parallel-agents

When to Use

• 3+ test files failing with different root causes
• Multiple subsystems broken independently
• Each problem can be understood without context from the others
• No shared state between investigations

When NOT to Use

• Failures are related (fixing one might fix others)
• Need to understand full system state first
• Agents would interfere with each other (modifying same files)

The Pattern

1. Identify Independent Domains

Group work by what's broken or what needs building. Each domain must be independent.

2. Create Focused Agent Tasks

Each agent gets:

• Specific scope: one test file, one subsystem, one feature area
• Clear goal: what success looks like
• Constraints: what NOT to change
• Expected output: what the agent should report back

3. Dispatch in Parallel

Use the Task tool to launch all agents concurrently in a single message.

4. Review and Integrate

• Read each agent's summary
• Verify fixes don't conflict
• Run full test suite
• Integrate all changes

Agent Prompt Guidelines

Good prompt characteristics:

1. Focused — one clear problem domain
2. Self-contained — all context the agent needs is in the prompt
3. Specific about output — what should the agent return?

Common mistakes:

• Too broad: "Fix all the tests" — agent doesn't know where to focus
• No context: agent doesn't know where the problem is
• No constraints: agent might refactor everything
• Vague output expectation: don't know what changed