--- name: dynamic-workflows description: This skill should be used when an agent is deciding whether to author a dynamic workflow — a self-authored, ephemeral multi-agent harness — for a task. Use when the user asks about "dynamic workflows", "multi-agent harness", "fan-out", "subagents in parallel", "adversarial verification", "the ultracode trigger", "should I use a workflow", or when a task looks long-running, massively parallel, highly structured, or adversarial. Names the six composable patterns, the election rubric for when NOT to spend the extra compute, and the two governance invariants (INV-1 ephemeral-proposes, INV-2 quarantine). --- # Dynamic Workflows A **dynamic workflow** is a self-authored, ephemeral multi-agent harness: a small program an agent writes for one task, runs once, and discards. It spawns subagents, gives each its own clean context window and model tier, optionally isolates them in worktrees, and coordinates their results. The capability and its patterns originate from Anthropic's "A harness for every task: dynamic workflows in Claude Code" (Shihipar & Bidasaria, 2026); the runtime is triggered by the word `ultracode`. This skill is **knowledge agents read, not a script they run** — a sibling of [`harness-engineering`](../harness-engineering/SKILL.md) and [`context-engineering`](../context-engineering/SKILL.md). It answers three questions before any workflow is authored: 1. **When** is a workflow warranted? — see [`references/when-not-to-use.md`](references/when-not-to-use.md). 2. **Which** pattern fits? — see [`references/patterns.md`](references/patterns.md). 3. **How** does the plugin's governance constrain it? — see [`references/governance.md`](references/governance.md). ## Runtime scope — Claude Code only Dynamic workflows are a **Claude Code runtime capability** and are **not transferable** to GitHub Copilot CLI or any other coding agent — those trees have no workflow runtime. This plugin ships to both the Claude Code and Copilot CLI trees, so this skill is **knowledge everywhere, runtime only on Claude Code**: - **On Claude Code:** workflows can be authored and spawned; the patterns, election rubric, and templates are executable. - **On Copilot CLI or any other agent:** there is no workflow runtime, so this skill is **guidance only** — the patterns and governance below are still worth reading, but no workflow can be spawned. An agent on such a tree must fall back to its existing static behaviour; it must never error or pretend to fan out. Read the rest of this skill as a reasoning model that applies everywhere; act on it as a runtime only where Claude Code provides one. ## Static harness vs. dynamic workflow The plugin is, by default, a **static harness**: a fixed pipeline (`spec-writer → GATE → tdd-agent → implementer → code-reviewer → GUARDRAIL → integration-agent`) that must work for every task and therefore tends toward the generic. A static harness is the right tool for ordinary coding work, and it stays the default. A dynamic workflow is the opposite: generated per task, disposable, and able to hand each subagent a clean context window. That shape defeats three failure modes the static pipeline is exposed to when one context does too much: | Failure mode | What it looks like | | --- | --- | | **Agentic laziness** | Declaring a multi-part job done after partial progress (35 of 50 constraints checked) | | **Self-preferential bias** | An agent preferring its own output when asked to verify or judge it | | **Goal drift** | Losing fidelity to the original objective across turns, worsened by lossy compaction | Dynamic workflows are a **new execution substrate beneath the existing agents** — they do not replace them, and they do not weaken governance. ## The six composable patterns Authored workflows compose six patterns. Each is worked through with a concrete micro-example in [`references/patterns.md`](references/patterns.md); in brief: - **classify-and-act** — route a task by type before doing it. - **fan-out-and-synthesize** — split work across parallel subagents, then merge at a synthesis barrier. - **adversarial verification** — a separate agent tries to refute a result before it is accepted. - **generate-and-filter** — over-generate candidates, then prune. - **tournament** — score independent attempts against a rubric, keep the winner. - **loop-until-done** — iterate until a measurable completion test passes. ## Elect deliberately — the discipline Workflows cost more tokens and suit complex, high-value tasks. Most coding tasks do not need a panel of reviewers. Before authoring one, run the four-question rubric in [`references/when-not-to-use.md`](references/when-not-to-use.md): is the task **long-running, massively parallel, highly structured, or adversarial**? If none apply, use the static pipeline. A workflow should be *elected*, never reflexive — over-orchestration is treated as a regression. Token budgets and model-tier routing for elected workflows live in the project's `MODEL_ROUTING.md` (the *workflow election* section). ## The two governing invariants Both are stated in full, for agents, in [`references/governance.md`](references/governance.md): - **INV-1 — Ephemeral proposes, durable curates.** A workflow is ephemeral; `HARNESS.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, and `MODEL_ROUTING.md` are durable and human-curated. A workflow may **propose** changes to them but may **never write them directly**. Discoveries flow through `REFLECTION_LOG.md → human curates → AGENTS.md`. - **INV-2 — Quarantine.** Any workflow agent that reads untrusted or public content (web pages, external issues, third-party PRs) is withheld high-privilege tools. Acting on such information is done only by separate, trusted agents in the same workflow. ## The workflow template library (forthcoming — S2) A library of opinionated, habitat-aligned workflow *templates* (adapted per task, never run verbatim) ships with this skill in a follow-up slice (S2). When present, the templates will live under `workflows/` in this skill folder and be referenced from here. **Until S2 lands, this skill is reading material only** — there are no runnable templates to invoke yet, and nothing in this skill depends on one existing.