---
name: dispatching-parallel-agents
description: "Dispatch one agent per independent problem in parallel."
version: 1.0.0
author: Hermes Agent (adapted from obra/superpowers)
license: MIT
platforms: [linux]
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [parallel, delegation, subagent, dispatch]
    related_skills: [subagent-driven-development, agent-routing]
---

# Dispatching Parallel Agents

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

- 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

## When NOT to Use

- Failures are related (fix one might fix others)
- Need to understand full system state
- Agents would interfere with each other
- Exploratory debugging (you don't know what's broken yet)

## 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

Issue all subagent dispatches in the same response — they run in parallel. Multiple dispatch calls in one response = parallel execution. One per response = sequential.

### 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 domain
2. Self-contained - All context needed to understand the problem
3. Specific about output - What should the agent return?

Example:
```
Fix the 3 failing tests in src/agents/agent-tool-abort.test.ts:

1. "should abort tool with partial output capture" - expects 'interrupted at' in message
2. "should handle mixed completed and aborted tools" - fast tool aborted instead of completed
3. "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 verifies
2. 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
- No context: "Fix the race condition" - agent doesn't know where
- No constraints: Agent might refactor everything
- Vague output: "Fix it" - you don't know what changed

## Verification

After agents return:
1. Review each summary - Understand what changed
2. Check for conflicts - Did agents edit same code?
3. Run full suite - Verify all fixes work together
4. Spot check - Agents can make systematic errors