Parallel Task Coordination

Efficiently execute multiple tasks in parallel using Task Management + async-shell. Delegate coordination to minimize main Claude's token consumption.

Dependencies

•async-shell skill: Required for tmux session management
•Task Management: Built-in Claude Code feature

Environment Variables

bash

# Claude Code command (default: claude)
export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"

# Shared task list ID for cross-session coordination
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="my-project"

Core Pattern: Coordinator Delegation (Recommended)

Delegate everything to a coordinator. Main Claude only receives final results. 95% token reduction.

bash

# Main Claude
export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "You are coordinator. Execute:
1. Create 5 tasks (CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID=my-project)
2. Launch 5 bash sessions via async-shell (@2-@6)
3. Start ${CLAUDE_CODE} in each session, assign tasks
4. Loop: check TaskList until all 5 completed
5. Aggregate results and respond"

# Blocks until complete
# Internal parallel execution invisible
# Receives final result only

Coordinator's internal process (invisible to main Claude):

code

Coordinator
  ├─ TaskCreate task1, task2, task3, task4, task5
  ├─ chmod +x scripts/async_shell.sh  # async-shell skill
  ├─ SCRIPT="scripts/async_shell.sh"
  ├─ $SCRIPT new bash → @2, @3, @4, @5, @6
  ├─ Setup each session:
  │   $SCRIPT type @N "export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID=my-project"
  │   $SCRIPT type @N "${CLAUDE_CODE}"
  │
  ├─ @2 worker: execute task1 → TaskUpdate task1 --status completed
  ├─ @3 worker: execute task2 → TaskUpdate task2 --status completed
  ├─ @4 worker: execute task3 → TaskUpdate task3 --status completed
  ├─ @5 worker: execute task4 → TaskUpdate task4 --status completed
  └─ @6 worker: execute task5 → TaskUpdate task5 --status completed
  
  while true; do
    count=$(TaskList | grep completed | wc -l)
    if [[ $count -eq 5 ]]; then
      aggregate results
      respond
      break
    fi
    sleep 5
  done

Key points:

•Workers (@2-@6): Execute tasks, update TaskUpdate --status completed
•Coordinator: Check TaskList for completion only (doesn't execute tasks)
•Main Claude: Sees only final aggregated results

async-shell Script Usage

bash

# async-shell skill script (use relative path from skill base dir)
chmod +x scripts/async_shell.sh
SCRIPT="scripts/async_shell.sh"

$SCRIPT new bash
$SCRIPT type @2 "command"
$SCRIPT submit @2

Shared Task List Mechanism

bash

# Session A
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="project-x"
${CLAUDE_CODE}
# TaskCreate → saved to project-x

# Session B
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="project-x"
${CLAUDE_CODE}
# TaskList → sees Session A's tasks
# TaskUpdate → can update Session A's tasks

All sessions with same CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID share tasks.

Worker Setup Pattern

Each worker session needs:

bash

export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="shared-project"
${CLAUDE_CODE}

# Inside worker:
# "Get unclaimed task from TaskList
#  TaskUpdate status to in_progress
#  Execute task
#  TaskUpdate status to completed
#  Record result"

Best Practices

Use coordinator delegation by default

bash

# ✅ Recommended
${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "Coordinator: execute 5 tasks in parallel"

# ❌ Avoid (high token cost)
while true; do
  TaskList ...  # Main Claude polling directly
  sleep 5
done

Abstract with environment variables

bash

# ✅ Flexible
export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"
${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "..."

# ❌ Hardcoded
claude -p "..."

Match task count to session count

bash

# 5 tasks → 5 sessions (@2-@6)
# 1 session = 1 worker = 1 task

Approval Settings

For scripted mode with -p flag, use:

bash

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "..." --dangerously-skip-permissions

Troubleshooting

Tasks not shared: Different CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID in sessions. Use same ID everywhere.

Worker won't start: Missing environment variables. Explicitly set in each session:

bash

$SCRIPT type @2 "export CLAUDE_CODE=claude"
$SCRIPT submit @2

Coordinator doesn't detect completion: Workers not running TaskUpdate --status completed. Add explicit instruction:

bash

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "After task completion, MUST run:
TaskUpdate --task-id <id> --status completed"

Script permission denied: Run chmod +x on the async-shell script before use.

Token Efficiency

Pattern	Main Claude Tokens	Use Case
Coordinator delegation	~5%	Production
Partial delegation	~30%	Hybrid control
Manual control	100%	Debugging

Examples

Parallel file processing

bash

export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="batch-processing"

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "Coordinator:
Process 5 files in parallel: file1.txt, file2.txt, file3.txt, file4.txt, file5.txt
Create 5 tasks, launch 5 workers, aggregate results"

API endpoint testing

bash

export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="api-tests"

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "Test 5 API endpoints in parallel:
/api/users, /api/products, /api/orders, /api/payments, /api/reports
Test GET/POST/PUT/DELETE for each, aggregate results"

Code review

bash

export CLAUDE_CODE="claude"
export CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID="code-review"

${CLAUDE_CODE} -p "Review 5 PRs in parallel: PR#123-127
Check: code quality, security issues, performance concerns
Aggregate findings into unified report"

Design Rationale

Separation of concerns:

•Main Claude: Strategic decisions
•Coordinator: Parallel execution management
•Workers: Individual task execution

Token efficiency:

•Main Claude gives minimal instructions
•Internal processing delegated to coordinator

Scalability:

•Add more tasks → adjust session count
•Pattern remains unchanged

Debuggability:

•Task Management provides centralized state
•Task progress visible via TaskList

Constraints

Task completion checking requires periodic TaskList queries (3-10s interval). This is unavoidable due to tmux/async-shell architecture.

Solution: Delegate checking responsibility to coordinator, minimizing impact on main Claude.

Summary

Combine Task Management + async-shell + coordinator pattern for efficient parallel task processing.

Core principles:

•Delegate completion checking to coordinator
•Abstract with CLAUDE_CODE environment variable
•Share state via CLAUDE_CODE_TASK_LIST_ID
•Main Claude focuses on strategy, delegates execution