Agent skill · operations · obra
dispatching-parallel-agents
Use when facing 2+ independent tasks that can be worked on without shared state or sequential dependencies
Why this skill is useful
Provides a structured approach to parallel task delegation that enhances the AI's ability to manage independent investigations effectively.
What it needs
About 3k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 268,212 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Dispatching Parallel Agents Overview You delegate tasks to specialized agents with isolated context. By precisely crafting their instructions and context, you ensure they stay focused and succeed at their task. They should never inherit your session's context or history — you construct exactly what they need. This also preserves your own context for coordination work. 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 Use when: 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 Don't use when: Failures are related (fix one might fix others) Need to understand full system state Agents would interfere with each other 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 three 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. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills obra/dispatching-parallel-agents