| name | ultra-work-scout |
| description | Use when the user asks for ultra work, scout work, broad pre-implementation scouting, or parallel investigation before a large Brigade task. Designed for Codex and other SKILL.md harnesses that can delegate or split work. |
ultra-work-scout
Use this skill when a task is important enough to scout before changing code, especially when the user asks for "ultra work", "scout this", "use scouts", "use subagents", or "really scope this out".
Mission
Turn a large request into a small number of parallel, bounded scouting jobs, then bring the results back into one implementation path. Scouts gather context and risks; they do not replace the main agent's ownership of the final change.
Default Scout Set
Start with the smallest set that can answer independent questions:
- Surface scout: find the public commands, docs, templates, and user-facing entry points that must change.
- Install scout: trace init, upgrade, profile, and default-install paths so new users get the intended behavior.
- Verification scout: identify focused tests, full checks, and existing flaky or environment-sensitive gates.
Only add more scouts when the work naturally splits into independent repos or subsystems.
Main Agent Loop
- State the immediate local task you will keep yourself.
- Assign scouts concrete questions with disjoint read or write scopes.
- Keep moving on non-overlapping work while scouts run.
- Integrate only findings you can verify in the current tree.
- Run verification through Brigade:
brigade work verify run --target . --command "<test command>" --capture ultra-work-scout
If --capture is not available in the installed Brigade version, run:
brigade work verify run --target . --command "<test command>"
brigade outcome capture ultra-work-scout --run-id latest --kind skill
Boundaries
- Do not spawn scouts for tiny, single-file fixes.
- Do not let scouts mutate the same files unless you explicitly split ownership.
- Do not trust a scout's success claim without reading the diff or output that matters.
- Do not skip the final Brigade verify and outcome capture.
Output Contract
Finish with:
- Scout questions asked and what changed because of them.
- Files changed.
- Verification command and result.
- Any release blocker or follow-up that remains.
