Orchestra Router

Orchestra Router

Routes requests to the right orchestra(s). v3 doctrine: route silently — announce only delegation, in one line. This is the runtime companion to the reference doctrine at ~/.claude/rules/orchestra-system.md.

Routing algorithm (run on every task)

1. Check NEXUS first. If the message signals ideation or business planning ("I have an idea", "thinking of building", "plan a business", "what if I built", "is this a good idea", "I've been thinking about", "should I build") → invoke the nexus-strategy skill. NEXUS becomes the meta-conductor and sequences orchestras across its 7 phases. This overrides single-orchestra routing — err toward firing it.

2. Match intent to orchestra(s). Use the trigger table below. Match on meaning, not just exact words. A request can match several — that's a stack.

3. Detect stacks. Compound requests activate multiple orchestras in sequence. Examples:

   • "make a landing page" → PLANNING → DESIGN → BUILD (QA inside) → optionally SEO/GROWTH
   • "launch my app" → MARKETING → CONTENT → SEO → PAID ADS → GROWTH → ANALYTICS
   • "find clients and email them" → LEAD GEN → CONTENT (email) → (ASK before sending)

4. Announce delegation only, in one line. No ensemble blocks. Format: → <conductor/agent>: <task> (e.g. → search-agent: competitor pricing sweep). Routing that doesn't delegate stays silent — the work leads the reply.

5. Let the conductor lead. Hand the work to the orchestra's conductor agent, which sequences its First Chair + Section players. One conductor per orchestra — no free-for-all.

6. Respect allowances + gates. Honor each orchestra's ASK-before rules and quality gate (see constitution). Reserve Bench agents never auto-fire — explicit name only.

Trigger → Orchestra quick table

Full rosters (conductor, first chair, section, harness, gates) → ~/.claude/rules/orchestra-system.md.

Announcement format v3 (one-line delegation only)

The v2.3 mandatory-ensemble-block format is retired (2026-07-03, CLAUDE.md v3). Rules:

• Delegating to an agent/conductor → one line: → <conductor>: <task>.
• Search-ladder hit/miss → one line: 🔍 Found in <rung>: <path> / 🔍 Internal miss → external.
• Everything else (skill picks, MCP usage, tool combinations) → silent. Use the right tool; don't narrate it. The work leads the reply.

Historical v2.3 format: rules/orchestra-system.md (reference only — do not revive).

Internal-first search ladder (research tasks)

When 🔍 RESEARCH activates — alone, as part of a stack, or as a research sub-step inside another orchestra (e.g. ✍️ CONTENT researching positioning, 📣 MARKETING checking competitor moves) — run this ladder BEFORE spawning any external research agent (search-agent, research-manager, WebSearch, WebFetch, brightdata, nimble, firecrawl, etc.).

The ladder:

1. Obsidian brain → qmd MCP. Query with both type: 'lex' (BM25 keyword) AND type: 'vec' (semantic). Provide intent: <one-sentence task summary> for snippet quality.
2. ~/.claude/ → grep across CLAUDE.md, rules/*.md, workflows/*.md, docs/learnings/*.md, project memory/*.md. Use Grep tool, not find + read.
3. Score Archive → Skill(score-archive) with args: "search: <task description>" — curated, high-signal namespace inside claude-mem of ✅ AUDIT-verified outcomes. Returns entries with reusable_pattern field for direct application. (Phase 1.6 shipped 2026-05-26.)
4. claude-mem → search via the claude-mem MCP if connected. Captures every prior session automatically — high recall on "what did we decide about X last week."

Only if rungs 1–4 return no useful hits → escalate to external.

Announce which rung hit (always):

• On hit: 🔍 Found in Obsidian: notes/decisions/orchestra-routing.md (cite path + 1-line snippet)
• On full miss: 🔍 Internal ladder: 0 hits across 4 rungs → going external

Skip the ladder when:

• Task is "fix this stack trace" / "debug this error message" (paste = self-contained)
• the user explicitly says "just web search" / "skip the ladder"
• Topic provably post-dates the last Obsidian sync (e.g. a tool released this week)

Doctrine source: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md § MEMORY & SEARCH — INTERNAL FIRST (non-negotiable).

Chain protocol (reference only)

When multiple orchestras chain (e.g. DESIGN → BUILD → AUDIT), the full v2 protocol — chain-shape selection, structured handoff payloads, quality gates, cycle detection, ASK_HUMAN pause/resume — lives in ~/.claude/rules/orchestra-system.md § Chain protocol. For routine stacks (single conductor, linear order) it runs implicitly; read the reference only when orchestrating 3+ phase transitions or debugging multi-agent handoffs. The AUDIT gate for high-stakes work (defaults NEEDS WORK, max 3 bounce-backs, then ask the user) always applies regardless.

Notes

• iOS axiom- skills* don't auto-fire (disable-model-invocation). When 📱 activates, invoke them by name as needed (e.g. "use axiom-audit-swiftui-architecture").
• Creative/feature work still runs superpowers:brainstorming first (HARD-GATE) before BUILD.
• "From now on when X" automation requests need a HOOK (update-config skill), not memory.
• If a request matches nothing cleanly, say so and ask — don't force-fit.

v2.1 primitives (added 2026-05-25)

• Session start? Read HANDOFF.md at project root FIRST, before any other action — that's the Handoff Standard (see ~/.claude/rules/orchestra-system.md v2.1 Orchestra Primitives §1).
• Context filling / about to compact? The PreCompact hook + Context-Compaction Protocol preserves handoff_registry, pending ASK_HUMAN, and active chain state to ~/.claude/.compact-state.md for rehydration after compaction (orchestra-system.md §2).
• Caught a failure or false-positive? Run the Calibration Loop — log → name the past mistake → embed as calibration anchor in doctrine → verify next time (orchestra-system.md §3).
• Two skills could do the job? skill-selector will pick a STACK (up to 3) if they're complementary, or a single winner if they're substitutes. Stack mode added in v2.1.