L4 — Parallelization

Execute independent tasks in parallel with wave-based execution using the swarm pattern.

What You'll Learn

• Identifying independent (unblocked) work via TaskList
• Using /swarm for parallel multi-agent execution
• Wave-based dependency resolution
• The Ralph Wiggum pattern for fresh context

Prerequisites

• Completed L3-state-management
• Understanding of task dependencies (blockedBy)
• Comfortable with TaskCreate/TaskUpdate/TaskList

Available Commands

Command	Purpose
/swarm	Execute unblocked tasks in parallel via background agents
/plan <goal>	Same as L3
/research <topic>	Same as L2
/implement [id]	Execute single task
/retro [topic]	Same as L2

Key Concepts

• Wave: Set of independent tasks executed together
• Native teams: Each wave creates a team (TeamCreate), workers join as teammates, communicate via SendMessage
• Fresh context: Each team = clean slate (Ralph Wiggum pattern). New team per wave.
• Lead-only commit: Workers write files, lead validates + commits. Hooks block workers from git commit.
• Dependency resolution: Only unblocked tasks run in each wave

The Ralph Wiggum Pattern

The swarm follows Ralph Wiggum's core insight: fresh context per iteration.

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Ralph's loop:               Swarm equivalent:
while :; do                 Mayor identifies ready tasks
  cat PROMPT.md | claude    TeamCreate → spawn workers as teammates
done                        Workers complete, report via SendMessage
                            Lead validates + commits
                            TeamDelete → new team for next wave

Why this matters: - Internal loops accumulate context → degrades over iterations - Fresh spawns stay effective → each agent is a clean slate - Team-per-wave → new team = new context, no bleed-through

Swarm vs Crank vs Ratchet

These are easy to mix up:

You Want	Use	Notes
Fresh context per iteration (“Ralph Wiggum Pattern”)	/swarm	Mayor owns the loop; each background agent is one atomic unit of work
“Do all issues until the epic is done”	/crank	Epic execution loop (usually beads-driven), not the Ralph pattern primitive
RPI checkpoints (Research→Plan→Implement→Validate)	/ratchet	Gate/record progress; pair with /crank or /swarm for execution

Wave Workflow

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1. TaskList → identifies unblocked tasks
2. /swarm → TeamCreate + spawn workers as teammates
3. Workers complete → send completion via SendMessage
4. Lead reconciliation:
   a. Verify work (check files, run tests)
   b. Commit all changes (lead-only)
   c. shutdown_request workers → TeamDelete
   d. TaskList to find newly unblocked tasks
5. New team for next wave (fresh context)

Lead Reconciliation Step

After workers report completion via SendMessage, the lead must verify before committing:

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# For each completed worker:
1. Check the files created/modified
2. Run tests (npm test, pytest, etc.)
3. Run lint (npm run lint, etc.)
4. If valid: commit changes (lead-only — workers cannot commit)
5. If invalid: SendMessage retry instructions to idle worker
   (worker wakes with full context, no re-spawn needed)

# After all verified:
shutdown_request each worker → TeamDelete()
TaskList() → shows newly unblocked tasks → new team for next wave

This prevents marking broken work as complete. The git-worker-guard hook enforces lead-only commits.

Agent Prompts (Atomic)

Each spawned agent gets a simple, single-task prompt:

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# Good (atomic):
"Create users endpoint in src/routes/users.ts. Include GET /users,
POST /users, GET /users/:id routes. Follow existing patterns."

# Bad (complex loop):
"Create users endpoint, then test it, then if tests fail fix them,
then validate, then update status, then check for more work..."

Agents do ONE thing. Mayor handles orchestration.

Example Session

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1. /plan "Build auth system"
   → Creates tasks with dependencies:
   #1 [pending] Create User model
   #2 [pending] Add password hashing (blockedBy: #1)
   #3 [pending] Create login endpoint (blockedBy: #1)
   #4 [pending] Write tests (blockedBy: #2, #3)

2. /swarm
   → Wave 1: Spawns agent for #1 (only unblocked)
   → Agent completes, Mayor marks #1 completed

3. /swarm
   → Wave 2: Spawns agents for #2 and #3 in parallel
   → Both complete

4. /swarm
   → Wave 3: Spawns agent for #4
   → All done

5. /vibe → Validate everything

What's NOT at This Level

• No /crank (full autonomous execution without human wave triggers)
• Human triggers each wave

Next Level

Once comfortable with waves, progress to L5-orchestration for full autonomy with /crank.