divide-and-conquer

Divide and Conquer

Pick up a task and execute it by splitting the work into independent workstreams that run in parallel via subagents.

Instructions

The user's query is in $ARGUMENTS (a task ID like 077 or a task name/keyword).

1. Look up the task: Run taskmd get $ARGUMENTS to find the task
   • If not found, run taskmd list to show available tasks and ask the user which one they meant
2. Read the task file with the Read tool to get the full description, subtasks, and acceptance criteria
3. Mark the task as in-progress: Run taskmd set <ID> --status in-progress
4. Start a worklog entry (if worklogs are enabled):
   • Check .taskmd.yaml for worklogs: true -- only create worklogs if explicitly enabled
   • If enabled, find or create the worklog file at tasks/<group>/.worklogs/<ID>.md (or tasks/.worklogs/<ID>.md for root tasks)
   • Append a timestamped entry noting your approach and initial findings
5. Plan and identify workstreams:
   • Use EnterPlanMode to design the overall approach
   • In the plan, include a reference to the original task ID and task file path
   • Analyze the task and break it into independent workstreams — pieces of work that can proceed in parallel without depending on each other's output
   • Examples of independent workstreams:
     • Implementation code vs. tests vs. documentation
     • Changes to separate packages or modules
     • Backend changes vs. frontend changes
   • If the task is simple enough that parallelization adds no benefit, just do it directly (skip to step 7)
6. Launch subagents in parallel:
   • Use the Agent tool to launch one subagent per independent workstream
   • Give each subagent a clear, self-contained prompt describing exactly what to do, including relevant file paths and context
   • Launch all independent subagents in a single message so they run concurrently
   • Use isolation: "worktree" for subagents that modify files, to avoid conflicts
   • Wait for all subagents to complete
7. Coordinate and integrate:
   • Review all subagent results for correctness
   • If subagents ran in worktrees, merge their changes (review diffs, resolve any conflicts)
   • If any subagent failed, handle the failure directly rather than re-launching
   • Run tests and linting to verify the integrated result
   • Check off subtasks (- [x]) in the task file as they are completed
   • Append worklog entries when you make key decisions, hit blockers, or complete significant subtasks
8. Write a final worklog entry summarizing what was done, which workstreams ran in parallel, decisions made, and any open items
9. Mark the task as done:
   • Check .taskmd.yaml for workflow: pr-review -- if set, use the PR-review workflow below
   • Solo workflow (default): Run taskmd set <ID> --status completed --verify
     • The --verify flag will run any verification checks defined in the task before applying the status change
     • If verification fails, fix the issues and try again
   • PR-review workflow: Open a PR, then run taskmd set <ID> --status in-review --add-pr <PR-URL> and stop

Worklog Format

Each worklog entry uses a timestamp heading followed by free-form notes:

## 2026-02-15T10:30:00Z

Started divide-and-conquer execution of the search feature task.

**Workstreams identified:**

1. Core search implementation (subagent — worktree)
2. Test suite (subagent — worktree)
3. Documentation updates (subagent)

**Completed:**

- [x] All subagents finished successfully
- [x] Merged worktree changes
- [x] Tests passing after integration

**Decisions:** Used full-text search with SQLite rather than Elasticsearch.