When one agent
is not enough.
A practical guide to asking for work that is too big for a single pass, and to reading what comes back while it is running.
The swarm panel mid-run, annotated: lead, active workers, queue, completed.
16/9Using it well
Ask for the outcome, not the split
You do not need to decide how the job divides. Describing the finished thing gives the lead the information it needs to cut the work sensibly; describing the pieces makes you the planner and wastes the part that is actually good.
Watch the panel, not the chat
During a swarm the conversation goes quiet, because the work is happening in workers rather than in the thread. The panel is where the run is legible: which workers are active, what each was asked for, what has come back.
Panel with a mix of running, queued and completed workers.
4/3Quiet is not stuck
Six workers run at a time and the rest queue. A run with nothing visibly happening for a minute is usually a run where every slot is busy on something long. The panel will show it.
Running one
- 1Pick Swarm, or just askSelect it in the composer, or ask for something big and let the agent hand it over.
- 2Describe the whole jobThe outcome and the constraints. Not the task list.
- 3Read the panelWorkers, briefs, results. Step in whenever you want.
FAQ
How long do swarm runs take?
Minutes to hours. It is for the jobs where that is the honest answer.
Can I stop one partway?
Yes, and what has already been produced is still on disk.
Why only six at once?
Beyond that the provider rate-limits, and rate-limited workers fail in ways that look like bugs.