{"slug":"dispatching-parallel-agents-10","title":"dispatching-parallel-agents","summary":"Use when facing 2+ independent tasks or investigations that can be worked on without shared state or sequential dependencies — fan out to specialized sub-agents with isolated context, then synthesize the results.","platform":"Claude","tags":[],"authorName":"LLM Mart","authorSlug":"llm-mart","score":0,"source":"github","price":null,"verified":false,"createdAt":"2026-10-17T09:13:08.338268Z","repo":{"url":"https://github.com/invergent-ai/surogates","stars":28,"forks":1,"license":"AGPL-3.0","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T18:37:14Z"},"bodyHtml":"
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name: dispatching-parallel-agents\ndescription: Use when facing 2+ independent tasks or investigations that can be worked on without shared state or sequential dependencies — fan out to specialized sub-agents with isolated context, then synthesize the results.\nversion: 1.0.0\nauthor: Surogate Agent (adapted from obra/superpowers)\nlicense: MIT\ntags: [process, coordination, parallelism]

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Dispatching Parallel Agents

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Overview

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You delegate tasks to specialized sub-agents with isolated context. By precisely crafting their instructions and context, you ensure they stay focused and succeed at their task. They never inherit your session's context or history — you construct exactly what they need. This also preserves your own context for coordination work.

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When you have multiple unrelated problems (different files, different subsystems, different bugs, different research domains), investigating them sequentially wastes time. Each investigation is independent and can happen in parallel.

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

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When to Use

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digraph when_to_use {\n    \"Multiple problems?\" [shape=diamond];\n    \"Are they independent?\" [shape=diamond];\n    \"Single agent investigates all\" [shape=box];\n    \"One sub-agent per problem domain\" [shape=box];\n    \"Can they work in parallel?\" [shape=diamond];\n    \"Sequential sub-agents\" [shape=box];\n    \"Parallel dispatch\" [shape=box];\n\n    \"Multiple problems?\" -> \"Are they independent?\" [label=\"yes\"];\n    \"Are they independent?\" -> \"Single agent investigates all\" [label=\"no - related\"];\n    \"Are they independent?\" -> \"Can they work in parallel?\" [label=\"yes\"];\n    \"Can they work in parallel?\" -> \"Parallel dispatch\" [label=\"yes\"];\n    \"Can they work in parallel?\" -> \"Sequential sub-agents\" [label=\"no - shared state\"];\n}\n
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Use when:

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Don't use when:

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Dispatch Tools (Surogates)

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Two surogates tools dispatch sub-agents. Pick based on what you need back.

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For straightforward parallel investigation/fix work, delegate_task is usually the right tool — call it multiple times in the same response to fan out.

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The Pattern

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1. Identify Independent Domains

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Group problems by what's broken (or what's being researched):

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Each domain is independent — fixing tool approval doesn't affect abort tests.

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2. Create Focused Sub-Agent Tasks

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Each sub-agent gets:

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3. Dispatch in Parallel

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Call the dispatch tool multiple times in the same response to fan out:

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delegate_task(goal=\"Fix failures in agent-tool-abort.test.ts\", context=\"...\")\ndelegate_task(goal=\"Fix failures in batch-completion-behavior.test.ts\", context=\"...\")\ndelegate_task(goal=\"Fix failures in tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts\", context=\"...\")\n
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All three execute concurrently. The harness gathers results before your next turn.

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4. Review and Integrate

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When sub-agents return:

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Sub-Agent Prompt Structure

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Good sub-agent prompts are:

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  1. Focused — One clear problem domain.
    2. \n
  2. Self-contained — All context needed to understand the problem.
    3. \n
  3. Specific about output — What should the sub-agent return?
    4. \n
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delegate_task(\n  goal=\"Fix the 3 failing tests in src/agents/agent-tool-abort.test.ts\",\n  context=\"\"\"\n    Failing tests:\n    1. \"should abort tool with partial output capture\" — expects 'interrupted at' in message\n    2. \"should handle mixed completed and aborted tools\" — fast tool aborted instead of completed\n    3. \"should properly track pendingToolCount\" — expects 3 results but gets 0\n\n    These look like timing / race condition issues.\n\n    Your task:\n    1. Read the test file and understand what each test verifies.\n    2. Identify the root cause — timing issues or actual bugs?\n    3. Fix by:\n       - Replacing arbitrary timeouts with event-based waiting.\n       - Fixing bugs in the abort implementation if found.\n       - Adjusting test expectations if testing the wrong behavior.\n\n    Do NOT just increase timeouts — find the real issue.\n\n    Return: Summary of what you found and what you changed.\n  \"\"\",\n)\n
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Common Mistakes

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Too broad: \"Fix all the tests\" — sub-agent gets lost.\nSpecific: \"Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts\" — focused scope.

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No context: \"Fix the race condition\" — sub-agent doesn't know where.\nContext: Paste the error messages and test names.

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No constraints: Sub-agent might refactor everything.\nConstraints: \"Do NOT change production code\" or \"Fix tests only\".

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Vague output: \"Fix it\" — you don't know what changed.\nSpecific: \"Return summary of root cause and changes\".

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Lazy delegation: \"Based on your findings, fix the issue.\"\nSynthesized: Do the synthesis yourself, then give the sub-agent a concrete spec.

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When NOT to Use

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Verification

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After sub-agents return:

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  1. Review each summary — understand what changed.
    2. \n
  2. Check for conflicts — did sub-agents edit the same code or write to the same file?
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  3. Run the full verification — tests, lint, type check.
    4. \n
  4. Spot check — sub-agents can make systematic errors; trust but verify.
    5. \n
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Key Benefits

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  1. Parallelization — Multiple investigations happen simultaneously.
    2. \n
  2. Focus — Each sub-agent has narrow scope, less context to track.
    3. \n
  3. Independence — Sub-agents don't interfere with each other.
    4. \n
  4. Speed — N problems solved in the time of 1.
    5. \n
  5. Context discipline — Your coordinator context stays clean for synthesis.
    6. \n
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Real Example

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Scenario: 6 test failures across 3 files after a refactor.

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Failures:

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Decision: Independent domains — abort logic separate from batch completion separate from race conditions.

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Dispatch (same response, three delegate_task calls):

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Results:

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Integration: All fixes independent, no conflicts, full suite green.

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Time saved: 3 problems solved in parallel vs. sequentially.

\n","files":[{"path":"SKILL.md","sizeBytes":8391,"isText":true}],"reviewScore":null,"reviewSummary":null,"trust":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow.","bodySource":null},"bodyLocked":false,"purchaseUrl":null,"sourceUrl":null,"report":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","screen":{"ran":true,"outcome":"clean","suspicious":0,"notes":0,"hiddenCharacters":false},"virusScan":{"engine":"clamav","status":"clean","scannedAt":"2026-10-17T09:13:29.605512Z","sha256":"72A6BA073E6EE077F83ED10D4B0842BF5DBADB5EE39B57B64EB7065A1B29B59F","sizeBytes":3383},"review":null,"source":{"repositoryUrl":"https://github.com/invergent-ai/surogates","path":"skills/process/dispatching-parallel-agents","license":"AGPL-3.0","commit":"f423b85eed3b230f0085ed007adc86e8aa639d02","subtreeSha":"576791CE92583537BA85C1784CE0ED928FBECB35D98BE5905ABE72BF4AF3E741","lastSyncedAt":"2026-10-17T09:13:07.689271Z"},"reviewedAt":"2026-10-17T09:17:43.588192Z","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow."},"install":[{"target":"skills-cli","command":"npx skills add https://github.com/invergent-ai/surogates/tree/master/skills/process/dispatching-parallel-agents"},{"target":"claude-code","command":"claude plugin marketplace add https://llmmart.ai/marketplace.json && claude plugin install invergent-ai-surogates@llmmart"},{"target":"git","command":"git clone https://github.com/invergent-ai/surogates.git"}]}