/swarm-advanced

name: swarm-advanced
description: Advanced swarm orchestration patterns for research, development, testing, and complex distributed workflows
version: 2.0.0
category: orchestration
tags: [swarm, distributed, parallel, research, testing, development, coordination]
author: Claude Flow Team

Advanced Swarm Orchestration

Master advanced swarm patterns for distributed research, development, and testing workflows. This skill covers comprehensive orchestration strategies using both MCP tools and CLI commands.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

# Ensure Claude Flow is installed
npm install -g claude-flow@alpha

# Add MCP server (if using MCP tools)
claude mcp add claude-flow npx claude-flow@alpha mcp start

Basic Pattern

// 1. Initialize swarm topology
mcp__claude-flow__swarm_init({ topology: "mesh", maxAgents: 6 })

// 2. Spawn specialized agents
mcp__claude-flow__agent_spawn({ type: "researcher", name: "Agent 1" })

// 3. Orchestrate tasks
mcp__claude-flow__task_orchestrate({ task: "...", strategy: "parallel" })

Core Concepts

Swarm Topologies

**Mesh Topology** - Peer-to-peer communication, best for research and analysis

• All agents communicate directly
• High flexibility and resilience
• Use for: Research, analysis, brainstorming

**Hierarchical Topology** - Coordinator with subordinates, best for development

• Clear command structure
• Sequential workflow support
• Use for: Development, structured workflows

**Star Topology** - Central coordinator, best for testing

• Centralized control and monitoring
• Parallel execution with coordination
• Use for: Testing, validation, quality assurance

**Ring Topology** - Sequential processing chain

• Step-by-step processing
• Pipeline workflows
• Use for: Multi-stage processing, data pipelines

Agent Strategies

**Adaptive** - Dynamic adjustment based on task complexity **Balanced** - Equal distribution of work across agents **Specialized** - Task-specific agent assignment **Parallel** - Maximum concurrent execution

Pattern 1: Research Swarm

Purpose

Deep research through parallel information gathering, analysis, and synthesis.

Architecture

// Initialize research swarm
mcp__claude-flow__swarm_init({
  "topology": "mesh",
  "maxAgents": 6,
  "strategy": "adaptive"
})

// Spawn research team
const researchAgents = [
  {
    type: "researcher",
    name: "Web Researcher",
    capabilities: ["web-search", "content-extraction", "source-validation"]
  },
  {
    type: "researcher",
    name: "Academic Researcher",
    capabilities: ["paper-analysis", "citation-tracking", "literature-review"]
  },
  {
    type: "analyst",
    name: "Data Analyst",
    capabilities: ["data-processing", "statistical-analysis", "visualization"]
  },
  {
    type: "analyst",
    name: "Pattern Analyzer",
    capabilities: ["trend-detection", "correlation-analysis", "outlier-detection"]
  },
  {
    type: "documenter",
    name: "Report Writer",
    capabilities: ["synthesis", "technical-writing", "formatting"]
  }
]

// Spawn all agents
researchAgents.forEach(agent => {
  mcp__claude-flow__agent_spawn({
    type: agent.type,
    name: agent.name,
    capabilities: agent.capabilities
  })
})

Research Workflow

Phase 1: Information Gathering

// Parallel information collection
mcp__claude-flow__parallel_execute({
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "web-search",
      "command": "search recent publications and articles"
    },
    {
      "id": "academic-search",
      "command": "search academic databases and papers"
    },
    {
      "id": "data-collection",
      "command": "gather relevant datasets and statistics"
    },
    {
      "id": "expert-search",
      "command": "identify domain experts and thought leaders"
    }
  ]
})

// Store research findings in memory
mcp__claude-flow__memory_usage({
  "action": "store",
  "key": "research-findings-" + Date.now(),
  "value": JSON.stringify(findings),
  "namespace": "research",
  "ttl": 604800 // 7 days
})

Phase 2: Analysis and Validation

// Pattern recognition in findings
mcp__claude-flow__pattern_recognize({
  "data": researchData,
  "patterns": ["trend", "correlation", "outlier", "emerging-pattern"]
})

// Cognitive analysis
mcp__claude-flow__cognitive_analyze({
  "behavior": "research-synthesis"
})

// Quality assessment
mcp__claude-flow__quality_assess({
  "target": "research-sources",
  "criteria": ["credibility", "relevance", "recency", "authority"]
})

// Cross-reference validation
mcp__claude-flow__neural_patterns({
  "action": "analyze",
  "operation": "fact-checking",
  "metadata": { "sources": sourcesArray }
})

Phase 3: Knowledge Management

// Search existing knowledge base
mcp__claude-flow__memory_search({
  "pattern": "topic X",
  "namespace": "research",
  "limit": 20
})

// Create knowledge graph connections
mcp__claude-flow__neural_patterns({
  "action": "learn",
  "operation": "knowledge-graph",
  "metadata": {
    "topic": "X",
    "connections": relatedTopics,
    "depth": 3
  }
})

// Store connections for future use
mcp__claude-flow__memory_usage({
  "action": "store",
  "key": "knowledge-graph-X",
  "value": JSON.stringify(knowledgeGraph),
  "namespace": "research/graphs",
  "ttl": 2592000 // 30 days
})

Phase 4: Report Generation

// Orchestrate report generation
mcp__claude-flow__task_orchestrate({
  "task": "generate comprehensive research report",
  "strategy": "sequential",
  "priority": "high",
  "dependencies": ["gather", "analyze", "validate", "synthesize"]
})

// Monitor research progress
mcp__claude-flow__swarm_status({
  "swarmId": "research-swarm"
})

// Generate final report
mcp__claude-flow__workflow_execute({
  "workflowId": "research-report-generation",
  "params": {
    "findings": findings,
    "format": "comprehensive",
    "sections": ["executive-summary", "methodology", "findings", "analysis", "conclusions", "re