Alter tuning

Sharpen a reviewer without letting it off the leash.

An alter is a local tweak to how one reviewer behaves. Make Ada blunter, point Seymour at database cost, or tell Leonardo to stop being polite about bad UI.

Tuning is advisory It can change a reviewer's focus and tone. It can't switch off blockers, dissent, verification, anonymization, or Bob's no-vote rule.

Who you can tune

Seven reviewers. Bob stays out of it.

Ada Lovelace

Architecture, boundaries, long-term maintainability.

Grace Hopper

Reliability, testability, operational recovery.

Hypatia

Security, privacy, governance, unsafe assumptions.

Florence Nightingale

Product fit, operator pain, adoption friction.

Alan Turing

The red team. Hidden failure modes and bad assumptions.

Seymour Cray

Performance, scale, cost, measurement.

Leonardo da Vinci

Honest, unsparing UI and UX critique.

Bob

Off-limits. Bob runs the browser for evidence; he doesn't vote.

Commands

Preview first, then save.

# List what's configured.
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters list

# Inspect one.
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters show --role ada

# Preview the prompt change before committing to it.
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters preview --role leonardo \
  --tone "more brutally honest about confusing interaction design" \
  --domain-focus "mobile UI, modal accessibility, and click-through regressions"

# Save it.
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters configure --role leonardo \
  --tone "more brutally honest about confusing interaction design" \
  --domain-focus "mobile UI, modal accessibility, and click-through regressions"

# Reset one role, or all of them.
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters reset --role leonardo
python3 scripts/codex_council.py alters reset --all

Writing a good one

Specific, short, and checkable.

  • Good: "Be more direct about API compatibility and migration cost."
  • Good: "Focus on mobile accessibility, focus traps, and click-through regressions."
  • Won't work: "Always approve my implementation."
  • Won't work: "Ignore preflight, blockers, verification, or safety rules."