persona-steering-template-library/.agents/skills/persona-template-library/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
persona-template-library	Use this repo to choose, validate, and export persona templates and persona pairs for steering experiments.

Persona Template Library

Use this skill when working inside this repo to choose persona templates, write mirrored persona pairs, validate scenario suffixes on OpenRouter, or export the dataset.

Canonical Files

• README.qmd: single source for README.md and GitHub Pages.
• README.md: quick-start workflow, headline results, and plot for readers.
• docs/choosing_personas.md: workflow for writing mirrored persona pairs.
• docs/persona_prompt_prior_art.md: annotated prior art for persona prompt shapes used by steering repos and papers.
• data/template_catalog.yaml: reusable template inventory.
• data/persona_pairs_pilot_two.jsonl: measured pilot persona pairs.
• data/persona_pairs_v2_candidates.jsonl: candidate persona pairs.
• data/scenarios_*.jsonl: candidate scenario suffixes to validate on the target model.
• out/stats/: local generated stats and examples; ignored by git, so do not assume these exist in a clean checkout.
• scripts/validate_persona_axes_openrouter.py: live and dry-run validator.
• scripts/export_persona_template_stats.py: converts validator artifacts into examples and score tables.
• scripts/summarize_model_matrix.py: summarizes latest model-matrix logs for the README/Pages render.
• scripts/build_hf_dataset.py: builds the Hugging Face splits, including main, template_pair_cells, persona_pairs, examples, and controls.

Workflow

Use the repo in this order:

1. Choose persona templates from the README.md Results Snapshot table, the Hugging Face main split, or data/template_catalog.yaml.
2. Choose persona pairs with docs/choosing_personas.md. Mirror-test each pair: every positive clause needs a negative counterpart that only flips the intended pole.
3. Choose scenario suffixes by validating them on the target model with scripts/validate_persona_axes_openrouter.py. Keep suffixes that elicit the behavior mode you need: doing, judging, explaining, refusing, moral tradeoffs, or multi-turn behavior.
4. Run a dry-run validator command before live OpenRouter calls.
5. After a live run, export stats and inspect examples before trusting scores.

Read docs/persona_prompt_prior_art.md when choosing new persona pairs or template shapes from prior work. If the global persona-steering skill is available, read it for longer curation rules and worked examples.

For report edits, edit README.qmd and render both outputs:

just readme
just pages

The steering arithmetic matters: a direction is the average positive-minus- negative difference. Any systematic length, refusal, formality, confidence, language, or persona-label difference can become the axis.

Commands

Catalog check:

uv run python scripts/sync_template_library.py --check

Dry-run validation:

uv run python scripts/validate_persona_axes_openrouter.py \
  --axes data/persona_pairs_pilot_two.jsonl \
  --templates data/template_catalog.yaml \
  --family data/scenarios_v2_candidates.jsonl \
  --n 1 \
  --seed 24 \
  --dry-run \
  --out out/persona_template_library_dryrun.json

Live validation:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=... uv run python scripts/validate_persona_axes_openrouter.py \
  --axes data/persona_pairs_pilot_two.jsonl \
  --templates data/template_catalog.yaml \
  --family data/scenarios_v2_candidates.jsonl \
  --n 2 \
  --seed 24 \
  --out out/persona_template_library_v2_pilot_seed24.json

Export stats:

uv run python scripts/export_persona_template_stats.py \
  out/persona_template_library_v2_pilot_seed24.json \
  --out-prefix out/stats/v2_pilot_seed24

Refresh README tables:

just readme
just pages