brain-trust

name	Brain Trust
description	Multi-agent hierarchical orchestration with 10+ roles and consensus protocols
author	hanabi-jpn
version	1.0.0
tags	["multi-agent","orchestration","teamwork","ai-agents","collaboration"]

    ╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮
    │                                          │
    │   🏛  B R A I N  T R U S T  🏛          │
    │                                          │
    │              ┌─────┐                     │
    │              │ CEO │                     │
    │              └──┬──┘                     │
    │         ┌───────┼───────┐                │
    │      ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐ ┌─┴───┐            │
    │      │ CTO │ │ CFO │ │ CMO │            │
    │      └──┬──┘ └──┬──┘ └──┬──┘            │
    │    ┌────┼────┐  │   ┌───┼───┐           │
    │   🧑‍💻  🔍  🧪  📊  ✍  🎨  📢          │
    │   Dev  Rev  QA  Ana  Wri Des SEO        │
    │                                          │
    │    "Your AI company. One command."       │
    ╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯

Brain Trust

🏛 Multi-Agent 👥 10+ Roles 🗳 Consensus 📋 Meetings v1.0.0

Multi-agent hierarchical orchestration engine. Define specialist roles, delegate tasks, aggregate results, and manage complex projects with AI teams of 3-20 agents.

Author: hanabi-jpn | Version: 1.0.0 | License: MIT Tags: multi-agent orchestration teamwork delegation project-management

---

Overview

Brain Trust lets you organize your OpenClaw agent into a team of specialists. Define roles (CEO, CTO, Developer, Designer...), delegate tasks, run meetings, and make decisions through consensus protocols. Like having a virtual company at your command.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            BRAIN TRUST HIERARCHY                │
│                                                 │
│                  ┌───────┐                      │
│                  │  CEO  │                      │
│                  └───┬───┘                      │
│            ┌─────────┼─────────┐                │
│        ┌───┴───┐ ┌───┴───┐ ┌──┴────┐           │
│        │  CTO  │ │  CFO  │ │  CMO  │           │
│        └───┬───┘ └───┬───┘ └───┬───┘           │
│      ┌─────┼─────┐   │    ┌───┼───┐            │
│   ┌──┴──┐┌┴───┐┌┴┐ ┌┴┐  ┌┴┐ ┌┴┐  ┌┴┐         │
│   │ Dev ││Rev ││QA│ │An│ │Wr││De││SEO│         │
│   └─────┘└────┘└──┘ └──┘ └──┘└──┘└───┘         │
│                                                 │
│  Tasks flow DOWN ↓    Results flow UP ↑         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

System Prompt Instructions

You are an agent equipped with Brain Trust. When the user invokes Brain Trust commands, you adopt the requested role or orchestrate multiple role perspectives.

Role System

Each role has specific expertise and behavior:

ceo — Strategic leader:

• Makes final decisions when consensus fails
• Focuses on big picture, business impact, ROI
• Delegates details to specialists
• Resolves conflicts between team members

cto — Technical authority:

• Architecture decisions, technology choices
• Code quality standards, technical debt assessment
• Performance and scalability concerns
• Security architecture

researcher — Deep analyst:

• Thorough investigation before conclusions
• Cites sources and evidence
• Considers multiple perspectives
• Identifies unknowns and risks

developer — Implementation expert:

• Writes clean, efficient code
• Follows project conventions
• Tests thoroughly
• Documents as they go

reviewer — Quality gatekeeper:

• Reviews code for bugs, style, security
• Checks documentation completeness
• Verifies test coverage
• Provides constructive feedback

writer — Content specialist:

• Clear, engaging documentation
• Technical writing standards
• Audience-appropriate language
• SEO awareness when relevant

analyst — Data expert:

• Quantitative analysis
• Metrics and KPI tracking
• Data visualization recommendations
• Statistical rigor

security — Security specialist:

• Vulnerability assessment
• OWASP top 10 awareness
• Secure coding practices
• Incident response planning

designer — UX/UI expert:

• User experience optimization
• Accessibility standards (WCAG)
• Visual design principles
• Component patterns

pm — Project coordinator:

• Task breakdown and estimation
• Priority management
• Risk tracking
• Status reporting

Hierarchical Delegation

When a task is assigned via bt delegate:

1. CEO receives the task and breaks it into subtasks
2. Directors (CTO, CFO, CMO) receive relevant subtasks
3. Team members execute the work
4. Results flow up with confidence scores
5. CEO synthesizes and presents final output

For each subtask:

{
  "id": "task-001",
  "title": "Review authentication implementation",
  "assigned_to": "security",
  "delegated_by": "cto",
  "priority": "high",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "dependencies": ["task-000"],
  "deadline": null,
  "result": null,
  "confidence": null
}

Consensus Protocols

When making team decisions via bt decide:

unanimous — All roles must agree:

• Each role states position with reasoning
• If disagreement: discuss, then re-vote
• Max 3 rounds, then escalate to CEO

majority — >50% agreement:

• Each role votes with brief reasoning
• Majority wins
• Dissenting opinions logged

weighted — Votes weighted by domain expertise:

• For technical decisions: CTO vote = 3×, Developer = 2×, others = 1×
• For business decisions: CEO = 3×, Analyst = 2×, others = 1×
• For design decisions: Designer = 3×, Writer = 2×, others = 1×

executive — CEO decides after hearing all:

• All roles present their analysis
• CEO makes final call with reasoning
• Fastest protocol for time-sensitive decisions

Meeting Protocols

standup — Quick status (< 2 minutes per role):

• What I completed since last standup
• What I'm working on now
• Any blockers

review — Detailed deliverable review:

• Present work product
• Each reviewer gives structured feedback
• Action items generated

brainstorm — Idea generation:

• No criticism in first round
• All roles contribute ideas freely
• Second round: evaluate and rank ideas
• Output: prioritized idea list

retro — Retrospective:

• What went well?
• What didn't go well?
• What should we change?
• Action items for improvement

war-room — Crisis response:

• All roles on deck
• Focus on immediate resolution
• Parallel investigation streams
• Status updates every 5 minutes

Pre-Built Team Templates

startup (4 agents): CEO, CTO, Developer, Designer

• Best for: New projects, MVPs, rapid prototyping

dev-team (5 agents): Lead Developer, 2 Developers, Reviewer, QA

• Best for: Coding tasks, feature implementation

content (5 agents): Editor, 2 Writers, SEO Specialist, Designer

• Best for: Content creation, documentation, marketing

research (5 agents): Lead Researcher, 3 Analysts, Writer

• Best for: Market research, competitive analysis, reports

security (5 agents): CISO, 2 Pentesters, Compliance, Incident Response

• Best for: Security audits, vulnerability assessments

Commands

bt init [template] — Initialize Brain Trust:

• Create .brain-trust/ directory
• Set up team from template (or custom)
• Generate initial config

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║     Brain Trust — Initialization          ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Template: startup                        ║
║                                           ║
║  Creating .brain-trust/ directory...  ✅  ║
║  Setting up roles:                        ║
║    ✅ CEO      — Strategic decisions      ║
║    ✅ CTO      — Technical architecture   ║
║    ✅ Developer — Implementation          ║
║    ✅ Designer  — UI/UX design            ║
║  Writing config.json...              ✅   ║
║  Creating tasks/ directory...        ✅   ║
║  Creating decisions/ directory...    ✅   ║
║  Creating meetings/ directory...     ✅   ║
║                                           ║
║  Brain Trust initialized with 4 agents.   ║
║  Run `bt team` to see your team.          ║
║  Run `bt delegate <task>` to get started. ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt team — Show current team:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Brain Trust Team              ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ CEO      — Strategic decisions        ║
║ CTO      — Technical architecture     ║
║ Dev 1    — Frontend implementation    ║
║ Dev 2    — Backend implementation     ║
║ Reviewer — Code quality               ║
║ Designer — UI/UX design               ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Template: startup | Agents: 6         ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝

bt add-role <name> <description> — Add custom role

Output:

✅ Role added: data-engineer

  Name:        data-engineer
  Description: ETL pipeline design, data warehouse architecture,
               SQL optimization, and data quality monitoring
  Reports to:  CTO
  Saved to:    .brain-trust/agents/data-engineer.md

  Team size: 4 → 5 agents
  Run `bt team` to see updated roster.

bt assign <task> --to <role> — Assign task to specific role

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Task Assigned                     ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Task:     Review API rate limiting logic ║
║  ID:       task-007                       ║
║  Assigned: security                       ║
║  Priority: high                           ║
║  Status:   in_progress                    ║
║                                           ║
║  Security specialist is now analyzing     ║
║  the rate limiting implementation for     ║
║  bypass vulnerabilities and DDoS          ║
║  protection gaps...                       ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt delegate <task> — Auto-delegate (CEO routes to best role)

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         CEO — Task Delegation                     ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Task: "Redesign the checkout flow for mobile"    ║
║                                                   ║
║  CEO Analysis:                                    ║
║  This task requires UX research, UI design, and   ║
║  frontend implementation. Breaking into subtasks:  ║
║                                                   ║
║  Subtask 1: Audit current mobile checkout UX      ║
║    → Assigned to: Designer (task-008)              ║
║  Subtask 2: Implement new checkout components     ║
║    → Assigned to: Developer (task-009)             ║
║    → Depends on: task-008                          ║
║  Subtask 3: Review accessibility compliance       ║
║    → Assigned to: Reviewer (task-010)              ║
║    → Depends on: task-009                          ║
║                                                   ║
║  Delegation complete. 3 subtasks created.         ║
║  Run `bt tasks` to track progress.                ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt meeting <type> — Run meeting protocol

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Brain Trust — Standup Meeting                 ║
║         2026-03-01 14:00 UTC                          ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                       ║
║  🧑 CEO:                                              ║
║    Done: Reviewed Q1 roadmap priorities               ║
║    Now:  Evaluating partnership proposal              ║
║    Blockers: None                                     ║
║                                                       ║
║  👨‍💻 CTO:                                              ║
║    Done: Merged auth refactor PR (#142)               ║
║    Now:  Designing database migration plan            ║
║    Blockers: Need CFO approval on cloud budget        ║
║                                                       ║
║  🔧 Developer:                                        ║
║    Done: Checkout component v2 (task-009)             ║
║    Now:  Writing unit tests for checkout              ║
║    Blockers: None                                     ║
║                                                       ║
║  🎨 Designer:                                          ║
║    Done: Mobile checkout wireframes (task-008) ✅     ║
║    Now:  High-fidelity mockups for review             ║
║    Blockers: Waiting for brand color update           ║
║                                                       ║
║  Minutes saved to: .brain-trust/meetings/             ║
║    2026-03-01-standup.md                              ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt decide <question> --protocol <type> — Make team decision

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║     Brain Trust Decision — Weighted Protocol          ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Question: "Should we migrate from REST to GraphQL?"  ║
║                                                       ║
║  CTO (weight 3x):        ✅ YES                       ║
║    "Reduces over-fetching by 60%. Client teams        ║
║     already requesting flexible queries."             ║
║                                                       ║
║  Developer (weight 2x):  ⚠️ CONDITIONAL YES           ║
║    "Yes, but phase it. Start with read queries,       ║
║     keep REST for writes until tooling matures."      ║
║                                                       ║
║  Security (weight 1x):   ❌ NO                        ║
║    "GraphQL introduces new attack vectors: deep       ║
║     queries, introspection leaks. Need rate limiting."║
║                                                       ║
║  Designer (weight 1x):   ✅ YES                       ║
║    "Faster frontend iteration with query flexibility."║
║                                                       ║
║  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════   ║
║  Result: YES (weighted score: 8/10)                   ║
║  Action: Phased migration, read-first approach        ║
║  Dissent logged: Security concerns noted              ║
║  Decision saved to: .brain-trust/decisions/log.jsonl  ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt status — Project overview:

• Active tasks by role
• Completed vs pending
• Blockers
• Next milestones

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║           Brain Trust — Project Status                ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Active Tasks: 5 │ Completed: 12 │ Blocked: 1        ║
║                                                       ║
║  By Role:                                             ║
║  CEO       │ 1 active  │ 3 completed │ 0 blocked     ║
║  CTO       │ 1 active  │ 4 completed │ 1 blocked     ║
║  Developer │ 2 active  │ 3 completed │ 0 blocked     ║
║  Designer  │ 1 active  │ 2 completed │ 0 blocked     ║
║                                                       ║
║  Blockers:                                            ║
║  🚫 task-011: DB migration plan (CTO)                 ║
║     Waiting on: CFO budget approval                   ║
║                                                       ║
║  Next Milestones:                                     ║
║  📌 Mar 05 — Checkout redesign complete               ║
║  📌 Mar 10 — API v2 beta release                      ║
║  📌 Mar 15 — Security audit complete                  ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt report [daily|weekly] — Generate report

Output:

📄 Weekly Report generated: .brain-trust/reports/2026-03-01.md

  # Brain Trust Weekly Report — 2026-03-01

  ## Summary
  - Tasks completed this week: 8
  - Tasks in progress: 5
  - Blocked tasks: 1
  - Decisions made: 3
  - Meetings held: 5 (3 standups, 1 review, 1 brainstorm)

  ## Highlights
  - Checkout redesign wireframes approved
  - Auth refactor merged (PR #142)
  - GraphQL migration decision: approved (phased)

  ## Risks
  - DB migration blocked on budget approval (3 days)
  - Designer waiting on brand color update

  Report saved to .brain-trust/reports/2026-03-01.md (3.8 KB)

bt tasks — List all tasks

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                Brain Trust — All Tasks                    ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  ID       │ Task                        │ Role      │ St  ║
║  ─────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────┼──── ║
║  task-008 │ Mobile checkout wireframes  │ Designer  │ ✅  ║
║  task-009 │ Checkout components v2      │ Developer │ ●   ║
║  task-010 │ Accessibility review        │ Reviewer  │ ○   ║
║  task-011 │ DB migration plan           │ CTO       │ 🚫  ║
║  task-012 │ Unit tests for checkout     │ Developer │ ●   ║
║  task-013 │ Partnership evaluation      │ CEO       │ ●   ║
║  task-014 │ Hi-fi mockups              │ Designer  │ ●   ║
║  task-015 │ Rate limiting review        │ Security  │ ●   ║
║                                                           ║
║  Legend: ✅ completed │ ● in_progress │ ○ pending │ 🚫 blocked ║
║  Total: 1 completed │ 5 active │ 1 pending │ 1 blocked   ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt escalate <task> — Escalate blocked task to higher level

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Task Escalation                           ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Task:      task-011 (DB migration plan)          ║
║  From:      CTO                                   ║
║  Escalated: CEO                                   ║
║  Reason:    Blocked 3 days — awaiting CFO budget  ║
║             approval for cloud infrastructure     ║
║                                                   ║
║  CEO Response:                                    ║
║  "Approving $2,400/month cloud budget directly.   ║
║   CFO to reconcile in Q2 review. CTO proceed     ║
║   with migration plan immediately."               ║
║                                                   ║
║  ✅ Blocker resolved. task-011 status: in_progress║
║  Decision logged to decisions/log.jsonl           ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

bt disband — Remove Brain Trust from project

Output:

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         Brain Trust — Disband                     ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                   ║
║  ⚠️ This will remove the Brain Trust team from    ║
║  this project. Data will be preserved.            ║
║                                                   ║
║  Current state:                                   ║
║    Active tasks: 5 (will be marked abandoned)     ║
║    Completed tasks: 12 (preserved in archive)     ║
║    Decisions: 3 (preserved in log)                ║
║    Meetings: 9 minutes saved                      ║
║                                                   ║
║  Confirm disband? (yes/no): yes                   ║
║                                                   ║
║  ✅ Brain Trust disbanded.                         ║
║  Archive saved to: .brain-trust/archive/          ║
║  Run `bt init` to create a new team.              ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Data Storage

.brain-trust/
├── config.json              # Team composition and rules
├── tasks/
│   ├── active.jsonl         # Current tasks
│   └── completed.jsonl      # Finished tasks
├── decisions/
│   └── log.jsonl            # All decisions with reasoning
├── meetings/
│   └── {date}-{type}.md     # Meeting minutes
├── agents/
│   └── {role}.md            # Role definitions
└── reports/
    └── {date}.md            # Generated reports

Error Handling

Brain Trust handles orchestration failures gracefully to prevent task loss and ensure the team structure remains consistent.

Consensus Failure

Scenario	Handling
Unanimous protocol: no agreement after 3 rounds	Escalate to CEO for executive decision. Log all role positions and reasoning. Final output includes a "Dissent" section noting unresolved disagreements.
Majority protocol: exact tie	Invoke weighted voting as tiebreaker (domain expert gets 2x weight). If still tied, escalate to CEO.
Weighted protocol: all weights equal	Fall back to majority vote. If still tied, CEO decides.
No roles provide input	Abort the decision. Report which roles failed to respond. Suggest re-running with a simpler team template.

Role Timeout

Scenario	Handling
Single role unresponsive during meeting	Skip after 30-second timeout. Note the missing perspective in the meeting minutes. Continue with available roles.
Multiple roles unresponsive	If >50% of roles fail, abort the meeting. Log partial results. Suggest re-running with a smaller team.
CEO unresponsive during escalation	Fall back to CTO for technical decisions, CFO for business decisions, or the highest-ranking available role.

Budget Exceeded

Scenario	Handling
Token budget exceeded mid-task	Complete the current role's output, then pause. Report partial results and remaining tasks. Suggest using Context Slim to free capacity before continuing.
Task generates excessive subtasks (>20)	Cap subtask generation at 20. CEO consolidates remaining work into grouped tasks. Warn user about scope complexity.
Meeting exceeds time budget	Summarize each remaining role's position in 1 sentence instead of full analysis. Mark the meeting as "abbreviated" in minutes.

Model API Error

Scenario	Handling
API rate limit during multi-role discussion	Queue remaining roles and process sequentially with 2-second delays. Meeting quality is preserved but takes longer.
API timeout	Retry the current role's response once. If it fails again, record "No response" for that role and continue.
Context length exceeded	Compress earlier role outputs using semantic summarization. Each role's full output is preserved in .brain-trust/meetings/ but the working context uses compressed versions.
Invalid response format	Re-prompt the role with stricter formatting instructions. If it fails twice, have the PM role reformat the output.

Data Integrity

• Config file corrupted: Rebuild from template defaults. Warn user that custom role modifications may be lost.
• Task state inconsistency (e.g., completed task still in active list): Run bt status --repair to reconcile task states.
• Meeting minutes incomplete: Always write minutes incrementally (after each role speaks), not at the end. This prevents total loss on mid-meeting failure.

Brain Trust vs Other Multi-Agent Systems

Feature	Brain Trust	AutoGPT	CrewAI	LangChain Agents
Architecture	Single agent, multi-perspective (role adoption)	Autonomous single agent with self-prompting	Multi-agent with role-based task delegation	Modular agent chains with tool use
Cost per Run	Zero additional cost (same context, one model call)	High — recursive self-prompting = many API calls	Medium-High — one API call per agent per task	Medium — one call per chain step
Role System	10+ predefined roles with custom role support	No roles — single autonomous agent	Role-based agents with backstory/goals	Tool-specialized agents
Consensus Protocols	4 built-in (unanimous, majority, weighted, executive)	None — single decision maker	Task output aggregation only	None — sequential chain
Meeting Types	5 formats (standup, review, brainstorm, retro, war-room)	None	None	None
Hierarchical Delegation	CEO > Directors > Team — tasks flow down, results flow up	Flat — self-assigns subtasks	Flat or sequential task pipeline	Sequential chain
Templates	5 pre-built team templates (startup, dev-team, etc.)	N/A	Custom crew definitions	Pre-built chain templates
Setup Complexity	bt init [template] — one command	Python environment + config + API keys	Python code + role definitions + API keys	Python code + tool configs + API keys
Hallucination Risk	Low — structured roles constrain output scope	High — autonomous loops amplify errors	Medium — role constraints help	Medium — tool grounding helps
Token Efficiency	High — all roles share one context window	Low — each loop iteration uses full context	Low — each agent has separate context	Medium — chain passes summaries
Determinism	High — same roles + protocol = consistent structure	Low — autonomous decisions vary widely	Medium — task routing varies	Medium-High — chain structure is fixed
OpenClaw Integration	Native — designed for OpenClaw ecosystem	Standalone Python application	Standalone Python framework	Standalone Python framework

FAQ

Q: Does this actually run multiple LLM instances? A: No — it's a single agent adopting different role perspectives. The power is in structured thinking from multiple viewpoints, not parallel API calls. This keeps costs at zero.

Q: How many roles should I use? A: Start with 3-5 for most tasks. More roles = more thorough but slower. Use templates as starting points.

Q: Can I customize role behaviors? A: Yes. Edit the role files in .brain-trust/agents/ to modify any role's expertise and behavior.

Q: What happens if roles disagree and consensus cannot be reached? A: It depends on the protocol. In unanimous mode, after 3 failed rounds, the CEO makes the final call. In majority mode, a tie triggers weighted voting. In all cases, dissenting opinions are logged so you can review the full debate.

Q: Can I use Brain Trust for non-technical tasks (marketing, writing, strategy)? A: Absolutely. The content template (Editor, 2 Writers, SEO Specialist, Designer) is designed for content work. The research template is ideal for market research and competitive analysis. You can also create fully custom teams with bt add-role.

Q: How does hierarchical delegation differ from just asking the agent directly? A: Direct questions get one perspective. Hierarchical delegation forces structured decomposition: the CEO breaks the problem into subtasks, assigns them to specialists, collects results with confidence scores, and synthesizes a final answer. This catches blind spots that a single perspective misses.

Q: Does Brain Trust work with other skills simultaneously? A: Yes. Brain Trust is an orchestration layer — it can use any other installed skill as part of its workflow. For example, the Security role might invoke Skill Guardian, or the Analyst role might use Agent Dashboard data.

Q: What is the maximum team size? A: There is no hard limit, but practical effectiveness peaks at 8-10 roles. Beyond that, consensus discussions become verbose and the context window fills faster. For large projects, use hierarchical teams where each director manages 2-3 team members.

Q: Can I save and reuse team configurations across projects? A: Yes. The team configuration is stored in .brain-trust/config.json. Copy this file to new projects or create named templates with bt init followed by customization. Role definitions in .brain-trust/agents/ are portable between projects.

Q: How do I track what Brain Trust decided and why? A: Every decision is logged to .brain-trust/decisions/log.jsonl with full reasoning from each role, the protocol used, vote counts, and the final outcome. Meeting minutes are saved to .brain-trust/meetings/. Use bt report to generate human-readable summaries.