divide-and-conquer

Divide and Conquer

Pick up a task and execute it by splitting the work into independent workstreams that run in parallel via subagents — no CLI required.

Instructions

The user's query is in $ARGUMENTS (a task ID like 077 or a task name/keyword).

1. Find the task file:

   • Read .taskmd.yaml for custom dir (default: tasks) and workflow mode
   • Use Glob for <task-dir>/**/*$ARGUMENTS*.md
   • If multiple matches, read frontmatter to find the exact ID match
   • If not found, list available tasks

2. Read the task file with the Read tool to get the full description, subtasks, and acceptance criteria

3. Mark the task as in-progress:

   • Use Edit to change the status to in-progress in the frontmatter

4. Start a worklog entry (if worklogs are enabled):

   • Check .taskmd.yaml for worklogs: true — only create worklogs if explicitly enabled
   • If enabled, find or create worklog at <task-dir>/<group>/.worklogs/<ID>.md
   • Append a timestamped entry noting your approach

5. Plan and identify workstreams:

   • Use EnterPlanMode to design the overall approach
   • In the plan, include a reference to the original task ID and task file path
   • Analyze the task and break it into independent workstreams — pieces of work that can proceed in parallel without depending on each other's output
   • Examples of independent workstreams:
     • Implementation code vs. tests vs. documentation
     • Changes to separate packages or modules
     • Backend changes vs. frontend changes
   • If the task is simple enough that parallelization adds no benefit, just do it directly (skip to step 7)

6. Launch subagents in parallel:

   • Use the Agent tool to launch one subagent per independent workstream
   • Give each subagent a clear, self-contained prompt describing exactly what to do, including relevant file paths and context
   • Launch all independent subagents in a single message so they run concurrently
   • Use isolation: "worktree" for subagents that modify files, to avoid conflicts
   • Wait for all subagents to complete

7. Coordinate and integrate:

   • Review all subagent results for correctness
   • If subagents ran in worktrees, merge their changes (review diffs, resolve any conflicts)
   • If any subagent failed, handle the failure directly rather than re-launching
   • Run tests and linting to verify the integrated result
   • Check off subtasks (- [x]) in the task file using Edit as they are completed
   • Append worklog entries for key decisions and completed subtasks

8. Write a final worklog entry summarizing what was done, which workstreams ran in parallel, decisions made, and any open items

9. Mark the task as done:

   • Check .taskmd.yaml for workflow mode:
   • Solo mode (default):
     • If the task has verify checks: run them (bash via Bash tool, assert via code inspection)
     • If all pass, use Edit to set status: completed
     • If any fail, fix issues and try again
   • PR-review mode:
     • Open a PR, then use Edit to set status: in-review and add the PR URL to pr array
     • Stop — task completes on PR merge

Worklog Format

Each worklog entry uses a timestamp heading followed by free-form notes:

## 2026-02-15T10:30:00Z

Started divide-and-conquer execution of the search feature task.

**Workstreams identified:**

1. Core search implementation (subagent — worktree)
2. Test suite (subagent — worktree)
3. Documentation updates (subagent)

**Completed:**

- [x] All subagents finished successfully
- [x] Merged worktree changes
- [x] Tests passing after integration

**Decisions:** Used full-text search with SQLite rather than Elasticsearch.

See SPEC_REFERENCE.md (in the plugin root) for frontmatter schema, workflow modes, and verify checks.