/dispatching-parallel-agents

name: dispatching-parallel-agents
description: "Split independent work across parallel agents with explicit boundaries and a parent integration review. Use only when user allows subagents and tasks do not share mutable files."
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep

Dispatching parallel agents

Gate (required)

Use this skill **only if**:

• User or parent explicitly allows parallel subagents, **and**
• Tasks are independent (no shared files, no ordering dependency on partial output)

If either condition fails, use sequential `incremental-implementation` instead.

When to use

• Independent reviews (security + tests + API contract) on the same commit
• Parallel research spikes with separate output files
• Large plan with disjoint file ownership per task

When not to use

• Single shared module being edited by multiple agents
• Database migrations or sequential deploy steps
• User did not approve multi-agent execution

Workflow

1. **Partition** — list tasks with disjoint `Files:` sets 2. **Brief** — each agent gets scope, constraints, verify command, output format 3. **Dispatch** — run parallel agents; cap concurrency to what the harness supports 4. **Collect** — gather outputs without assuming correctness 5. **Integrate** — parent reconciles conflicts, runs full verification, single commit strategy per user rules

Integration checklist

• [ ] No conflicting edits to the same paths
• [ ] Combined diff reviewed by parent (or `requesting-code-review`)
• [ ] Full test/lint suite on integrated result
• [ ] User informed of what each agent did

Anti-patterns

• Parallel implementers on the same feature branch without file boundaries
• Merging subagent output without reading diffs
• Spawning agents to avoid reading the codebase

Related

`subagent-driven-development`, `incremental-implementation`, `requesting-code-review`, `verify-before-done`

*Orchestration patterns inspired by [obra/superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) (MIT).*