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Demo: /swarm Session

A session showing parallel execution of multiple tasks using the swarm pattern.

Before

Plan created with tasks for "Add REST API endpoints":

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$ TaskList()

#1 [pending] Create users endpoint
#2 [pending] Create orders endpoint
#3 [pending] Create products endpoint
#4 [pending] Add authentication (blockedBy: #1)
#5 [pending] Add order validation (blockedBy: #2)
#6 [pending] Add integration tests (blockedBy: #4, #5)

Wave 1: 3 tasks ready (no dependencies)

Session

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You: /swarm

Claude: Checking TaskList for ready tasks...

Ready for Wave 1:
#1 [pending] Create users endpoint
#2 [pending] Create orders endpoint
#3 [pending] Create products endpoint

Spawning 3 background agents...

Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", run_in_background=true, ...)
Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", run_in_background=true, ...)
Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", run_in_background=true, ...)

[Agents work in parallel, each with fresh context...]

<task-notification> Agent for #1 completed
<task-notification> Agent for #2 completed
<task-notification> Agent for #3 completed

All Wave 1 agents complete!

[Mayor reconciliation step...]

Verifying agent work before marking complete:

$ git diff --stat
 src/routes/users.ts    | 45 +++
 src/routes/orders.ts   | 52 +++
 src/routes/products.ts | 48 +++

$ npm test
12 passed

$ npm run lint
No issues

All verifications passed. Updating task status:

TaskUpdate(taskId="1", status="completed")
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="completed")
TaskUpdate(taskId="3", status="completed")

Checking for newly unblocked tasks...

Wave 1 complete!

TaskList() shows:
#1 [completed] Create users endpoint
#2 [completed] Create orders endpoint
#3 [completed] Create products endpoint
#4 [pending] Add authentication         ← now unblocked!
#5 [pending] Add order validation       ← now unblocked!
#6 [pending] Add integration tests (blockedBy: #4, #5)

After Wave 1

  • 3 background agents ran in parallel
  • Each had fresh context (Ralph Wiggum pattern)
  • 3 tasks marked completed
  • 2 more tasks now unblocked

Continuing with Wave 2

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You: /swarm

Claude: Wave 2: 2 tasks ready

Spawning background agents for #4 and #5...

[2 agents work in parallel with fresh context...]

<task-notification> Agent for #4 completed
<task-notification> Agent for #5 completed

[Mayor reconciliation: verify, test, then update status]

TaskUpdate(taskId="4", status="completed")
TaskUpdate(taskId="5", status="completed")

Wave 2 complete!

TaskList() shows:
#6 [pending] Add integration tests      ← now unblocked!

Wave 3: 1 task (final wave)

Wave 3 (Final)

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You: /swarm

Claude: Wave 3: 1 task ready

Spawning background agent for #6...

<task-notification> Agent for #6 completed

[Mayor reconciliation: verify integration tests pass]

TaskUpdate(taskId="6", status="completed")

All tasks complete!

$ git status
3 new files, 2 modified

$ git add -A && git commit -m "feat: complete REST API implementation"

What You Learned

  1. /swarm spawns background agents for all ready tasks
  2. Each agent has fresh context (Ralph Wiggum pattern)
  3. <task-notification> arrives automatically when agents complete
  4. Mayor reconciliation: verify work, then TaskUpdate(status="completed")
  5. TaskList() reveals newly unblocked tasks for next wave
  6. No context accumulation = stays effective at scale

Key Pattern: Agent Prompts Are Atomic

Each agent gets a single, focused task:

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# What the agent receives:
"Create users endpoint in src/routes/users.ts.
Include GET /users, POST /users, GET /users/:id routes.
Follow existing patterns in the codebase."

# Agent does just that one thing and exits.
# Mayor handles orchestration, verification, and status updates.