Pattern for progressively refining context retrieval to solve the subagent context problem.
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What the file says
# Iterative Retrieval Pattern
Solves the "context problem" in multi-agent workflows where subagents don't know what context they need until they start working.
## When to Activate
- Spawning subagents that need codebase context they cannot predict upfront
- Building multi-agent workflows where context is progressively refined
- Encountering "context too large" or "missing context" failures in agent tasks
- Designing RAG-like retrieval pipelines for code exploration
- Optimizing token usage in agent orchestration
## The Problem
Subagents are spawned with limited context. They don't know:
- Which files contain relevant code
- What patterns exist in the codebase
- What terminology the project uses
Standard approaches fail:
- **Send everything**: Exceeds context limits
- **Send nothing**: Agent lacks critical information
- **Guess what's needed**: Often wrong
## The Solution: Iterative Retrieval
A 4-phase loop that progressively refines context:
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ DISPATCH │─────│ EVALUATE │ │
…
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GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_p3mzi4nz7huhm5bc
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GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/1f8f1498c023961760ded33db22964645d23b100eeba531e3318a6072765997f
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