cave-tournament

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)   # map-reduce

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>}
// or: {"op": "map_reduce", "workers": [<spec>, ...], "reducer": <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.