fleet

/fleet — Parallel Coordinator

Use for 3+ independent work streams that can run simultaneously in isolated worktrees. Do NOT use for single-file scope, linear work, or when a marshal or skill suffices.

Orientation

Use when: Running 2+ independent work streams in parallel — tasks with non-overlapping file scopes that can execute simultaneously.

Don't use when: Work must execute sequentially or accumulate findings across phases (use /archon), a single orchestrated session is enough (use /marshal), or the task is simple enough for a bare skill.

Commands

Command	Behavior
/fleet [direction]	Decompose direction into parallel streams, execute in waves
/fleet [path-to-spec]	Read a spec file, decompose into streams
/fleet continue	Resume from the last fleet session file
/fleet (no args)	Health diagnostic → work queue → execute
/fleet --quick [task1]; [task2]	Lightweight parallel mode for solo devs — 2+ tasks, single wave, auto-merge, no session file
/fleet --speculative N [direction]	Try N different approaches to the same task in parallel — see Speculative Mode below

Protocol

Step 1: WAKE UP

1. Read CLAUDE.md (project conventions)
2. Check .planning/campaigns/ for active campaigns
3. Check .planning/coordination/claims/ for external claims
4. Determine input mode: directed, spec-driven, continuing, or undirected
5. Load prior session context: If .planning/momentum.json exists, run

   node .citadel/scripts/momentum-read.cjs
   

   and read the output. Use the active scopes and recurring decisions to inform work queue prioritization. Skip silently if the file is absent or output is empty.

Wave context restoration: Use the Claude Code Compaction API to restore fleet session context at the start of each session. Do NOT read .claude/compact-state.json — that pattern is deprecated in favour of server-side compaction (available on Opus 4.6+). Fleet session files (.planning/fleet/session-{slug}.md) remain the source of truth for inter-wave discovery relay; compaction handles agent memory, not campaign state. If the Compaction API is unavailable, fall back to reading the fleet session file's Continuation State directly.

Step 1b: LOG SESSION START + START WATCHER

node .citadel/scripts/telemetry-log.cjs --event campaign-start --agent fleet --session {session-slug}
node .citadel/scripts/momentum-watch-start.cjs

The watcher runs in the background and re-synthesizes momentum.json within 500ms of any new discovery write. Safe to call if already running — only one watcher runs per project.

Step 2: WORK QUEUE

Produce a ranked list of campaigns with:

Column	Purpose
Campaign name	What this stream does
Scope	Which directories it touches
Dependencies	What must complete before this can start
Wave	Which wave to assign it to
Agent type	What kind of agent to spawn

Rules for work queue:

• Independent items go in Wave 1
• Items that depend on Wave 1 results go in Wave 2
• Maximum 3 agents per wave (conservative default)
• Scope must NOT overlap between agents in the same wave

Step 3: WAVE EXECUTION

For each wave:

1. Prepare context for each agent:

   • CLAUDE.md content
   • .claude/agent-context/rules-summary.md
   • Map slice (if .planning/map/index.json exists): run node scripts/map-index.js --query "<agent's scope keywords>" --max-files 15 and inject the results as a === MAP SLICE === block. If the index does not exist, skip silently.
   • Prior session context (all waves): re-read momentum.json fresh at each wave boundary via node .citadel/scripts/momentum-read.cjs and inject as a === PRIOR SESSION CONTEXT === block. Re-reading (rather than reusing the Step 1 snapshot) picks up discoveries written by parallel Fleet sessions in other terminals. If the output is empty, skip silently.
   • Campaign-specific direction and scope
   • Discovery briefs from previous waves (if any)

2. Log wave start:

   node .citadel/scripts/telemetry-log.cjs --event wave-start --agent fleet --session {session-slug} --meta '{"wave":N,"agents":["name1","name2"]}'
   

3. Spawn agents with isolation: "worktree":

   Agent(
     prompt: "{full context + direction}",
     isolation: "worktree",
     mode: "bypassPermissions"
   )
   

4. Collect results from all agents in the wave

5. Log per-agent results:

   node .citadel/scripts/telemetry-log.cjs --event agent-complete --agent {agent-name} --session {session-slug} --status {success|partial|failed}
   

6. Compress discoveries for each agent:

   • Extract HANDOFF blocks
   • Run node .citadel/scripts/compress-discovery.cjs on each output
   • Write compressed briefs to .planning/fleet/briefs/

6b. Write persistent discovery records for each agent (cross-session memory):

node .citadel/scripts/discovery-write.cjs \
  --session {session-slug} \
  --agent {agent-name} \
  --wave {wave-number} \
  --status {success|partial|failed} \
  --scope "{comma-separated-scope-dirs}" \
  --handoff "{json-array-of-handoff-items}" \
  --decisions "{json-array-of-decisions}" \
  --files "{json-array-of-files-touched}" \
  --failures "{json-array-of-failures}"

7. Log wave complete:

   node .citadel/scripts/telemetry-log.cjs --event wave-complete --agent fleet --session {session-slug} --meta '{"wave":N,"status":"complete"}'
   

8. Merge branches from worktrees:

   • Review changes from each agent
   • If clean merge: merge the branch
   • If conflicts: record in session file, then decide:
     • Resolve if: the conflict is < 20 lines and affects only formatting or naming
     • Skip if: the conflict involves competing logic changes; keep the higher-delta worktree result and log the discarded changes in session file

9. Update session file with wave results and accumulated discoveries

Step 5: COMPLETION

After all waves:

1. Run typecheck on the full project via node scripts/run-with-timeout.js 300 <typecheck-cmd>
2. Run tests if configured (also use the timeout wrapper). If tests fail after wave completion: apply the same error ladder as the main protocol — 1-2 failures: fix before merging; 3-4 failures: attempt fixes, continue if resolved; 5+ failures: halt the wave merge for that worktree and log wave_test_fail: true in the session file.
3. Update session file status to completed
4. Log session completion:

   node .citadel/scripts/telemetry-log.cjs --event campaign-complete --agent fleet --session {session-slug}
   

5. Update momentum (cross-session synthesis):

   node .citadel/scripts/momentum-synthesize.cjs
   

5.5. Propagate knowledge — for each campaign that completed this session, run:

npm run propagate -- --campaign {slug}

Run once per completed campaign slug (not per wave). If multiple campaigns completed, run for each slug. If npm run propagate is unavailable, note each slug in the fleet session file under ## Pending Propagation. 6. Output final HANDOFF

Fleet Session File Format

Create at .planning/fleet/session-{slug}.md:

# Fleet Session: {name}

Status: active | needs-continue | completed
Started: {ISO timestamp}
Direction: {original direction}

## Work Queue
| # | Campaign | Scope | Deps | Status | Wave | Agent |

## Wave N Results
### Agent: {name}
**Status:** complete | partial | failed
**Built:** ...  **Decisions:** ...  **Files:** ...

## Shared Context (Discovery Relay)
- {cross-agent finding → what Wave N+1 should know}

## Continuation State
Next wave: N  Blocked items: ...  Auto-continue: true

Scope Overlap Prevention

Before assigning agents to a wave:

1. List all scope directories for each agent
2. Check for parent/child overlaps:
   • src/api/ and src/api/auth/ OVERLAP (parent/child)
   • src/api/ and src/ui/ do NOT overlap (siblings)
3. (read-only) scopes never conflict
4. If overlap: move one agent to a later wave

Also check .planning/coordination/claims/ for external claims.

Budget Management

Effort hints for wave agents (use the effort parameter, not budget_tokens):

Agent Type	Effort	~Tokens
Fleet scouts (research, mapping, audit)	medium	~100K each
Execution agents (build, refactor, implement)	high	~250K each
Verify agents (typecheck, visual-verify, QA)	low	~60K each

The effort parameter is GA as of April 2026 and produces ~20–40% token reduction compared to manually tuned budget_tokens values. Always prefer effort for new wave definitions.

Quality Gates

• All agents must receive full context injection
• Scope must not overlap between same-wave agents
• Every wave must produce compressed discovery briefs
• Discovery relay must be injected into subsequent waves
• Merge conflicts must be resolved or explicitly recorded
• Final typecheck must pass after all waves

Agent Timeouts

Sub-agents can hang indefinitely on tool calls. Fleet must enforce execution time limits at the orchestrator level.

Default Timeouts

Agent Type	Default Timeout	Override Key
Skill-level agents	10 minutes	agentTimeouts.skill
Research scouts	15 minutes	agentTimeouts.research
Build agents	30 minutes	agentTimeouts.build

Timeouts are configurable in harness.json:

{
  "agentTimeouts": {
    "skill": 600000,
    "research": 900000,
    "build": 1800000
  }
}

Timeout Protocol

On timeout: log agent-timeout event, extract partial HANDOFF if present, retry once with simplified prompt (Wave 1 critical scope only), skip otherwise. Never block the wave. Record Status: timed out in session file.

Read timeout values from harness.json → agentTimeouts.{skill|research|build} (defaults: 600000/900000/1800000ms).

Coordination Safety

Instance ID Generation

Every agent spawned by Fleet must have a unique instance ID.

Format: fleet-{session-slug}-{wave}-{agent-index} Example: fleet-auth-refactor-w1-a3 (wave 1, agent 3)

The instance ID is:

• Written to the agent's worktree as .fleet-instance-id
• Included in all telemetry log entries for this agent
• Used in coordination claims to identify which agent owns which scope
• Used in dead instance recovery to identify orphaned claims

Scope Overlap Detection

Before spawning: compare all agent scopes pairwise (directory scopes overlap any file inside them). On overlap: merge tasks, narrow scopes, or sequence. NEVER proceed with overlapping scopes.

Dead Instance Recovery

After each wave: read .planning/coordination/claims/, verify each instance is still alive (worktree exists + HANDOFF present). Release orphaned claims, return uncompleted scope to next wave's queue.

Fringe Cases

• .planning/fleet/ does not exist: Create the directory before writing the session file.
• All agents in a wave fail: Escalate to the user rather than proceeding to the next wave. Output which agents failed and why before continuing.
• Worktree checkout fails for an agent: Skip that agent, log the failure in the session file, and continue. Record the skipped scope as a gap for the next wave.
• .planning/ does not exist: Create .planning/fleet/ before starting. If .planning/coordination/ is absent, skip scope claim registration.
• Discovery compression script missing: Write raw HANDOFF excerpts to the briefs directory instead.

Speculative Mode

/fleet --speculative N [direction]

Try N different approaches to the same task simultaneously. Each approach gets its own worktree and branch. When all finish, the user picks the winner; losers are archived (not deleted).

Step 1: Decompose into N strategies

Before spawning, enumerate N distinct approaches. Each approach must:

• Target the exact same files and end goal
• Use a meaningfully different strategy (not just style variations)
• Be feasible to complete in a single agent session

Step 2: Spawn N agents in parallel

Each agent gets:

• The common direction (same for all)
• Its strategy description (different per agent)
• Its own branch name: speculative/{session-slug}/{strategy-label}
• Instruction to set branch and worktree_status: active in its campaign frontmatter

Spawn with isolation: "worktree". Scope overlap rules do NOT apply between speculative agents — they will all touch the same files intentionally.

Step 3: Collect and compare

After all agents complete, for each:

1. Read the HANDOFF
2. Run typecheck on that worktree's branch via node scripts/run-with-timeout.js 300 <typecheck-cmd>
3. Record in the session file: what was built, typecheck result, key decisions

Present a comparison table to the user:

Strategy	Branch	Typecheck	Key Decision	Notable Tradeoffs

If ALL N approaches fail typecheck: present the comparison table with all entries marked FAIL typecheck. Ask the user to pick the least-broken approach or abort. Do not proceed to Step 4 without a user decision.

Step 4: Archive losers, merge winner

When the user picks a winner:

1. Winner: Update campaign frontmatter worktree_status: merged, proceed with normal merge
2. Losers: Update campaign frontmatter worktree_status: archived. Do NOT delete branches.

# Optional: tag losers for clarity
git tag archive/{loser-branch} {loser-branch}

Add ## Speculative Comparison to session file: direction, N strategies, comparison table (strategy/branch/status/typecheck/notes), winner, merge timestamp.

Quick Mode

/fleet --quick [task1]; [task2]; [task3]

Differences from standard fleet

Property	Standard Fleet	Quick Mode
Min streams	3	2
Min complexity	4	3
Waves	Multi-wave with discovery relay	Single wave only
Session file	Written to .planning/fleet/	Skipped — results reported inline
Discovery briefs	Compressed to .planning/fleet/briefs/	Skipped
Merge	Per-wave confirmation	Auto-merge if no conflicts
Scope claim	Written to coordination/	Skipped

Protocol

1. Parse tasks from the --quick argument (semicolon-separated)
2. Validate scope overlap — if any two tasks touch the same files, merge them or sequence them
3. Spawn all agents simultaneously with isolation: "worktree"
4. Collect results; auto-merge worktrees if no conflicts detected
5. If merge conflict: surface to user, offer manual resolution
6. Report results inline — no session file written unless the user asks

When /do routes here

/do routes to --quick mode (not standard fleet) when:

• Input contains "at the same time", "simultaneously", "in parallel", "both ... and"
• Two or more clearly independent tasks are detected
• Complexity is 3 (moderate), not 4+ (complex)
• User chose "1" (yes once) or "2" (always) on the Fleet confirmation prompt

Entry from /do confirmation prompt: user chose yes (1) or always (2). Preferences stored under consent.fleetSpawn in harness.json via readConsent/writeConsent.

Contextual Gates

Disclosure

• "Spawning {N} agents across {waves} waves in isolated worktrees. Estimated token budget: ~{tokens}K."
• For speculative mode: "Running {N} parallel approaches to the same task. All will touch the same files."

Reversibility

• Green: Single-wave fleet with < 3 agents
• Amber: Multi-wave fleet (the default) -- each wave's merge is a separate commit
• Red: Speculative mode or fleets that modify shared infrastructure

Red actions require explicit confirmation regardless of trust level.

Proportionality

• Standard fleet: work queue requires 3+ independent streams. Fewer → downgrade to Marshal or Archon.
• Quick mode: 2+ tasks with non-overlapping scopes. No minimum complexity gate.
• If all streams touch the same directory: downgrade to sequential Archon phases
• If estimated agents > 6: confirm with user (even trusted level)

Trust Gating

Read trust level from harness.json:

• Novice (0-4 sessions): Always confirm before spawning. Show agent count, scopes, and estimated cost.
• Familiar (5-19 sessions): Confirm only for > 3 agents or speculative mode.
• Trusted (20+ sessions): Auto-proceed for standard fleet. Confirm only for speculative mode or > 6 agents.

Exit Protocol

Update the session file, then output:

---HANDOFF---
- Fleet session: {name} — {waves completed} waves, {agents} agents total
- Built: {summary of all wave results}
- Discoveries: {key cross-agent findings}
- Merge conflicts: {count and resolution}
- Next: {remaining work if any}
- Reversibility: amber -- multi-wave merges, revert each wave's merge commit
---