Multi-agent dispatch

Run agents in parallel only on independent tasks: two agents editing one interface produce two plausible diffs that cannot both be right. The unit is one task, one branch, one worktree, one prompt file, one acceptance check. Read-only reviewers may share a tree if writes are forbidden.

Roles

• Coordinator: owns the task list, architecture, order, integration and the verification label. Creates and removes worktrees and picks each task's model. Never lets a worker redefine the product.
• Worker: does one bounded task in its own worktree and returns changed files, checks run, evidence and risks. Touches nothing outside its scope.
• User: decides product behavior and accepts the result.

Setup

Use the worktree location and base the project names; do not assume the default branch holds the work the task needs. git worktree add "$path" -b "$branch" "$base". Put the prompt in WORKER_PROMPT.md at that worktree's root, marked "Do not commit it". Remove the worktree only after its branch is integrated or abandoned.

The prompt contract

A missing or contradictory field is a reason to challenge the task, not to start.

Task ID:
Desired user-visible behavior:   what a person sees, not an implementation
Why it is needed:
Allowed files:                   a real list, plus a rule for the ragged edge
Forbidden scope:                 the specific temptations (adjacent refactors, coordinator files, publishing)
Dependencies already verified:
Acceptance test:                 numbered; each item can fail
Required checks:                 build flags, disk limits, commands never to run, what runs on CI
Return: summary, changed files, verification, risks, commit hash.

Put every binding constraint in the prompt: what cannot be verified here and the ceiling of what CI can prove; disk-heavy build flags; "report, do not patch" for observation tasks. When a null result is legitimate, say so ("if the only lever costs more than it buys, report that and close"), so the worker does not ship churn.

Before dispatching

Serialize two tasks when their allowed files intersect, when they touch a shared runtime, protocol or permission contract still being reshaped, when they would exhaust one disk or CPU, or when they install to the same path or app home.

Verification and integration

Label each result user-verified (the only "done"), agent-verified, or unverifiable here (name what would be needed); the ranking is in the spec skill. Integrate one branch at a time and rerun the acceptance test on the merged tree.