Parallel Agent Orchestration

Overview

This skill provides patterns for orchestrating multiple specialized agents to work in parallel on complex tasks. Use this for comprehensive code reviews, research-and-implement workflows, and multi-project coordination.

Core Orchestration Patterns

Pattern 1: Parallel Review (Fan-Out/Fan-In)

Launch multiple review agents simultaneously, then consolidate findings.

Use for: Comprehensive code review, pre-PR checks, security audits

Workflow:

1. Identify review dimensions needed
2. Launch agents in parallel (use Task tool multiple times in single message)
3. Wait for all agents to complete
4. Synthesize and deduplicate findings
5. Prioritize and present results

Example:

Launch in parallel:
- security-reviewer: "Review authentication changes for vulnerabilities"
- performance-optimizer: "Analyze database query performance"
- code-reviewer: "Review code quality and conventions"
- silent-failure-hunter: "Check error handling completeness"

Then synthesize findings into prioritized action items.

Pattern 2: Research & Implement (Sequential Phases)

Explore codebase, design architecture, implement, then review.

Use for: New feature development, major refactoring

Workflow:

Phase 1 - Exploration (parallel):

• code-explorer: "Analyze similar features"
• code-explorer: "Map relevant architecture"
• code-explorer: "Find patterns to follow"

Phase 2 - Design (parallel):

• code-architect: "Design minimal approach"
• code-architect: "Design clean architecture approach"

Phase 3 - Implementation:

• Implement chosen approach

Phase 4 - Review (parallel):

• security-reviewer, performance-optimizer, test-engineer

Pattern 3: Multi-Project Coordination

Work across multiple projects or repositories simultaneously.

Use for: Monorepo changes, cross-project refactoring

Workflow:

1. Identify all affected projects
2. Launch exploration agents per project (parallel)
3. Identify cross-cutting concerns
4. Plan coordinated changes
5. Implement with consistency checks

Pattern 4: Continuous Quality Pipeline

Automated quality gates throughout development.

Use for: Maintaining code quality during implementation

Workflow:

1. After each significant change, launch self-reviewer
2. On security-sensitive code, auto-trigger security-reviewer
3. Before completion, run orchestrator for full review
4. Record learnings for future sessions

Agent Selection Guide

Concern	Agent	When to Use
Security	security-reviewer	Auth code, user input, credentials
Performance	performance-optimizer	Queries, loops, data processing
Testing	test-engineer	New features, bug fixes
Documentation	documentation-writer	APIs, complex logic
Quality	code-reviewer (plugin)	All code changes
Architecture	code-architect (plugin)	Design decisions
Exploration	code-explorer (plugin)	Understanding code
Error handling	silent-failure-hunter (plugin)	Critical paths

Synthesis Best Practices

1. Deduplicate: Multiple agents may find same issue
2. Prioritize: Critical > High > Medium > Low
3. Resolve conflicts: When agents disagree, note both perspectives
4. Aggregate metrics: Combine severity ratings
5. Executive summary: Provide high-level overview first

Example Orchestration Prompts

Comprehensive Review: "Launch security-reviewer, performance-optimizer, code-reviewer, and silent-failure-hunter in parallel to review unstaged changes. Synthesize findings prioritized by severity."

Research & Implement: "First launch 3 code-explorer agents to analyze [feature area], then launch 2 code-architect agents to design approaches, present options for my approval, then implement and review."

Quick Security Check: "Launch security-reviewer focused on the authentication module changes."

Full Pre-PR Review: "Use orchestrator to coordinate a comprehensive review before I create the PR."