Swarm Coordination
This skill guides multi-agent coordination for OpenCode swarm workflows.
When to Use
- •Tasks touching 3+ files
- •Parallelizable work (frontend/backend/tests)
- •Work requiring specialized agents
- •Time-to-completion matters
Avoid swarming for 1–2 file changes or tightly sequential work.
Tool Access (Wildcard)
This skill is configured with tools: ["*"] per user choice. If you need curated access later, replace the wildcard with explicit tool lists.
Foreground vs Background
- •Foreground agents can access MCP tools.
- •Background agents do not have MCP tools.
- •Use foreground workers for
swarmmail_*,swarm_*,hive_*, and MCP calls. - •Use background workers for doc edits and static work only.
MCP Lifecycle Mitigation
Claude Code auto-launches MCP servers from mcpServers configuration. Do not require manual swarm mcp-serve except for debugging.
Coordinator Protocol (High-Level)
- •Initialize Swarm Mail (
swarmmail_init). - •Query past learnings (
hivemind_find). - •Decompose (
swarm_plan_prompt+swarm_validate_decomposition). - •Spawn workers with explicit file lists.
- •Review worker output (
swarm_review+swarm_review_feedback). - •Record outcomes (
swarm_complete).
Worker Protocol (High-Level)
- •Initialize Swarm Mail (
swarmmail_init). - •Reserve files (
swarmmail_reserve). - •Work within scope and report progress.
- •Complete with
swarm_complete.
File Reservations
Workers must reserve files before editing and release via swarm_complete.
Coordinators never reserve files.
Progress Reporting
Use swarm_progress at 25%, 50%, and 75% completion to trigger auto-checkpoints.
Skill Loading Guidance
Workers should load skills based on task type:
- •Tests or fixes →
testing-patterns - •Architecture →
system-design - •CLI work →
cli-builder - •Coordination →
swarm-coordination