Dispatching Parallel Agents
Dispatch one agent per independent problem. Let them work concurrently.
Dispatch Workflow
Copy and track:
- [ ] 1. Identify independent domains
- [ ] 2. Create focused agent tasks
- [ ] 3. Dispatch in parallel
- [ ] 4. Review and integrate
1. Identify Independent Domains
Group failures by what's broken:
- File A tests: Tool approval flow
- File B tests: Batch completion
- File C tests: Abort functionality
Each domain is independent—fixing tool approval doesn't affect abort tests.
Critical check: If fixing one might fix others → investigate together first (don't parallelize).
2. Create Focused Agent Tasks
Each agent needs:
- Scope: One test file or subsystem
- Goal: Make these tests pass
- Constraints: Don't change unrelated code
- Output: Summary of findings and fixes
3. Dispatch in Parallel
Example (Claude Code):
Task("Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts failures")
Task("Fix batch-completion-behavior.test.ts failures")
Task("Fix tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts failures")
4. Review and Integrate
- Read each agent's summary
- Check for conflicts (same files edited?)
- If two agents touched the same file → stop and re-scope (one owner per file)
- Run full test suite
- If failures:
- Check for merge conflicts → resolve manually
- If no conflicts → investigate as new failures
- Repeat until green
Agent Prompt Template
Fix the [N] failing tests in [file path]:
1. "[test name]" - [error summary]
2. "[test name]" - [error summary]
Context: [relevant background, e.g., "These are timing/race condition issues"]
Your task:
1. Read the test file, understand what each test verifies
2. Identify root cause—timing issues or actual bugs?
3. Fix by [preferred approach, e.g., "replacing arbitrary timeouts with event-based waiting"]
Do NOT: [anti-patterns, e.g., "just increase timeouts—find the real issue"]
Return: Summary of root cause and changes made.
Common Mistakes
| ❌ Bad | ✅ Good |
|---|---|
| "Fix all the tests" | "Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts" |
| "Fix the race condition" | Paste error messages + test names |
| No constraints | "Do NOT change production code" |
| "Fix it" | "Return summary of root cause and changes" |
Example
Scenario: 6 test failures across 3 files after major refactoring.
Failures:
- agent-tool-abort.test.ts: 3 failures (timing issues)
- batch-completion-behavior.test.ts: 2 failures (tools not executing)
- tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts: 1 failure (execution count = 0)
Decision: Independent domains—abort logic separate from batch completion separate from race conditions.
Dispatch:
Agent 1 → Fix agent-tool-abort.test.ts
Agent 2 → Fix batch-completion-behavior.test.ts
Agent 3 → Fix tool-approval-race-conditions.test.ts
Results:
- Agent 1: Replaced timeouts with event-based waiting
- Agent 2: Fixed event structure bug (threadId in wrong place)
- Agent 3: Added wait for async tool execution
Integration: All fixes independent, no conflicts, full suite green.