agile-coordinator

Agile Coordinator

Orchestrates multiple worker agents to implement groomed tasks from the backlog, handling task assignment, progress monitoring, merge coordination, and verification.

Core Principle

Coordinate, don't implement. The coordinator assigns tasks to workers, monitors their progress, coordinates merges, and verifies results. Workers execute the actual implementation via the agile-workflow skill.

Quick Reference

When to Use

• Multiple ready tasks in the backlog need implementation
• You want autonomous batch execution of development work
• You need coordinated merges to avoid conflicts
• You want progress tracking across multiple tasks

Invocation

/agile-coordinator                    # Auto-discover and execute ready tasks
/agile-coordinator TASK-001 TASK-002  # Execute specific tasks
/agile-coordinator --dry-run          # Preview execution plan only
/agile-coordinator --parallel         # Run workers in parallel
/agile-coordinator --sequential       # Run workers one at a time (default)

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
--sequential	Execute tasks one at a time	Yes
--parallel	Execute tasks concurrently	No
--max-workers N	Maximum concurrent workers	2
--dry-run	Show plan without executing	No
--autonomous	Auto-continue at all checkpoints	Yes
--supervised	Pause after each task completes	No
--verbose	Show all worker updates	No
--summary-only	Show major milestones only	Yes

---

Workflow Phases

Phase 1: Discovery

Read the backlog to find tasks ready for implementation.

Actions:
1. Read context/backlog/ for task files
2. Filter to status: ready
3. Parse task metadata (priority, size, dependencies)
4. Sort by priority (high → medium → low)
5. Present findings

Output: List of ready tasks with metadata

Phase 2: Planning

Create an execution plan based on task characteristics.

Actions:
1. Determine execution mode (sequential or parallel)
2. Check for task dependencies (A must complete before B)
3. Assign tasks to workers in priority order
4. Generate worker instructions

Output: Execution plan with task assignments

Checkpoint: TASKS_DISCOVERED

• Display: Ready tasks and proposed execution plan
• Auto-continue: If --autonomous flag and tasks found
• Options: continue, reorder, exclude [TASK-ID], stop

Phase 3: Execution

Spawn and monitor worker agents.

For SEQUENTIAL mode:
  for each task in queue:
    1. Spawn worker with Task tool
    2. Worker runs agile-workflow for the task
    3. Monitor progress via file system
    4. When complete: proceed to merge phase
    5. On failure: handle error, decide continue/stop

For PARALLEL mode:
  1. Spawn workers up to max_workers
  2. Monitor all workers concurrently
  3. As workers complete: queue their branches for merge
  4. Spawn next worker if tasks remain
  5. Continue until all tasks processed

Checkpoint: WORKER_COMPLETE (per worker)

• Display: Worker summary, branch name, next action
• Auto-continue: If successful and --autonomous
• Options: continue, retry, skip, stop

Phase 4: Merging

Execute merges sequentially to avoid conflicts.

Actions:
1. For each completed task in merge queue:
   a. git checkout main && git pull
   b. Merge branch (git merge --squash)
   c. Verify merge succeeded
   d. Delete feature branch
2. If conflict: pause and alert user

Output: All branches merged to main

Phase 5: Verification

Verify system integrity after all merges.

Actions:
1. git checkout main && git pull --rebase
2. npm run build (verify build passes)
3. npm test (run full test suite)
4. Check for regressions
5. Generate verification report

Output: Verification status (PASSED/FAILED)

Checkpoint: VERIFIED

• Display: Test results, build status
• Auto-continue: If all tests pass
• Options: done, investigate, revert

Phase 6: Persist Progress

Update source-of-truth documentation to reflect completed work.

Actions:
1. For each completed task:
   a. Update task status in the backlog epic file (ready → complete)
   b. Recalculate epic-level progress (e.g., "22/28 complete" → "24/28 complete")
   c. Unblock dependent tasks (blocked → ready) if blockers are now satisfied
2. Update project status file (context/status.md):
   a. Current project phase
   b. Epic progress table
   c. Recently completed work
   d. Active/upcoming work summary
3. Commit and push documentation updates

Output: Backlog and project status files reflect actual progress

Why this phase exists: Internal tracking (.coordinator/state.json, worker progress files) is session-scoped and ephemeral. The backlog epic files and project status are the persistent source of truth that humans and future sessions rely on. Without this phase, completed tasks remain marked "ready" in backlog files — in one real-world case, 22 merged tasks were never updated in the backlog.

Phase 7: Summary

Generate comprehensive completion report.

Output:
- Tasks completed with PR numbers and commits
- Metrics (workers spawned, PRs merged, tests added)
- Verification status
- Documentation updates applied
- Remaining backlog tasks

---

Worker Protocol

Workers are spawned using Claude Code's Task tool and run agile-workflow for their assigned task.

Worker Instruction Template

See templates/worker-instruction.md

Key requirements for workers:

1. Run agile-workflow with autonomous mode
2. Write progress to .coordinator/workers/{worker-id}/progress.json
3. Do NOT self-merge - signal ready-to-merge status instead
4. Handle all agile-workflow checkpoints automatically

Progress Tracking

Workers report progress via file system:

// .coordinator/workers/worker-1/progress.json
{
  "worker_id": "worker-1",
  "task_id": "TASK-006",
  "status": "in_progress|completed|failed|ready-to-merge",
  "phase": "implement|review|merge-prep|merge-complete",
  "commit": null,
  "branch": "task/TASK-006-description",
  "last_update": "2026-01-20T10:15:00Z",
  "milestones": [
    {"phase": "implement", "timestamp": "..."},
    {"phase": "review", "timestamp": "..."}
  ]
}

---

State Tracking

The coordinator maintains state in .coordinator/state.json:

{
  "session_id": "coord-2026-01-20-abc123",
  "state": "EXECUTING",
  "config": {
    "execution_mode": "sequential",
    "autonomy_level": "autonomous"
  },
  "tasks": {
    "queued": ["TASK-008"],
    "in_progress": ["TASK-007"],
    "completed": ["TASK-006"],
    "failed": []
  },
  "workers": [...],
  "merge_queue": [],
  "verification": null
}

See references/state-tracking.md for details.

---

Failure Handling

Failure Type	Detection	Recovery
Worker fails	Progress shows failed	Offer retry, skip, or abort
Tests fail	npm test exits non-zero	Worker retries up to 2x
Merge conflict	git merge fails	Pause, alert user
Verification fails	Post-merge tests fail	Offer investigate or revert

See references/failure-handling.md for details.

---

Integration with agile-workflow

The coordinator spawns workers that execute agile-workflow:

agile-coordinator (orchestrator)
    │
    ├── Worker 1 → agile-workflow --task TASK-006
    ├── Worker 2 → agile-workflow --task TASK-007
    └── Worker 3 → agile-workflow --task TASK-008

Key integration points:

• Workers run agile-workflow in autonomous mode
• Coordinator handles merges (workers create PRs but don't merge)
• Progress synced via file system
• Coordinator runs verification after all merges

---

Anti-Patterns

AP1: Parallel Merges

Pattern: Merging multiple PRs simultaneously Problem: Creates merge conflicts, corrupts main branch Fix: Always merge sequentially, pull before each merge

AP2: Worker Self-Merge

Pattern: Workers merge their own branches Problem: Race conditions, uncoordinated merges Fix: Workers signal ready-to-merge, coordinator executes merges

AP3: No Verification

Pattern: Skipping post-merge verification Problem: Regressions go undetected Fix: Always run full test suite after merges complete

AP4: Skipping Documentation Updates

Pattern: Relying on internal tracking (.coordinator/state.json, worker progress files) without persisting to backlog epic files and project status Problem: Completed tasks remain marked "ready" in the backlog; project status stays stale; future sessions see incorrect state and may attempt duplicate work Fix: Always run Phase 6 (Persist Progress) to update backlog epic files, unblock dependent tasks, and update project status before generating the summary report

---

Example Interaction

User: /agile-coordinator

Coordinator: Discovering ready tasks...

Found 2 ready tasks:
1. TASK-006 - Persistent Message Status (medium priority, medium size)
2. TASK-007 - Add Unit Tests (high priority, large size)

Execution Plan:
- Mode: sequential
- Order: TASK-006 → TASK-007

Proceed? [continue/reorder/stop]

User: continue

Coordinator: Starting TASK-006...
[Spawns Worker 1]

**Milestone**: TASK-006 - Implementation complete, tests passing

Coordinator: Merging task/TASK-006-persistence...
**Milestone**: TASK-006 complete (commit abc123)

Coordinator: Starting TASK-007...
[Spawns Worker 2]

**Milestone**: TASK-007 - Implementation complete, tests passing

Coordinator: Merging task/TASK-007-tests...
**Milestone**: TASK-007 complete (commit def456)

Coordinator: Running verification...
- Build: PASSED
- Tests: 47/47 passing
- Coverage: 82%

## Summary
Tasks completed: 2
- TASK-006: merged (commit abc123)
- TASK-007: merged (commit def456)

Verification: PASSED

---

Integration Graph

Inbound (From Other Skills)

Source Skill	Trigger	Action
requirements-elaboration	Tasks groomed	Coordinator can execute
backlog manager	Backlog ready	Coordinator discovers tasks

Outbound (To Other Skills)

This Action	Triggers Skill	For
Spawn worker	agile-workflow	Task implementation
Verification fails	research	Debug investigation

Complementary Skills

Skill	Relationship
agile-workflow	Workers execute this skill
context-network	Manages backlog this reads

---

Design Constraints

• Requires Claude Code's Task tool for spawning workers
• Workers cannot directly communicate with each other
• File system used for progress coordination
• Sequential merges only (parallel merges disabled)
• Assumes context network backlog structure

What You Do NOT Do

• Implement tasks directly (workers do this)
• Merge branches in parallel (always sequential)
• Skip verification (always verify after merges)
• Skip documentation updates (always persist progress to backlog epic files and project status)
• Rely solely on internal tracking files as source of truth (.coordinator/state.json is ephemeral)
• Continue after critical failures without user consent