# agency-agents Needs a Role Handoff Card Before It Needs More Personas

> Source: <https://dev.to/haaaaaley/agency-agents-needs-a-role-handoff-card-before-it-needs-more-personas-521>
> Published: 2026-07-22 04:32:00+00:00

[ msitarzewski/agency-agents](https://github.com/msitarzewski/agency-agents) is an MIT-licensed collection of specialized AI agent roles with different personalities, processes, and deliverables. The repository is popular partly because a named role is easy to understand: frontend specialist, product manager, marketing expert.

But a convincing persona does not tell a reviewer what authority changed when work moved between roles.

The UI needs a handoff card.

``` php
Request
  -> Role selected
  -> Evidence gathered
  -> Draft produced
  -> Handoff requested
  -> Human or next role accepts/rejects
```

Every transition should remain visible. Replacing one chat avatar with another is not sufficient.

A handoff card should answer:

Example:

```
from: frontend-specialist
to: accessibility-reviewer
reason: interaction implementation complete
evidence:
  - src/Dialog.tsx
  - test/dialog.keyboard.spec.ts
unresolved:
  - screen-reader announcement wording
authority_requested: review-only
base_revision: 81d09a2
```

The reviewer must be able to reject the handoff without losing prior evidence. A rejection should require a reason and return ownership to the prior role. If the underlying revision changes, mark the old handoff stale rather than silently refreshing it.

Give five participants the same multi-role task and ask them to predict the next tool effect before approving a handoff. Measure:

Stop the session if a participant approves an action they believe is read-only when it can mutate state. That is a design safety failure, not user error.

The handoff history needs a semantic ordered list, clear headings, keyboard-operable approve/reject controls, and status text that does not depend on agent color or avatar. Announce important state changes without streaming every intermediate thought.

This is a proposed interface and research protocol. I have not evaluated the repository's user interface or tested these personas with participants. Check the current README for actual installation and role definitions.

Specialization becomes useful when responsibility moves cleanly. A persona explains style; a handoff card explains accountability.