Planner, implementer, reviewer, validator: role-agent design
6 Jul 2026 · 7 min read
Role-agent design gives autonomous teams separation of duties and clearer evidence trails.
Role agents should mirror real accountability boundaries: planning, doing, reviewing, validating, and operating.
AstraRunner treats this as an execution-platform concern: the run needs durable state, traceable decisions, cost visibility, and enough structure for teams to review what happened after the agent finishes.
Patterns that work
- Keep planning separate from implementation.
- Make reviewers independent from implementers.
- Use validators for acceptance criteria and tests.
- Let operators resolve blocked or risky runs.
Implementation checklist
- Define inputs and outputs per role.
- Attach tools by role.
- Track role-specific cost and quality.
- Review handoff quality.
Watch outs
- Role labels do not create independence by themselves.
- Validators need real evidence.
- Planner authority can become a bottleneck.
Related reading
How this fits the Astra stack
AstraRunner owns the operational path for agent work: orchestration, scheduling, approval gates, traces, costs, and role-agent handoffs. AstraMemory owns durable context and retrieval. AstraGenie turns those capabilities into product workflows for teams that want automation without rebuilding the platform layer.