mandelbot-delegate

name	mandelbot-delegate
description	Use this skill when you have work that can be broken into parallel subtasks and delegated to child agents. Activates when you need to coordinate multiple agents working on different parts of a plan simultaneously.
allowed-tools	["Read","Edit","Write","Bash","Glob","Grep","mcp__mandelbot__spawn_tab","mcp__mandelbot__close_tab"]

Delegate to Subtasks

Use this skill to break parallelizable work into subtasks, spawn a child agent for each, and monitor their progress — all via a shared *.coord/ coordination directory.

This project uses git-based VCS isolation. Each child agent runs in its own worktree on its own branch. Children do not conflict with each other's files.

You are the parent. Read <plugin-dir>/skills/_shared/coord.md for the protocol: directory layout, ownership rules, state vocabulary, log format, [DIRECTIVE] marker, block/unblock handshake, watcher usage, tab lifecycle, and sub-delegation. This SKILL file only covers the parent-specific workflow; everything else lives in the shared doc.

Workflow

1. Plan your work

Use your normal planning mechanism. Note the plan path (typically ~/.claude/plans/<name>.md).

2. Create the coordination directory

mkdir -p ~/.mandelbot/coordination/<project>.coord

Write index.md from <plugin-dir>/skills/_shared/index.template.md. Fill in:

• Project name, absolute plan path.
• How we work: a short "tech lead memo" for this batch. At minimum, point children at the governing plan. Add anything flow-specific — for example, whether children should open their own PRs or leave that to you, branching conventions, file-ownership boundaries, etc. Reviews default to human-in-the-loop: children open PRs, set awaiting_review, and stay alive for the human to review and merge. Only override if this project explicitly wants autonomous merging (children closing on done). See the awaiting_review section in _shared/coord.md.
• Children: one bullet per child.

Then for each child, write <child>.coord.md from child.template.md:

• **Parent:** ../index.md
• **State:** pending
• An ## Assignment section with the child's instructions inline. Include any absolute paths the child needs (governing plan, relevant files) — the child only reads its own *.coord.md and files it explicitly references, so be explicit.
• An empty ## Log section.

Labels should be short identifiers (a few words) matching back to the plan.

3. Spawn child agents

For each child, call spawn_tab with a branch parameter (worktree/branch name) and a prompt like:

Start by running /mandelbot-work-as-subtask to load the subtask protocol. You are a child agent in the "" project. Your coordination file is at <absolute path to <child>.coord.md> — read it first, then read the governing plan it references at <absolute path to plan> in full.

Your job: .

Include: instruction to run /mandelbot-work-as-subtask first, absolute path to the child's own *.coord.md, absolute path to the governing plan, and branch name via the branch param.

4. Watch and direct

For each child, run a separate watcher against that child's *.coord.md in the background (one watcher per child). Use the exact command:

bash <plugin-dir>/skills/_shared/watch.sh <absolute path to child's coord file>

Do not write your own watcher. Always use watch.sh.

When a watcher wakes, inspect the child's file and act:

• New blocked: <question> entry — append - [...] [DIRECTIVE] <answer> in that child's file.

Then re-arm that child's watcher in the background. (See _shared/coord.md for the append-only rules for writing into child files.)

5. Finalize

When every child has reached a settled state — awaiting_review (the default), done (in autonomous-review projects), or failed — handle failures (retry, reassign, or escalate) and wrap up however is appropriate for this project: merge branches, open PRs, report results, etc.

Children in awaiting_review are mid-PR-review and will close themselves once their PRs merge — leave their tabs alone. Close any other remaining child tabs via close_tab.

If something chain-wide changes after children reach awaiting_review — an upstream merge that forces a rebase across the whole chain, a decision to abort a PR, a sibling's approach shifting in a way that affects others — append a [DIRECTIVE] into the relevant child's coord file. The child keeps a watcher armed through review and will act on it. Reserve this for things only you can coordinate across siblings; direct code-review feedback on a PR flows through the tab's chat, not here.