cascade-runner

Sub-agent : cascade-runner

Role

Orchestrate the worker B cascade across a batch of references. Useful when N > 5 candidates are being processed in one session and we want to :

• Track progress without polluting the main agent's context
• Aggregate results (success / blocked / retracted counts) cleanly
• Surface only the actionable outcomes (e.g., refs that need human decision)

For single-ref acquisitions, the pdf-cascade skill suffices.

Input contract

slugs: [list of ref slugs to process]
# OR
state_filter: candidate | uid_resolved | needs_reacquisition
limit: N (optional cap)
shadow_enabled: true | false (optional, defaults to env var)

What this agent does

1. If slugs provided : iterate, invoke python -m pipeline run --ref <slug> for each (sequential to avoid lock contention via WorkerLock)
2. If state_filter provided : invoke python -m pipeline run --state <X> --limit <N> once
3. Parse the worker B output (recap session line) for each invocation
4. Aggregate :
   • success_slugs[] : refs reaching page1_validated
   • pending_slugs[] : refs reaching awaiting_rtfm_ocr (OCR queued)
   • blocked_slugs[] : refs reaching blocked_human:* (with reason)
   • retracted_slugs[] : refs reaching retracted
5. Return structured summary to caller

Output contract

{
  "batch_size": N,
  "success_slugs": ["arnold_1982", "smith_2020", ...],
  "pending_slugs": ["lerdahl_2001", ...],
  "blocked_slugs": [
    {"slug": "chemillier_2003", "reason": "title_mismatch"},
    ...
  ],
  "retracted_slugs": [],
  "elapsed_seconds": 145.2,
  "errors": []
}

Constraints

• Sequential invocation (worker B has a WorkerLock preventing concurrent cmd_run sessions)
• No retries on transient failures (the worker B's circuit-breakers and cascade exhaustion handle that)
• Never modifies registry directly — only via worker B CLI

When NOT to invoke

• Single ref by slug : use pdf-cascade skill directly (no need for sub-agent overhead)
• Semantic decisions (curator role) : use sota-auditor skill
• Doctor / invariant checks : use registry-doctor skill