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Use foundation-persona to create a complete [product or marketing] persona for [audience and context], distinguishing evidence from assumptions and calibrating confidence and open questions.
Required inputs
[product or marketing]
[audience and context]
User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗
SKILL.md
name: foundation-personadescription: Generates an evidence-calibrated product or marketing persona using the canonical v2.5 output contract. Use when shaping artifact perspective, stress-testing decisions, or framing product and GTM strategy.license: Apache-2.0metadata: classification: foundation version: "2.6.1" updated: 2026-08-16 category: research frameworks: [triple-diamond, lean-startup, design-thinking] author: product-on-purpose
Persona Builder
This skill produces decision-usable personas from one canonical template pack.
Supported Modes
product
marketing
buyer as input alias for marketing (output remains labeled Marketing)
Generated agent mode is out of scope for v2.5.0.
If the user asks for agent, ask them to choose product or marketing.
When to Use
Before drafting PM or GTM artifacts that need a clear persona viewpoint
When teams disagree on priorities and need behavior-grounded tradeoff framing
When assumptions and confidence levels must be explicit for decision review
When tailoring downstream work (PRD, stories, launch, messaging, enablement) to a specific user or buyer profile
When NOT to Use
You need the job context rather than the person -> use define-jtbd-canvas; the canvas captures what customers hire products to do, the persona captures who they are
You are mapping internal stakeholders, not customers -> use discover-stakeholder-summary
You have raw interviews to synthesize first -> use discover-interview-synthesis; a persona built on unsynthesized notes inherits their noise
No evidence exists at all and a real decision rides on the persona: gather research first; the skill labels assumptions honestly but cannot substitute for evidence
Instructions
When asked to generate a persona, follow these steps:
Resolve mode and intent
Determine whether the request is product or marketing (buyer alias allowed).
If mode is omitted, ask for mode selection.
If execution must continue without reply, default to product and state that fallback explicitly.
Collect context and evidence
Use user-provided context first (goals, audience, domain, constraints, sources).
If evidence is thin, continue generation but mark gaps and calibrate confidence.
Select exactly one template
Use references/TEMPLATE.md and choose exactly one of:
Product Persona Template
Marketing Persona Template
Generate a complete artifact
Fill the selected template end-to-end:
header + one-sentence core-reality statement
metadata table
Persona Card
sections 1 through 11
Evidence & Confidence
Enforce mode boundaries
Product mode: focus on workflow behavior, decision patterns, friction, quality bar, and product tradeoffs.
Marketing mode: focus on buying triggers, evaluation criteria, committee dynamics, objections, messaging, and GTM implications.
Apply evidence and confidence policy
Use High|Medium|Low confidence with rationale.
Distinguish validated evidence from assumptions.
State open questions and governance follow-up.
Finalize for direct use
Remove template guidance blockquotes (> notes) from the final output.
Ensure narrative entries are concrete and decision-changing, not placeholder bullets.
Output Contract (v2.5.0)
Use one mode only (Product or Marketing) per output.
Keep section numbering and headings from the selected template.
Preserve the evidence table plus validated/assumed/open-questions/governance blocks.
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
Exactly one mode is used and clearly labeled
buyer inputs are normalized to Marketing
Header, core-reality statement, metadata table, and Persona Card are present
All 1 through 11 sections from the selected template are present and complete
Includes/not-valid boundaries are explicit in the metadata and narrative
Evidence table is populated with concrete sources
Confidence is High, Medium, or Low with rationale
Validated, Assumed, Open questions, and Governance blocks are present
Template authoring notes (> guidance lines) are removed from the completed output
Examples
See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed sample output.