collab

name	collab
description	Start a collaborative AI team (Codex + Claude) to work on a task together. Use when the user says "werk samen met Codex", "collab", "team onderzoek", "laat Codex en Claude samenwerken", or wants multiple AI agents to analyze, research, or solve something together autonomously.
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Write, Agent, TaskOutput
metadata	{"author":"michel","version":"6.1.0"}

Collab: Autonomous AI Team Collaboration

Language rule: ALWAYS respond in the same language the user used to invoke /collab. If the user writes in English, all your output (status updates, summaries, everything) must be in English. If Dutch, respond in Dutch. Never mix languages.

Launch a Codex + Claude team. Scripts live in __ENSEMBLE_DIR__/scripts/. Runtime files namespaced under /tmp/ensemble/<TEAM_ID>/.

Path Convention

All collab artifacts live in /tmp/ensemble/<TEAM_ID>/:

• messages.jsonl — agent + ensemble message log
• summary.txt — written on disband by ensemble-service
• bridge.pid, bridge.log — bridge process
• poller.pid, feed.txt — background poller
• prompts/, delivery/ — agent prompt/delivery files
• .finished — written by ensemble-service AFTER summary.txt
• team-id — team ID marker

Workflow

Step 0: Detect environment

if [ -n "$TMUX" ]; then
  echo "TMUX_YES"
elif [ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "${TERM_PROGRAM:-}" = "iTerm.app" ]; then
  echo "ITERM_NATIVE"
else
  echo "TMUX_NO"
fi

Three monitor modes:

• TMUX_YES — already inside tmux; collab-launch opens a split pane right
• ITERM_NATIVE — macOS iTerm2 without tmux; collab-launch uses osascript to open a native iTerm split pane (no tmux attach needed)
• TMUX_NO — fallback: detached tmux session the user must attach to

Force a specific mode with COLLAB_MONITOR=tmux|iterm|none or change iTerm layout with COLLAB_ITERM_MODE=split|tab|window (default split).

Step 1: Launch the team

collab-launch "$(pwd)" "$TASK_DESCRIPTION"

Extract TEAM_ID:

TEAM_ID=$(cat /tmp/collab-team-id.txt)

Step 2: Tell the user where the monitor is

• TMUX_YES: "Team is live in the right tmux pane."
• ITERM_NATIVE: "Team is live in the new iTerm pane on the right."
• TMUX_NO: "tmux attach -t ensemble-$TEAM_ID — live TUI monitor (steer, disband, scroll)"

Step 3: Monitoring — the user MUST see the conversation

CRITICAL RULE: The user wants to SEE the team's conversation as it happens. Every poll result must be presented clearly and formatted as a readable conversation. Do NOT just dump raw output — format it as a proper dialogue.

If TMUX_NO: poll and PRESENT messages inline

Use collab-poll.sh — a single-shot poller that tracks state automatically and gives clean output.

Poll command:

collab-poll "<TEAM_ID>" --sleep <seconds>

Output format: sender\tcontent lines, ending with one of:

• ---STATUS:ACTIVE — new messages were found
• ---STATUS:QUIET — no new messages (agents in deep work)
• ---STATUS:DONE — team finished, followed by summary.txt content
• ---STATUS:WAITING — messages file not yet created

Presentation rules — THIS IS THE KEY PART: After each poll, present the new messages to the user like this:

codex-1: [message content]

claude-2: [message content]

Use markdown bold for agent names. Show the FULL message content (up to 500 chars), not truncated summaries. Between polls, add a brief status line like "Team is working... next check in 15s."

Polling cadence:

• First poll: --sleep 10
• Normal: --sleep 15 to --sleep 20
• If 3+ polls QUIET: --sleep 30 (agents in deep work)
• On ---STATUS:DONE: stop polling, present final summary

When done, present structured summary + clean up:

TEAM_ID="<id>" && RD="/tmp/ensemble/$TEAM_ID" && kill "$(cat "$RD/poller.pid" 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || true; kill "$(cat "$RD/bridge.pid" 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || true; tmux kill-session -t "ensemble-$TEAM_ID" 2>/dev/null || true

If ITERM_NATIVE: background summary watcher

Same as TMUX_YES: the monitor pane is visible to the user, so don't inline-poll. Wait for completion in the background (same snippet as below) and present the final summary when done. On cleanup, the iTerm pane lives on — the user closes it with q or Cmd+W. Do NOT try to tmux kill-session (no tmux session exists in this mode).

If TMUX_YES: background summary watcher

Monitor visible in right pane. Wait in background:

TEAM_ID="<id>" && RD="/tmp/ensemble/$TEAM_ID" && while [ ! -f "$RD/.finished" ] && [ ! -f "$RD/summary.txt" ]; do sleep 8; done && echo "COLLAB_COMPLETE" && cat "$RD/summary.txt" 2>/dev/null

Run with run_in_background: true, timeout: 600000.

When done: summarize + cleanup poller/bridge PIDs.

Important Notes

• Agents run with auto-accept permissions (configured in agents.json: codex --full-auto, claude --dangerously-skip-permissions). They should NEVER ask for file write approval.
• Do not modify project code during a collab session unless the user explicitly asks
• Do not truncate or remove messages.jsonl
• Multiple collabs can run simultaneously — each has own /tmp/ensemble/<TEAM_ID>/ namespace
• team-say.sh uses fcntl.flock for atomic JSONL writes
• ensemble-bridge.sh has single-instance guard, health check, exponential backoff
• .finished and summary.txt are written by ensemble-service, NOT by scripts
• Bridge auto-stops when it sees .finished marker