Task Dispatcher Skill

Handles parallel dispatch of task agents within an execution wave, managing concurrency limits and file locking.

When to Use

Invoked by phase-executor for waves with multiple parallel tasks.

Input

{
  "wave": 2,
  "tasks": [
    {
      "taskId": "task-2",
      "context": {
        /* task context */
      },
      "model": "opus",
      "needsCodexReview": true
    },
    {
      "taskId": "task-3",
      "context": {
        /* task context */
      },
      "model": "sonnet",
      "needsCodexReview": false
    }
  ],
  "maxParallel": 5
}

Step 1: Check Concurrency Limit

Split into batches of maxParallel size if needed, execute batches sequentially.

Step 2: Check File Conflicts

Validate no file overlaps. If conflict detected, move conflicting task to next batch and log warning.

Step 3: Acquire File Locks

Lock target files for each task to prevent conflicts.

Step 4: Dispatch Tasks in Parallel

Use Task tool with run_in_background: true:

// Dispatch all tasks in single message with multiple tool calls
Task(
  description: "task-2: Implement OAuth",
  prompt: "<context>",
  model: "opus",
  run_in_background: true
)
Task(
  description: "task-3: Create User model",
  prompt: "<context>",
  model: "sonnet",
  run_in_background: true
)

Step 5: Wait for Completion

Dispatch all tasks with run_in_background: true, collect task_ids, use TaskOutput with block: true for each, collect results and track completion.

Steps 6-7: Locks and Reviews

Release file locks after completion. For needsCodexReview: true, invoke codex-xhigh review (parallel allowed), queue for bugFixer if issues found.

Step 8: Aggregate Results

Return combined results:

{
  "wave": 2,
  "status": "completed",
  "tasks": {
    "task-2": { "status": "completed", "summary": "..." },
    "task-3": { "status": "completed", "summary": "..." }
  },
  "errors": []
}

Error Handling

Failure: Mark failed, release locks, continue with other tasks, report to phase-executor.

Timeout: 10min default, mark failed, release locks.

Mid-execution conflict: Abort task, retry after wave (shouldn't happen with proper locking).

Concurrency Limits

Respect config.parallelism.maxParallelTasks global limit.