Dispatching Parallel Agents

Overview

When you have multiple unrelated failures (different test files, different modules, different components), investigating them sequentially wastes time. Each investigation is independent and can happen in parallel.

Core principle: Dispatch one agent per independent problem domain. Let them work concurrently.

When to Use

Use when:

•3+ test files failing with different root causes
•Multiple modules broken independently
•Multiple components need separate fixes
•Each problem can be understood without context from others
•No shared state between investigations

Don't use when:

•Failures are related (fix one might fix others)
•Need to understand full system state first
•Agents would interfere (editing same files)
•Exploratory debugging (don't know what's broken yet)

Decision Tree

code

Multiple failures?
├── No → Single agent handles it
└── Yes → Are they independent?
    ├── No (related) → Single agent investigates all
    └── Yes → Can they work in parallel?
        ├── No (shared state) → Sequential agents
        └── Yes → How many agents needed?
            ├── 2-3 agents → Single wave parallel
            ├── 4-9 agents → Wave deployment (this skill)
            └── 10+ agents → Use orchestrator agent

Wave Deployment Pattern

Critical for 4+ agents: Don't dispatch all at once. Use waves.

Why Waves?

code

PROBLEM: 8 agents return simultaneously
→ 8 result summaries compete for context
→ Context overflow, can't synthesize
→ Miss conflicts between agents

SOLUTION: Wave deployment
→ 2-3 agents per wave
→ Synthesize results before next wave
→ Maintain context budget

Wave Rules

Agents	Waves	Pattern
2-3	1	All parallel
4-6	2	3 + 3
7-9	3	3 + 3 + 3
10+	Consider orchestrator agent

Wave Execution

code

Wave 1: Deploy first batch (max 3)
  ├── Agent A: Task 1
  ├── Agent B: Task 2
  ├── Agent C: Task 3
  └── WAIT for all to complete

Synthesis Point:
  ├── Read all results
  ├── Check for conflicts
  ├── Extract interfaces for next wave
  └── Update TodoWrite

Wave 2: Deploy next batch
  ├── Agent D: Task 4 (may use Wave 1 outputs)
  ├── Agent E: Task 5
  └── WAIT for all to complete

Final Synthesis:
  └── Combine all results

Wave Dispatch Example

python

# Wave 1: Independent modules
Task("Fix auth tests", subagent_type="general-purpose")
Task("Fix API tests", subagent_type="general-purpose")
Task("Fix cache tests", subagent_type="general-purpose")
# Wait for results...

# Synthesis: Check no conflicts, all pass

# Wave 2: Remaining modules
Task("Fix DB tests", subagent_type="general-purpose")
Task("Fix queue tests", subagent_type="general-purpose")
# Wait for results...

# Final: Run full test suite

Context Budget Awareness

Each agent result consumes ~500-2000 tokens. Budget accordingly:

code

Available context: ~100k tokens
Reserved for synthesis: ~20k tokens
Available for results: ~80k tokens

Max per wave: 80k / 3 agents = ~26k per agent result
→ Keep agent tasks focused to limit result size

The Pattern

1. Identify Independent Domains

Group failures by what's broken:

code

# Example: Test failures across modules
- tests/test_auth.py: 3 failures (session handling)
- tests/test_api.py: 2 failures (response parsing)
- tests/test_cache.py: 1 failure (serialization)

Each module is independent - fixing auth doesn't affect API.

2. Create Focused Agent Tasks

Each agent gets:

•Specific scope: One module/component/service
•Clear goal: Make these tests pass
•Constraints: Don't change other code
•Expected output: Summary of findings and fixes

3. Dispatch in Parallel

python

# Use Task tool with multiple parallel invocations
Task("Fix auth test failures", subagent_type="general-purpose")
Task("Fix API test failures", subagent_type="general-purpose")
Task("Fix cache test failures", subagent_type="general-purpose")
# All three run concurrently

4. Review and Integrate

When agents return:

•Read each summary
•Verify fixes don't conflict
•Run full test suite
•Integrate all changes

Agent Prompt Template

Good agent prompts are:

•Focused - One clear problem domain
•Self-contained - All context needed
•Specific about output - What should agent return?

markdown

Fix the 3 failing tests in tests/test_auth.py:

Failures:
1. test_session_handles_expired_token - 401 on refresh
2. test_session_concurrent_requests - Race condition
3. test_session_logout_clears_state - State not cleared

Location: src/auth/session.py

Your task:
1. Read the test file and module implementation
2. Identify root cause for each failure
3. Fix the module to handle edge cases
4. Run tests to verify fixes

Constraints:
- Only modify session.py and test_auth.py
- Follow existing patterns in other modules
- Use @systematic-debugging skill for investigation

Return: Summary of root cause and fix for each failure.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Too broad: "Fix all tests"	Specific: "Fix tests/test_auth.py"
No context: "Fix the timeout issue"	Context: Paste error messages and test names
No constraints: Agent refactors everything	Constraints: "Only modify session.py"
Vague output: "Fix it"	Specific: "Return summary of root cause and changes"

Examples

Multiple Module Failures

code

Scenario: 8 test failures across 4 module files after library upgrade

Failures:
- test_auth.py: 2 failures (token handling)
- test_api.py: 3 failures (response parsing)
- test_cache.py: 2 failures (serialization)
- test_db.py: 1 failure (connection pooling)

Decision: Independent - each module has isolated logic

Dispatch:
Agent 1 → "Fix auth token handling in test_auth.py"
Agent 2 → "Fix API response parsing in test_api.py"
Agent 3 → "Fix cache serialization in test_cache.py"
Agent 4 → "Fix DB connection pooling in test_db.py"

Multiple Service Issues

code

Scenario: 3 microservices failing health checks after config change

Failures:
- user-service: Connection refused on port 8080
- order-service: Timeout in database connection
- notification-service: Missing environment variable

Decision: Independent services, different failure modes

Dispatch:
Agent 1 → "Fix user-service port configuration"
Agent 2 → "Fix order-service database timeout"
Agent 3 → "Fix notification-service missing env var"

Script Migration

code

Scenario: Multiple scripts broken after API change

Failures:
- data_export.py: AttributeError
- report_generator.py: TypeError
- sync_tool.py: ImportError

Decision: Independent scripts, can be fixed in parallel

Dispatch:
Agent 1 → "Update data_export.py for new API"
Agent 2 → "Update report_generator.py for new API"
Agent 3 → "Update sync_tool.py for new API"

When NOT to Use

Related Failures

code

# These 3 failures are likely related:
test_create.py: validation fails
test_update.py: validation fails
test_delete.py: permission check fails

# Investigate together - fixing validation may fix all three

Shared State

code

# These would conflict:
Agent 1: "Refactor base_service.py"
Agent 2: "Update user_service.py which inherits from base_service"

# Run sequentially - Agent 2 depends on Agent 1's changes

Exploratory Debugging

code

# Don't know what's broken yet:
"API returns wrong data but tests pass"

# Single agent explores first to identify domains
# THEN dispatch parallel agents for identified issues

Verification After Parallel Dispatch

bash

# After all agents complete:

# 1. Check for conflicts
git diff --name-only  # See all changed files
# Verify no file was edited by multiple agents

# 2. Run full test suite
pytest tests/ -v

# 3. Spot check agent work
# Review each agent's changes for quality

Key Benefits

•Parallelization - N problems solved in time of 1
•Focus - Each agent has narrow scope, less confusion
•Independence - No interference between agents
•Speed - Critical for large refactoring efforts

Integration with Other Skills

•Use @systematic-debugging within each agent for investigation
•Use @verification-before-completion before claiming agent task done
•Use @test-driven-development if agents need to write new tests