select-agents

name	select-agents
description	Determine risk level and select appropriate stakeholder agents for a task
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Glob

Agent Selection Skill

Purpose: Classify task risk level and select the appropriate stakeholder agents during CLASSIFIED state.

Performance: Ensures correct agent selection, prevents over/under-staffing tasks.

When to Use This Skill

Use select-agents When:

• Entering CLASSIFIED state for a new task
• Uncertain which agents a task requires
• Task involves unfamiliar file types or domains
• Need to verify agent selection is appropriate

Do NOT Use When:

• Already in IMPLEMENTATION (agents already selected)
• Task is pure research (no file modifications)
• Resuming existing task (agents already assigned)

---

Quick Selection Guide

By File Type

Files Modified	Risk Level	Required Agents
src/main/java/**	HIGH	architect, formatter, engineer, tester, builder
src/test/java/**	MEDIUM	architect, engineer, tester
pom.xml, build.gradle	HIGH	architect, builder
.github/**, CI/CD	HIGH	architect, builder, security
docs/**/*.md	LOW	(none, or architect for technical docs)
CLAUDE.md, protocol docs	HIGH	architect, formatter
checkstyle.xml, style configs	HIGH	architect, formatter, builder

By Task Type

Task Type	Required Agents
New feature implementation	architect, formatter, engineer, tester, builder
Bug fix	architect, tester
Refactoring	architect, engineer
Performance optimization	architect, performance
Security enhancement	architect, security
Documentation only	(none)
Test additions	architect, tester
Style/formatting	architect, formatter, builder

---

Risk Classification Algorithm

Step 1: Analyze Files to be Modified

# List files that will be modified
FILES_TO_MODIFY=(
    # Add file paths here
)

# Classify each file
HIGH_RISK=false
MEDIUM_RISK=false
LOW_RISK=true

for file in "${FILES_TO_MODIFY[@]}"; do
    case "$file" in
        src/main/java/*|src/*/main/java/*)
            HIGH_RISK=true
            ;;
        pom.xml|*/pom.xml|build.gradle)
            HIGH_RISK=true
            ;;
        .github/*|CLAUDE.md|**/task-protocol*.md)
            HIGH_RISK=true
            ;;
        checkstyle*.xml|pmd*.xml)
            HIGH_RISK=true
            ;;
        src/test/java/*|src/*/test/java/*)
            MEDIUM_RISK=true
            ;;
        docs/code-style/*|**/resources/*.properties)
            MEDIUM_RISK=true
            ;;
        *.md|*.txt|README*)
            # Already LOW_RISK
            ;;
    esac
done

if $HIGH_RISK; then
    RISK_LEVEL="HIGH"
elif $MEDIUM_RISK; then
    RISK_LEVEL="MEDIUM"
else
    RISK_LEVEL="LOW"
fi

echo "Risk Level: $RISK_LEVEL"

Step 2: Check Escalation Triggers

TASK_DESCRIPTION="$TASK_DESCRIPTION"  # Set task description

# Keywords that force escalation to HIGH
ESCALATION_KEYWORDS="security|authentication|authorization|encryption|breaking|architecture|api|database|concurrent|performance"

if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qiE "$ESCALATION_KEYWORDS"; then
    echo "Escalation trigger detected - forcing HIGH risk"
    RISK_LEVEL="HIGH"
fi

Step 3: Select Agents Based on Risk Level

case "$RISK_LEVEL" in
    "HIGH")
        AGENTS=("architect")  # Always required

        # Add based on task type
        if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qi "implement\|feature\|add\|create"; then
            AGENTS+=("formatter" "engineer" "tester" "builder")
        fi
        if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qi "security\|auth"; then
            AGENTS+=("security")
        fi
        if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qi "performance\|optim\|speed\|memory"; then
            AGENTS+=("performance")
        fi
        if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qi "user\|interface\|ux\|ui"; then
            AGENTS+=("usability")
        fi
        ;;

    "MEDIUM")
        AGENTS=("architect" "engineer")

        if echo "$TASK_DESCRIPTION" | grep -qi "test"; 
            AGENTS+=()
        
           | grep -qi ; 
            AGENTS+=()
        
        ;;

    )
        AGENTS=()  
        ;;


 

---

Agent Selection Decision Tree

Task requires file modifications?
    │
    ├─ NO ──► RISK: LOW, AGENTS: none
    │
    └─ YES ──► Analyze file types
                │
                ├─ src/main/java/** ──► HIGH RISK
                │   └─ AGENTS: architect + formatter + engineer + tester + builder
                │
                ├─ pom.xml, build config ──► HIGH RISK
                │   └─ AGENTS: architect + builder
                │
                ├─ CI/CD, security files ──► HIGH RISK
                │   └─ AGENTS: architect + builder + security
                │
                ├─ src/test/java/** ──► MEDIUM RISK
                │   └─ AGENTS: architect + engineer + tester
                │
                ├─ Style/config files ──► MEDIUM RISK
                │   └─ AGENTS: architect + formatter
                │
                └─ Documentation only ──► LOW RISK
                    └─ AGENTS: none (or architect for technical docs)

---

Agent Responsibilities Reference

Core Agents

Agent	Domain	Responsibilities
architect	Architecture	Design decisions, API contracts, dependencies, implementation strategy
formatter	Style	Code formatting, style compliance, documentation standards
engineer	Quality	Refactoring, best practices, code quality patterns
tester	Testing	Test strategy, test implementation, coverage analysis
builder	Build	Build configuration, CI/CD, automated validation

Specialist Agents

Agent	Domain	When to Include
security	Security	Auth, encryption, input validation, sensitive data
performance	Performance	Algorithms, database queries, memory/CPU optimization
usability	UX	User-facing features, interface design, documentation

---

Common Mistakes

Over-Selection (Too Many Agents)

❌ Wrong: Including performance agent for simple CRUD operations ❌ Wrong: Including security agent for internal utility class ❌ Wrong: Including usability agent for backend-only changes

Under-Selection (Missing Agents)

❌ Wrong: New feature without tester agent ❌ Wrong: API changes without architect agent ❌ Wrong: Style configuration changes without formatter agent

Correct Selection Examples

Task: "Implement user authentication"

• ✅ architect (API design)
• ✅ security (auth handling)
• ✅ tester (auth test cases)
• ✅ formatter (code style)
• ✅ builder (build verification)

Task: "Fix typo in README"

• ✅ No agents needed (LOW risk)

Task: "Add unit tests for Calculator class"

• ✅ architect (test strategy)
• ✅ tester (test implementation)
• ❌ No formatter (not changing production code)

---

Output Format

After selection, update task.json with selected agents:

TASK_NAME="$TASK_NAME"
AGENTS='["architect", "formatter", "engineer", "tester", "builder"]'
RISK_LEVEL="HIGH"

jq --argjson agents "$AGENTS" \
   --arg risk "$RISK_LEVEL" \
   '.required_agents = $agents | .risk_level = $risk' \
   /workspace/tasks/$TASK_NAME/task.json > /tmp/task.json.tmp

mv /tmp/task.json.tmp /workspace/tasks/$TASK_NAME/task.json

---

Related Skills

• state-transition: Transition to CLASSIFIED state
• gather-requirements: Invoke agents for requirements gathering
• task-init: Initialize task with agent selection