tomevault-io Dispatching Parallel Agents
Overview
When multiple independent failures exist, investigate them in parallel rather than sequentially.
Core principle: One agent per independent problem domain, running concurrently.
Announce at start: "I'm using the dispatching-parallel-agents skill to investigate multiple independent failures."
When to Use
Use when:
- 3+ test files failing with different root causes
- Multiple subsystems broken independently
- Each problem can be understood without context from others
- No shared state between investigations
Don't use when:
- Failures are related (fixing one might fix others)
- Need to understand full system state
- Agents would interfere with each other
The Pattern
1. Identify Independent Domains
Group failures by what's broken:
- File A tests: Tool approval flow
- File B tests: Batch completion behavior
- File C tests: Abort functionality
2. Create Focused Agent Tasks
Each agent gets:
- Specific scope: One test file or subsystem
- Clear goal: Make these tests pass
- Constraints: Don't change other code
- Expected output: Summary of findings and fixes
3. Dispatch in Parallel
Dispatch each agent task concurrently with the Task tool.
4. Review and Integrate
When agents return:
- Read each summary
- Verify fixes don't conflict
- Run full test suite
- Integrate all changes
Agent Prompt Structure
Good agent prompts are:
- Focused - One clear problem domain
- Self-contained - All context needed
- Specific about output - What should be returned?
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Fix all the tests" | "Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts" |
| No context | Paste error messages and test names |
| No constraints | "Do NOT change production code" |
| Vague output | "Return summary of root cause and changes" |
Key Benefits
- Parallelization - Multiple investigations happen simultaneously
- Focus - Each agent has narrow scope
- Independence - Agents don't interfere
- Speed - N problems solved in time of 1
Red Flags - STOP
- Related failures that might affect each other
- Need for full system context
- Exploratory debugging without clear problem
- Shared state between investigations
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