How do I install the Pilot Leader Election skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add teoslayer/pilot-leader-election in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Pilot Leader Election safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Pilot Leader Election?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Pilot Leader Election free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under AGPL-3.

Who published Pilot Leader Election?

TeoSlayer (@teoslayer) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Pilot Leader Election by teoslayer — Agent Skill

Name: Pilot Leader Election
Author: TeoSlayer

Pilot Leader Election

Elect a coordinator with automatic failover using heartbeat-based leader election. Use this skill when: 1. A swarm needs a single coordinator for decision making 2. You need automatic failover when the current leader fails 3. You want to avoid split-brain with deterministic tie-breaking Do NOT use this skill when: - All agents need equal voting power (use pilot-consensus) - You need decentralized decision making (use pilot-gossip)

TeoSlayer 8e57d50 2 files · 3.3 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

pilot-leader-election

Implement leader election protocols with automatic failover detection.

Commands

Announce candidacy

pilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \
  --data "{\"type\":\"election\",\"candidate\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"priority\":$PRIORITY,\"term\":$TERM}"

Declare victory as leader

pilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \
  --data "{\"type\":\"leader\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM,\"elected_at\":\"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)\"}"

Send leader heartbeat

pilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \
  --data "{\"type\":\"heartbeat\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM,\"timestamp\":\"$(date -u +%s)\"}"

Detect leader failure

LAST_HEARTBEAT=$(pilotctl --json inbox \
  | jq -r '[.messages[] | select(.topic == "election:'$ELECTION_GROUP'" and .payload.type == "heartbeat")] | sort_by(.payload.timestamp) | last | .payload.timestamp')

ELAPSED=$(( $(date -u +%s) - LAST_HEARTBEAT ))

if [ "$ELAPSED" -gt 10 ]; then
  echo "Leader timeout, starting election"
fi

Workflow Example

Bully algorithm with priority-based election:

#!/bin/bash
ELECTION_GROUP="task-coordinator"
AGENT_ID=$(pilotctl --json info | jq -r '.node_id')
PRIORITY=$(echo -n "$AGENT_ID" | cksum | cut -d' ' -f1)
REGISTRY_HOST="registry.example.com"

# Announce candidacy
pilotctl --json publish "$REGISTRY_HOST" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \
  --data "{\"type\":\"election\",\"candidate\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"priority\":$PRIORITY,\"term\":$TERM}"

# Wait and check if highest priority
sleep 10

HIGHEST=$(pilotctl --json inbox \
  | jq -r '[.messages[] | select(.topic == "election:'$ELECTION_GROUP'" and .payload.type == "election")] | sort_by(.payload.priority) | last | .payload.candidate')

if [ "$HIGHEST" = "$AGENT_ID" ]; then
  pilotctl --json publish "$REGISTRY_HOST" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \
    --data "{\"type\":\"leader\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM}"
fi

Dependencies

Requires pilot-protocol skill, jq, and cksum.

---name: pilot-leader-electiondescription: Elect a coordinator with automatic failover using heartbeat-based leader election. Use this skill when: 1. A swarm needs a single coordinator for decision making 2. You need automatic failover when the current leader fails 3. You want to avoid split-brain with deterministic tie-breaking Do NOT use this skill when: - All agents need equal voting power (use pilot-consensus) - You need decentralized decision making (use pilot-gossip)license: AGPL-3.0---# pilot-leader-electionImplement leader election protocols with automatic failover detection.## Commands### Announce candidacy```bashpilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \ --data "{\"type\":\"election\",\"candidate\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"priority\":$PRIORITY,\"term\":$TERM}"```### Declare victory as leader```bashpilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \ --data "{\"type\":\"leader\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM,\"elected_at\":\"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)\"}"```### Send leader heartbeat```bashpilotctl --json publish "registry-hostname" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \ --data "{\"type\":\"heartbeat\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM,\"timestamp\":\"$(date -u +%s)\"}"```### Detect leader failure```bashLAST_HEARTBEAT=$(pilotctl --json inbox \ | jq -r '[.messages[] | select(.topic == "election:'$ELECTION_GROUP'" and .payload.type == "heartbeat")] | sort_by(.payload.timestamp) | last | .payload.timestamp')ELAPSED=$(( $(date -u +%s) - LAST_HEARTBEAT ))if [ "$ELAPSED" -gt 10 ]; then echo "Leader timeout, starting election"fi```## Workflow ExampleBully algorithm with priority-based election:```bash#!/bin/bashELECTION_GROUP="task-coordinator"AGENT_ID=$(pilotctl --json info | jq -r '.node_id')PRIORITY=$(echo -n "$AGENT_ID" | cksum | cut -d' ' -f1)REGISTRY_HOST="registry.example.com"# Announce candidacypilotctl --json publish "$REGISTRY_HOST" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \ --data "{\"type\":\"election\",\"candidate\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"priority\":$PRIORITY,\"term\":$TERM}"# Wait and check if highest prioritysleep 10HIGHEST=$(pilotctl --json inbox \ | jq -r '[.messages[] | select(.topic == "election:'$ELECTION_GROUP'" and .payload.type == "election")] | sort_by(.payload.priority) | last | .payload.candidate')if [ "$HIGHEST" = "$AGENT_ID" ]; then pilotctl --json publish "$REGISTRY_HOST" "election:$ELECTION_GROUP" \ --data "{\"type\":\"leader\",\"leader\":\"$AGENT_ID\",\"term\":$TERM}"fi```## DependenciesRequires pilot-protocol skill, jq, and cksum.

Frequently asked questions