| name | cave-tournament |
| description | N agents attempt the same task in parallel and a judge selects the winner (also scatter-gather / map-reduce). Use for 'best of N', contests, judge panels, generate-and-select, picking the strongest output. `tournament()` / `synthesis_gate()`. |
Tournament — N agents compete, a judge picks the best
N competitors craft in parallel, then a judge selects (the tree-search pattern) — tournament(competitors, judge). The general scatter→merge form is synthesis_gate(workers, reducer) (map-reduce): run workers in parallel, then a reducer sees every output.
Native API (how you program)
from cave_teams import tournament, synthesis_gate
best = tournament([minimalist, bold, nerdy], judge)
merged = synthesis_gate([clarity, punch, honesty], synthesizer)
The judge/reducer reads the competitors' outputs (output:<name> keys). In the crafter sim, the judge is the user's purchase — the sound external gate.
Via cave() (drive it from data)
{"op": "tournament", "competitors": [<spec>, ...], "judge": <spec>}
If the spec is malformed, cave() returns {"status": "construction_error", "hint": "read the cave-tournament skill"} — the error names this skill.
See also
cave-parallel · cave-evolve · cave-sim
Part of the cave-teams plugin — the language + full DSL is the cave-teams skill; drive any pattern from data with the cave skill.
