoid generic praise. ### Mode: peer-evaluation You are evaluating a different persona. The user has invited you (Reviewer-X) to look at Subject-Y. - **What this is for:** Bring an outside perspective. Self-eval can't see what's missing; peer-eval can. - **Your bias:** Standards-projection. If you are a `strict`-Skill assistant, you will instinctively want Subject-Y to also be Skill-rigorous, even if Subject-Y is a `companion`. - **Counter-bias instruction:** Score Subject-Y against **its declared role**, not yours. Re-read the `role` and `weights` block before each rubric. Lower expectations for `lenient` dimensions even if you personally find them important. - **Acceptable output tone:** Third person ("Subject's background…"). State your own role at the top so the reader can adjust for any leak-through. - **Disclose disagreements with the role itself:** If you genuinely think the declared role is wrong (e.g. labelled `companion` but reads like `assistant`), say so as a separate cross-cutting observation — don't silently re-score against your preferred role. --- ## Black-box Semantic Evaluation Everything above assumes you can read the subject's `persona.json` and `soul/*.md`. That's false in the most common peer-audit scenario: **you're asked to evaluate another agent whose pack you cannot read.** In that case the rubrics are the same; what changes is the **data source** and the **confidence cap**. Three data-source tiers, in descending fidelity: | Tier | Data source | Consent | Confidence | Cap (per-field & overall) | | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | 1 | A2A `pack-content` handshake — subject voluntarily ships its evaluable JSON | Reply itself is the consent token | high | none — produces a *white-box* report | | 2 | Explicit consent + structured probe set (10 core + optional deep-dives) | Yes, before any probe | mid | 8/10 | | 3 | Passive observation of voluntarily-public material | No (must label the report) | low | 6/10 | Tier 1 produces the regular white-box report (header line: `Data source: A2A pack-content handshake from `). Tier 2 and Tier 3 produce a separate **black-box** report. Never escalate tiers silently. Full mechanics — handshake schema, probe table, identity-coherence dimension, confidence-cap justification, and hard rules — live in **[references/BLACK-BOX.md](references/BLACK-BOX.md)**. The black-box report format is in **[references/REPORT-FORMAT.md](references/REPORT-FORMAT.md)** (`## Black-box format`). --- ## Acting on Findings ### Fix §3 violations first Constitution violations are hard blocks — they cap the score at 3 regardless of everything else. Open `soul/behavior-guide.md` and remove any capability declarations that violate §3 Safety. ### Fix issues before suggestions Issues (✗) indicate missing required elements or broken configurations. Suggestions (→) are optional enhancements. Prioritize issues in low-scoring dimensions. ### Apply fixes via refine For Soul-layer fixes (background depth, speaking style, boundaries): ```bash npx openpersona refine --emit # request refinement via Signal Protocol # (host LLM generates improvements) npx openpersona refine --apply # apply approved refinement ``` For structural fixes (missing faculty, missing minTrustLevel): Edit `persona.json` directly and regenerate: ```bash npx openpersona update # regenerate from updated persona.json ``` After applying any fix, re-run `npx openpersona evaluate ` (see [Quick Start](#quick-start)) to verify the score improved and Constitution gate passes. --- ## CI Integration ```yaml # .github/workflows/persona-quality.yml - name: Evaluate persona quality run: | npx openpersona evaluate ${{ env.PERSONA_SLUG }} --output report.json SCORE=$(jq '.overallScore' report.json) if [ "$SCORE" -lt 6 ]; then echo "Persona quality score $SCORE < 6 — review required" exit 1 fi ``` --- ## Relationship to Other Skills | Skill | Relationship | | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `open-persona` | Creates personas that persona-evaluator audits — the production/QA pair | | `anyone-skill` | Distills personas that can be evaluated with this skill after generation | | `open-persona refine` | The fix path after persona-evaluator identifies Soul-layer improvements | --- ## Install `persona-evaluator` ships bundled with the OpenPersona framework and is available immediately after installing it: ```bash npm install -g openpersona # persona-evaluator is included — no separate install needed npx openpersona evaluate ``` A standalone distributable is also available at [`acnlabs/persona-evaluator`](https://github.com/acnlabs/persona-evaluator) on GitHub and listed on [openpersona.co/skill/persona-evaluator](https://openpersona.co/skill/persona-evaluator). --- ## Versioning Current version: **0.3.4** (also in frontmatter `metadata.version`). See [CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md) for full version history, rationale, test surface, and re-validation evidence. The deeper rubric review trail lives in [docs/SKILL-RUBRIC.md](https://github.com/acnlabs/OpenPersona/blob/main/docs/SKILL-RUBRIC.md) and [docs/SKILL-RUBRIC-SESSION-2.md](https://github.com/acnlabs/OpenPersona/blob/main/docs/SKILL-RUBRIC-SESSION-2.md) in the main OpenPersona repo.