parallel

Code Forge — Parallel

⚡ Execution Entry Point

@../shared/execution-entrypoint.md

For this skill: start at the first executable step. If you catch yourself about to say "falling back to manual handling", STOP and go to the indicated step.

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Dispatch independent sub-agents to solve multiple unrelated problems concurrently.

When to Use

• 3+ test files failing with different root causes
• Multiple independent subsystems broken simultaneously
• Several unrelated bugs reported at once
• Any situation with 2+ problems that share no state

When NOT to Use

• Failures are related (fix one, others may resolve)
• Problems share state or dependencies
• Need full system state to diagnose (single-threaded investigation needed)
• Only 1 problem exists

For task execution within a feature: Use /code-forge:impl which has built-in parallel task support.

Core Principle

One agent per independent problem domain. Let them work concurrently.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify Problems

List all problems. For each, note:

• What is failing (test file, error message, component)
• Which files/modules are involved
• Whether it shares state with other problems

Step 2: Assess Independence

Build a dependency matrix:

Problem A ←→ Problem B: independent? (yes/no, why)
Problem A ←→ Problem C: independent? (yes/no, why)
Problem B ←→ Problem C: independent? (yes/no, why)

Group dependent problems together. Each independent group gets its own agent.

Step 3: Dispatch Agents

For each independent problem group, launch a Agent(subagent_type="general-purpose"):

Agent prompt structure:

You are investigating and fixing: {problem description}

## Scope
- Files involved: {list}
- Error messages: {paste}
- Expected behavior: {description}

## Constraints
- Only modify files in your scope
- Use code-forge:tdd methodology (write failing test first)
- Use code-forge:debug methodology (root cause before fix)

## Output Required
- Root cause (1-2 sentences)
- Files changed (list)
- Test results (pass/fail counts)
- Summary of fix (1-2 sentences)

CRITICAL: Launch all agents in a single message using multiple Agent tool calls. This enables true parallel execution.

Step 4: Review and Integrate

After all agents complete:

1. Check for conflicts — did any agents modify the same file?
   • No conflicts: proceed
   • Conflicts: resolve manually, prefer the more targeted change
2. Run full test suite — verify all fixes work together
3. Report results:

Parallel dispatch complete: {N} agents, {M} problems resolved

Agent 1: {problem} → {root cause} → {status}
Agent 2: {problem} → {root cause} → {status}
Agent 3: {problem} → {root cause} → {status}

Full test suite: {pass}/{total} passing

Example

3 test files failing: auth.test.ts, payment.test.ts, email.test.ts

Independence check:
  auth ←→ payment: independent (different modules, no shared state)
  auth ←→ email:   independent (different modules)
  payment ←→ email: independent

Dispatch 3 agents in a single message:
  Agent 1: "Fix auth.test.ts — files: src/auth/, error: missing token validation"
  Agent 2: "Fix payment.test.ts — files: src/payment/, error: decimal precision"
  Agent 3: "Fix email.test.ts — files: src/email/, error: template not found"

Results: 3/3 resolved, full suite 128/128 passing

Common Mistakes

• Dispatching agents for related problems (they'll step on each other's changes)
• Not providing enough context in agent prompts (agent wastes time re-discovering)
• Launching agents sequentially instead of in a single parallel message
• Skipping the full test suite after integration
• Dispatching too many agents (>5) — diminishing returns, harder to integrate