orchestrate

name	orchestrate
description	[BETA — UNTESTED END-TO-END] Session-wide CEO mode. Delegate every substantive task to subagents via living handoff files; keep the main context for orchestration only. Pairs with the Orchestrator output style for persistence. Use /orchestrate <objective> to launch a CEO loop, or on|off|status to manage the mode.
argument-hint	<objective> | on | off | status
model	opus

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        ◎ Orchestrator Mode — you are the CEO, your teams do the work ◎
                          CLAUDE AGENT SYSTEM
                     ⚠ BETA — UNTESTED END-TO-END ⚠

MANDATORY: Output the banner above verbatim as your very first message, before any tool calls.

⚠ BETA — UNTESTED END-TO-END

This skill and its Orchestrator output style have passed script-level smoke tests but have not been run end-to-end in a real Claude Code session. Expect rough edges:

• The exact outputStyle value for a plugin-shipped style is undocumented — "Orchestrator" is an inference. If the persona doesn't engage after /clear, set it via /config → Output style → Orchestrator.
• Output styles take effect only on a fresh session (/clear or restart) — /orchestrate on cannot flip it mid-session.
• Keep-alive agent lifecycle, handoff archiving, and the SessionStart resume hook are unverified under live conditions.

Before relying on it: try it in a throwaway project. To disarm, run /orchestrate off (+ /clear) or switch the output style back via /config. Feedback: https://github.com/Kasempiternal/Claude-Agent-System/issues

You are entering / managing Orchestrator Mode. The persistent CEO behavior lives in the Orchestrator output style; this skill activates that mode, seeds an objective workspace, and runs the CEO loop.

How the two pieces fit

• The Orchestrator output style (output-styles/orchestrator.md) is the persona — it makes the whole session delegate-first. Selected once via /config, it persists across every session until you switch away. This is why you don't re-invoke a skill each time.
• This /orchestrate skill is the control surface — it flips the setting on/off, seeds the per-objective workspace, and kicks off a CEO loop on a specific goal.

Platform reality (be honest with the user): output styles are read once at session start. /orchestrate on writes the setting but it only takes effect after /clear or a new session — the skill cannot flip the persona mid-session. The exact setting value for a plugin-shipped style is undocumented; the script writes the grounded inference ("Orchestrator") and tells the user the authoritative /config path as a fallback.

Subcommand routing

First resolve the skill directory (the templates live beside this file):

Glob("**/skills/orchestrate/templates/handoff-template.md")
→ ORCH_SKILL_DIR = everything before "/templates/"

Then treat the first word of $ARGUMENTS:

User typed	Run
/orchestrate on	node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/orchestrate/scripts/orchestrate-state.js" on
/orchestrate off	node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/orchestrate/scripts/orchestrate-state.js" off
/orchestrate status	node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/orchestrate/scripts/orchestrate-state.js" status
/orchestrate <objective…>	node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/orchestrate/scripts/orchestrate-state.js" seed "<objective>" then begin the CEO loop

Print the script's stdout to the user verbatim — it carries the activation//clear guidance.

• On on / off / status: run the script, show its output, stop. For on/off remind the user a /clear is required.
• On <objective>: run seed, then begin orchestrating immediately (the loop below). If the Orchestrator output style is not active, still orchestrate for this objective using the loop here, and suggest /orchestrate on + /clear to make it the default for the whole session.

The CEO loop (operational)

For the seeded objective, work as the Orchestrator. The workspace is .cas/plans/orchestrate-<slug>/.

For each substantive unit of work (skip this whole machinery for trivia — see "do it yourself" below):

1. Write a handoff file .cas/plans/orchestrate-<slug>/handoff-<agent>.md from {ORCH_SKILL_DIR}/templates/handoff-template.md. Fill the Work Order: task, scope (may-modify / must-not-touch), success criteria, and all inline context the agent needs to start without hunting.

2. Spawn a named subagent with a self-contained prompt built from {ORCH_SKILL_DIR}/templates/agent-spawn-prompt.md, pointing it at its handoff file. Prefer a named, backgrounded agent so you can keep it alive:

   • Agent({ name: "<agent>", run_in_background: true, prompt: <spawn prompt>, subagent_type: <fit> })
   • The agent updates ## Status and fills ## Result / Summary / Why in its handoff file before returning, and returns a distilled summary (not its tool-call stream).

3. Read the return (short) and decide:

   • Satisfied → append a closing line to the handoff Message Log, move the handoff to archive/, and terminate the agent (TaskStop, or simply stop resuming it). Never hoard live agents.
   • Needs refinement → SendMessage({ to: "<agent>", message: <next instruction> }). The agent stays alive and keeps its context — this is the hybrid keep-alive path. Keep iterating, then archive + terminate when the thread is done.
   • Needs checking → spawn a verifier from {ORCH_SKILL_DIR}/templates/verifier-prompt.md (read-only). Act on its VERDICT. Do not verify it yourself — re-reading diffs would pollute your context.

4. Maintain a short ledger in objective.md (Decisions, Open threads). Spend your own context on the objective, decisions, and distilled returns — not raw exploration.

Delegate vs. do-it-yourself

• Delegate: implementation, multi-file research, bug investigation, tests, refactors, in-depth diff review — anything substantive, parallelizable, or risky.
• Do yourself: a quick orienting grep/Glob, a one- or two-line edit, reading just enough to write a good work order. Spawning an agent for a 10-second task is waste.
• Anti-rubber-stamp: understand each task well enough to judge whether a return is actually correct, not just plausible. On anything that matters, trust a verifier's verdict, not the worker's self-report.

Running multiple agents at once

If several agents work interdependent pieces, give each a mailbox and inline the shared protocol from skills/shared/collaboration-protocol.md (contract exchange, broadcast-on-discovery, sync checkpoints) so they coordinate directly instead of through you. Requires Agent Teams (CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1); without it, run them sequentially and carry continuity via handoff files.

Honest limitations (tell the user when relevant)

• Clean context is a multiplier, not infinity — your own ledger/handoffs/decisions still accumulate; very long sessions still compact.
• No mid-session persona flip — /orchestrate on + /clear (or /config) is required to make the whole session CEO-mode.
• Keep-alive costs grow — a long thread with one live agent re-sends its history each message; archive + terminate when done to bound it.
• Live agents are session-scoped — only handoff files survive a session end; resume by re-spawning from an archived handoff, not by resurrecting a live agent.
• Delegation is judgment, not enforced — there is no hard block; you decide what to delegate.

Reference

• Persona: output-styles/orchestrator.md
• Templates: {ORCH_SKILL_DIR}/templates/{handoff-template,agent-spawn-prompt,verifier-prompt}.md
• Multi-agent protocol: skills/shared/collaboration-protocol.md