agent-army

Agent Army

A 2-layer parallel execution framework. The Commander is the top-tier model — Fable by default, or Opus if that's the session model — and does the thinking: recon, composition, briefing, verification. It orchestrates swarms of subordinate models whose tiers the user picks at deploy time (see Power Level). Each Layer 1 agent has its own full context window (not a slice). Each spawns Layer 2 sub-agents under it. The result is many independent brains running at once — not one brain divided.

Commander (you — Fable or Opus, the session model)
 |
 |-- Layer 1: Team (3 to 50+, each = own 1M context, L1 tier from power level)
 |    |-- Agent A (1M) -- Sub-agent A1, A2, ...  (L2 tier)
 |    |-- Agent B (1M) -- Sub-agent B1, B2, ...  (L2 tier)
 |    |-- Agent C (1M) -- Sub-agent C1, C2, ...  (L2 tier)
 |    |-- ... (no cap)

Swarm vs. army: A swarm splits one context window across sub-agents — one brain, divided. An army gives each Layer 1 member its own window. That difference is the whole point of this skill.

When to use

• Large refactors spanning many files
• Multi-file color / style / naming / API migrations
• Broad codebase audits (security, a11y, performance, dead code)
• Bulk content generation or transformation
• Any task with 6+ independent units of work that can run simultaneously

When NOT to use

• Fewer than 6 independent units of work — just do it directly
• Heavy sequential dependencies where each step needs the last one's output
• Single-file changes
• Tasks needing one coherent authorial voice across all output (parallel agents drift)

If the task doesn't clearly fit, say so and propose doing it inline instead of spinning up an army.

1. EVERY Layer 1 agent MUST spawn 2+ sub-agents. No exceptions. If you're about to deploy an L1 agent with no sub-agents, STOP and restructure.
2. NEVER silently shrink the army. Match the user's chosen tier. If you must deviate, say so out loud and why. 2b. NEVER silently downgrade models. Pass model: explicitly on every Agent call at the user's chosen power level. Omitting it inherits the session model — that's a silent Max Power bill.
3. Sub-agent deployment instructions go INSIDE the Layer 1 brief. If they're missing, the sub-agents will never be created.
4. Report as agents complete: [Agent N/M complete] name: X files modified, Y flags.
5. Show the army plan and pass the Deployment Gate before deploying (Full Mode). Quick Mode composes the plan internally but still passes the Gate.
6. After every wave: run the build AND the phantom-completion check (see Verify). A green report from an agent is a claim, not proof.
7. "Keep going" / "don't stop" = continuous mode: launch a new agent the moment one completes. Don't wait, don't re-ask.