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A team is the declarative source of truth for who works on a run. It compiles to a frozen config plus a subagent registry, so the Engineering Manager can only dispatch to roles that were declared. By default voss team check reads .voss/team.voss.

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Grammar

team "default" {
  ceiling {
    budget: 120000 tokens
    scope: ["src/**", "tests/**", "docs/**"]
    latency: 30m
  }

  principles {
    diff: "Smallest diff that solves it"
    evidence: "No claim without evidence"
  }

  role architect {
    model: "strong"
    mode:  "plan"
    scope: ["src/**", "docs/**"]
    tools: ["fs", "code", "git"]
    budget: 12000 tokens
  }

  role backend {
    model: "cheap"
    mode:  "edit"
    scope: ["src/server/**", "tests/server/**"]
    tools: ["fs", "code", "test", "git"]
    budget: 24000 tokens
  }

  role reviewer {
    model: "strong"
    mode:  "plan"
    scope: ["src/**", "tests/**"]
    tools: ["fs", "code", "test", "git"]
    budget: 16000 tokens
  }
}

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What a role carries

Each role compiles to a spec with its own:
  • model tier — strong / cheap (mapped to concrete providers)
  • mode — plan (read-only) or edit (scoped writes)
  • scope — glob set, compile-time contained inside the ceiling
  • tools — capability groups: fs, git, test, shell, net, code, memory, review, mcp
  • budget — token allowance drawn from the ceiling

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The default roster

The shipped roster includes architect, backend, frontend, tester, reviewer, skeptic, and docs.

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Validation

voss team check runs the compile_team validator. It fails the build — not the run — when something is wrong. 
voss team check                 # validates .voss/team.voss
voss team check path/to.voss    # validate a specific file
voss team check --json          # machine-readable result
Compile-time failures include:
FailureWhy it fails
Role scope widens past the ceilingScope must be contained in the global ceiling
Role budget exceeds the ceilingBudget is a hard boundary, not a hint
Unknown capability group in toolsTools are filtered through the capability registry
Unknown model tierEmits an actionable diagnostic
Dispatch to an undeclared roleThe EM cage rejects it at runtime
The legacy explorer / worker / reviewer subagent path remains backward-compatible.
Scope and budget containment are checked at compile time so an invalid team can never start a run. See the Engineering Manager loop for how the roster is enforced during dispatch.