adjohn/pstack/swarm

Swarm

Start

Open a todolist with one entry per phase before launching anything.

1. Frame
2. Fan out
3. Aggregate
4. Report

Phase A: Frame

1. State the done predicate and the artifact or report the swarm must return.
2. Choose the shape. Partition into slices, race N workers on identical briefs, or mix both. For a race or mixed shape, declare first pass, rank all, or best-of before spawning.
3. Pick the worker model from the swarm workers line in ~/.claude/pstack-models.md. If the file or that line is missing, use haiku. For auto or inherit-parent, omit model so the workers run on the parent model. If the Agent tool rejects a slug, use the default and say so. If it rejects the default, use the nearest Claude tier from its error message. For a model race, name each arm's model up front. Pick each subagent's reasoning level (the Agent effort) for the job, per the Subagents section of the poteto-mode skill.
4. Give each worker its own writable output when it writes. When workers verify or measure commits, each brief names the exact SHAs. A measurement brief also names the method (sample count, what one sample is, order). The worker records both in its result.

Phase B: Fan out

Spawn all N workers in one message with subagent_type: general-purpose, run_in_background: true, and the step 3 model, left unset for auto or inherit-parent.

When a worker must start from a non-default pushed branch, say so in its brief: it checks out that branch first, in its own worktree (git worktree add <dir> origin/<branch>).

Every brief stands alone. Include the goal, scope, exact slice or race arm, how to verify, and what to report. Reports use PASS, ISSUES, or BLOCKED with evidence. A worker that can prove a defect reports ISSUES and lists every issue it can prove, not only the first.

If a worker drops out, proceed with N-1 and note it.

Phase C: Aggregate

Read the terminal results. Drop a result that does not record the SHAs and method its brief names, and respawn that worker once. After a second miss, record a gap. A gap does not count as a pass. For coverage, every required slice needs a result. For a race, apply the selection rule declared up front. Use first pass, rank all, or best-of. Do not paste raw worker dumps.

Phase D: Report

Return one consolidated in-chat report with a result table, issue one-liners, gaps or dropouts, and the race rule when used.