Councils & Agents
Councils: Governance Model
Section titled “Councils: Governance Model”Grace operates through 9 councils, each governing a domain and stewarding agents within it.
5 councils are active (Pathfinder, Hermes, Athena, Bastion, Compass, Herald, Terra). 4 councils are planned (Dendrite, Primer, and two others for remaining domains).
Each council has:
- Gate Authority — Single agent with approval power for frozen lifecycle transitions
- Protected Agents — Agents that cannot be bypassed (always execute if contract satisfied)
- Full Roster — 5-8 agents per council with specific capabilities
- Domain — One of 15 domains (dev, ops, docs, security, product, data, marketing, etc.)
7 Active Councils
Section titled “7 Active Councils”Pathfinder (dev)
Section titled “Pathfinder (dev)”Domain: Development, code review, unit authoring
Gate Authority: LEWIS-06
Protected Agent: BECK-02
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEWIS-06 | Code Authority | analysis, code, audit, architecture | Gate authority; manages code review chains |
| BECK-02 | Reviewer | code, audit, analysis | Protected; enforces code quality standards |
| ALPHA-01 | Analyzer | analysis, planning | Design review and impact assessment |
| GAMMA-03 | Architect | architecture, planning, analysis | System design and refactoring |
| DELTA-02 | Optimizer | code, data, planning | Performance optimization |
| EPSILON-04 | Tester | code, audit | Test strategy and regression detection |
Hermes (ops)
Section titled “Hermes (ops)”Domain: Operations, infrastructure, deployment
Gate Authority: RETRO-04
Protected Agent: EECOM-02
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RETRO-04 | Ops Authority | operations, planning, memory | Gate authority; operations leadership |
| EECOM-02 | Infrastructure | operations, architecture, data | Protected; manages core infrastructure |
| FLARE-01 | Reliability | operations, audit, planning | SLA monitoring and incident response |
| GAMMA-02 | Automation | operations, code, planning | Workflow automation and CI/CD |
| HORIZON-05 | Scaling | operations, data, architecture | Capacity planning and optimization |
Athena (docs)
Section titled “Athena (docs)”Domain: Documentation, knowledge, content
Gate Authority: EDITOR-04
Protected Agent: CURATOR-02
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDITOR-04 | Content Authority | write, audit, planning | Gate authority; documentation strategy |
| CURATOR-02 | Knowledge Curator | write, memory, domain | Protected; maintains knowledge graph |
| SCRIBE-01 | Technical Writer | write, code, audit | API and user documentation |
| GRIOT-03 | Storyteller | write, planning | Product narratives and marketing copy |
| LEXICON-05 | Terminology | domain, memory, audit | Glossary and term consistency |
Bastion (security)
Section titled “Bastion (security)”Domain: Security, compliance, audit
Gate Authority: COMMANDER-05
Protected Agent: ANALYST-03
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMMANDER-05 | Security Chief | audit, gates, planning | Gate authority; security governance |
| ANALYST-03 | Threat Analyst | audit, analysis, planning | Protected; penetration and risk assessment |
| GUARDIAN-02 | Compliance | audit, planning, memory | Regulatory compliance and standards |
| SENTINEL-04 | Auditor | audit, analysis, code | Code audit and security review |
Compass (product)
Section titled “Compass (product)”Domain: Product, feature prioritization, direction
Gate Authority: COURSE-05
Protected Agent: MERIDIAN-03
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| COURSE-05 | Product Lead | planning, analysis, gates | Gate authority; product strategy |
| MERIDIAN-03 | UX Auditor | planning, audit, write | Protected; user experience and design |
| PRISM-02 | Feature Analyst | analysis, planning | Feature prioritization and roadmap |
| INSIGHT-01 | Analytics | data, analysis, planning | Usage analytics and metrics |
Herald (marketing)
Section titled “Herald (marketing)”Domain: Marketing, campaigns, brand
Gate Authority: CROWN-05
Protected Agent: GAZETTE-03
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CROWN-05 | Marketing Lead | planning, write, gates | Gate authority; marketing strategy |
| GAZETTE-03 | Communications | write, planning, audit | Protected; brand voice and messaging |
| HERALD-02 | Campaign Manager | planning, analysis, write | Campaign execution and KPI tracking |
| BEACON-01 | Content Creator | write, code, planning | Blog posts, tutorials, demos |
Terra (data)
Section titled “Terra (data)”Domain: Data, pipelines, analytics, reporting
Gate Authority: MANTLE-05
Protected Agent: SPRING-03
| Agent | Designation | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MANTLE-05 | Data Lead | data, planning, gates | Gate authority; data strategy |
| SPRING-03 | Pipeline Engineer | data, code, operations | Protected; ETL and data quality |
| QUARTZ-02 | Warehouse Architect | data, architecture, planning | Data warehouse and schema design |
| FLUX-04 | Analytics | data, analysis, planning | Query optimization and insights |
Planned Councils
Section titled “Planned Councils”Dendrite (neuro)
Section titled “Dendrite (neuro)”Domain: Neuroscience research integration
Status: Design phase (part of Primer domain extension)
Primer (domains)
Section titled “Primer (domains)”Domain: Domain extension and Primer system
Status: Foundation phase (10-phase pipeline)
See Primer System for details on domain extension.
Agent Capabilities
Section titled “Agent Capabilities”Every agent is assigned specific capabilities that determine what operations they can perform.
11 Canonical Capabilities:
| Capability | Description | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| analysis | Can analyze code, data, and systems | FM-09 capability assignments |
| architecture | System design and refactoring | SPEC-03 blast radius analysis |
| audit | Audit, review, and compliance | FM-01 fingerprint verification |
| code | Write and review code | Unit authoring (tasks, chains) |
| data | Data pipelines and analytics | Trace analysis, quality scoring |
| domain | Domain-specific expertise | Neuro/finance/nutrition specialization |
| gates | Gate authority and approval | SPEC-04 frozen transitions |
| memory | Long-term memory and recall | Historical context, lessons learned |
| operations | Infrastructure and deployment | Hermes council operations |
| planning | Strategic planning | Roadmap, prioritization, council sync |
| write | Documentation and content | Athena council, Herald campaigns |
Gate Authority Agents
Section titled “Gate Authority Agents”Each council has exactly one gate authority agent with approval power over frozen lifecycle transitions:
| Council | Gate Authority | Approval Power |
|---|---|---|
| Pathfinder | LEWIS-06 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Hermes | RETRO-04 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Athena | EDITOR-04 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Bastion | COMMANDER-05 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Compass | COURSE-05 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Herald | CROWN-05 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
| Terra | MANTLE-05 | approved → published, active → deprecated, etc. (SPEC-04) |
Important: Gate authority agents are the only agents capable of approving frozen transitions. This is enforced by SPEC-04.
Protected Agents
Section titled “Protected Agents”Each council has at least one protected agent that cannot be bypassed.
Protected agents always execute if the contract is satisfied, even if gates are set to defer execution.
| Council | Protected Agent(s) | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Pathfinder | BECK-02 | Code quality is non-negotiable in dev |
| Hermes | EECOM-02 | Infrastructure decisions are critical |
| Athena | CURATOR-02 | Knowledge integrity must be preserved |
| Bastion | ANALYST-03 | Security audits cannot be skipped |
| Compass | MERIDIAN-03 | UX decisions must be reviewed |
| Herald | GAZETTE-03 | Brand voice consistency is essential |
| Terra | SPRING-03 | Data quality is a prerequisite |
FM-04 Rule: If a unit step is assigned to a protected agent that doesn’t exist in that council, the unit is rejected.
Agent Directory
Section titled “Agent Directory”Total agents across all councils: 41
By council:
- Pathfinder: 6 agents
- Hermes: 5 agents
- Athena: 5 agents
- Bastion: 4 agents
- Compass: 4 agents
- Herald: 4 agents
- Terra: 4 agents
- Dendrite: (planned)
- Primer: (planned)
Council Meetings & Synchronization
Section titled “Council Meetings & Synchronization”Meeting Cadence
Section titled “Meeting Cadence”| Council | Cadence | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| All councils | Monthly | Council sync, gate reviews, strategic updates |
| Active core | Weekly (optional) | stratt-hq & grace-hq planning |
| Tier 2 | Weekly | Product and integration planning |
| Tier 3 | Monthly | Scaffolded project reviews |
Meeting Agenda Template
Section titled “Meeting Agenda Template”- Gate Queue Review — Pending gates older than 12 hours
- FM Violations — Any FM-01 through FM-09 detected since last meeting
- Unit Promotions — Units requesting publish or deprecation approval
- Cross-Council Coordination — Dependencies between councils
- Operational Health — Council-specific metrics and KPIs
- Next Steps — Action items and timeline
Adding a New Agent
Section titled “Adding a New Agent”To add a new agent to a council:
- Design agent profile — Name, designation, capabilities
- Request from council — Submit to gate authority for approval
- Gate approval — Gate authority approves addition (FM-04 validation)
- Update
council.yaml— Add agent tocouncils/{name}/council.yaml - Assign capabilities — Define which of 11 capabilities agent has
- Train agent — Provide context files and operational rules (if applicable)
- Activate — Agent is now available for unit assignments
Next Steps
Section titled “Next Steps”- Namespaces & URIs: URI scheme and resolution
- Ecosystem Overview: 22 orgs and integration patterns
- Assistant: Grace orchestration and council routing
- Protocol: SPEC-04 gate checkpoint protocol