Couple things to try.
Stop nodebb and run ./nodebb build and try again.
Also run ./nodebb plugins to check active plugins and see if persona is active.
Why is it that those files:
node_modules/pulling/build/pulling-drawer.js.map
node_modules/jquery-form/dist/jquery.form.min.js.map
are missing from ~/build/public/src/modules/
in my vanilla persona-clone theme and most likely also in persona?
NodeBB v1.17.1
Map files are only for debug and are only loaded when you open the developer tools.