PaperclipOrg
Claude Agent Skill · by Obra

Dispatching Parallel Agents

When you've got multiple independent failures across different test files or subsystems, this cuts debugging time by running separate agents in parallel instead

Install
Terminal · npx
$npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers --skill dispatching-parallel-agents
Works with Paperclip

How Dispatching Parallel Agents fits into a Paperclip company.

Dispatching Parallel Agents drops into any Paperclip agent that handles this kind of work. Assign it to a specialist inside a pre-configured PaperclipOrg company and the skill becomes available on every heartbeat — no prompt engineering, no tool wiring.

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Pre-configured AI company — 18 agents, 18 skills, one-time purchase.

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Source file
SKILL.md182 lines
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---name: dispatching-parallel-agentsdescription: Use when facing 2+ independent tasks that can be worked on without shared state or sequential dependencies--- # Dispatching Parallel Agents ## Overview You delegate tasks to specialized agents with isolated context. By precisely crafting their instructions and context, you ensure they stay focused and succeed at their task. They should never inherit your session's context or history — you construct exactly what they need. This also preserves your own context for coordination work. When you have multiple unrelated failures (different test files, different subsystems, different bugs), 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 ```dotdigraph when_to_use {    "Multiple failures?" [shape=diamond];    "Are they independent?" [shape=diamond];    "Single agent investigates all" [shape=box];    "One agent per problem domain" [shape=box];    "Can they work in parallel?" [shape=diamond];    "Sequential agents" [shape=box];    "Parallel dispatch" [shape=box];     "Multiple failures?" -> "Are they independent?" [label="yes"];    "Are they independent?" -> "Single agent investigates all" [label="no - related"];    "Are they independent?" -> "Can they work in parallel?" [label="yes"];    "Can they work in parallel?" -> "Parallel dispatch" [label="yes"];    "Can they work in parallel?" -> "Sequential agents" [label="no - shared state"];}``` **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 (fix 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 Each domain is independent - fixing tool approval doesn't affect abort tests. ### 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 what you found and fixed ### 3. Dispatch in Parallel ```typescript// In Claude Code / AI environmentTask("Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts failures")Task("Fix batch-completion-behavior.test.ts failures")Task("Fix tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts failures")// 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 Structure Good agent prompts are:1. **Focused** - One clear problem domain2. **Self-contained** - All context needed to understand the problem3. **Specific about output** - What should the agent return? ```markdownFix the 3 failing tests in src/agents/agent-tool-abort.test.ts: 1. "should abort tool with partial output capture" - expects 'interrupted at' in message2. "should handle mixed completed and aborted tools" - fast tool aborted instead of completed3. "should properly track pendingToolCount" - expects 3 results but gets 0 These are timing/race condition issues. Your task: 1. Read the test file and understand what each test verifies2. Identify root cause - timing issues or actual bugs?3. Fix by:   - Replacing arbitrary timeouts with event-based waiting   - Fixing bugs in abort implementation if found   - Adjusting test expectations if testing changed behavior Do NOT just increase timeouts - find the real issue. Return: Summary of what you found and what you fixed.``` ## Common Mistakes **❌ Too broad:** "Fix all the tests" - agent gets lost**✅ Specific:** "Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts" - focused scope **❌ No context:** "Fix the race condition" - agent doesn't know where**✅ Context:** Paste the error messages and test names **❌ No constraints:** Agent might refactor everything**✅ Constraints:** "Do NOT change production code" or "Fix tests only" **❌ Vague output:** "Fix it" - you don't know what changed**✅ Specific:** "Return summary of root cause and changes" ## When NOT to Use **Related failures:** Fixing one might fix others - investigate together first**Need full context:** Understanding requires seeing entire system**Exploratory debugging:** You don't know what's broken yet**Shared state:** Agents would interfere (editing same files, using same resources) ## Real Example from Session **Scenario:** 6 test failures across 3 files after major refactoring **Failures:**- agent-tool-abort.test.ts: 3 failures (timing issues)- batch-completion-behavior.test.ts: 2 failures (tools not executing)- tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts: 1 failure (execution count = 0) **Decision:** Independent domains - abort logic separate from batch completion separate from race conditions **Dispatch:**```Agent 1 → Fix agent-tool-abort.test.tsAgent 2 → Fix batch-completion-behavior.test.tsAgent 3 → Fix tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts``` **Results:**- Agent 1: Replaced timeouts with event-based waiting- Agent 2: Fixed event structure bug (threadId in wrong place)- Agent 3: Added wait for async tool execution to complete **Integration:** All fixes independent, no conflicts, full suite green **Time saved:** 3 problems solved in parallel vs sequentially ## Key Benefits 1. **Parallelization** - Multiple investigations happen simultaneously2. **Focus** - Each agent has narrow scope, less context to track3. **Independence** - Agents don't interfere with each other4. **Speed** - 3 problems solved in time of 1 ## Verification After agents return:1. **Review each summary** - Understand what changed2. **Check for conflicts** - Did agents edit same code?3. **Run full suite** - Verify all fixes work together4. **Spot check** - Agents can make systematic errors ## Real-World Impact From debugging session (2025-10-03):- 6 failures across 3 files- 3 agents dispatched in parallel- All investigations completed concurrently- All fixes integrated successfully- Zero conflicts between agent changes