Answer in brief
Parallelize only independent work, with explicit ownership and acceptance evidence.
Multiple Agents do not automatically improve quality. Begin with one Agent and split only when work has independent inputs, outputs, and ownership.
Good candidates include separate module research, implementation plus read-only review, independent platform checks, and parallel option analysis. Avoid splitting tightly sequenced work or simultaneous edits to the same core file.
Subtask Contract
Objective:
Inputs and confirmed facts:
Owned files/modules:
Allowed tools and permissions:
Forbidden actions:
Deliverable:
Acceptance evidence:Send the minimum context required, not the complete parent transcript.
Useful Topologies
- Research fan-out: read-only Agents investigate independent surfaces; the parent synthesizes.
- Implementer + reviewer: one owns the diff, another seeks counterexamples.
- Planner + specialists: a dependency map assigns non-overlapping modules or platforms.
The orchestrator must verify evidence, resolve conflicting assumptions, run integration checks, and own the final uncertainty. It cannot merely concatenate summaries.
Prevent conflicts with file ownership, stable shared interfaces, isolated worktrees or read-only assignments, and a real diff review before integration. A worker must not revert changes it does not own.
Exercise
Have one Agent implement a small bounded change and a separate read-only reviewer examine contract coverage, error paths, and tests. The orchestrator reproduces blocker findings; only the file owner fixes them; then the integrated checks run.
If coordination costs more than serial work, record why and return to a single Agent. Orchestration is an optimization, not a badge.
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