Smithers

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, copy the smithers-worker agent to ~/.claude/agents/smithers-worker.md.

Read: references/smithers-worker.md

Overview

Smithers takes a list of tasks, creates isolated worktrees, dispatches parallel subagents to implement each, handles automated PR reviews, and only presents PRs for human review after CI passes and all review comments are addressed.

Core principle: Humans review polished PRs, not work-in-progress.

Announce at start: "I'm using the smithers skill to dispatch parallel workers."

When to Use

• You have multiple independent tasks to implement
• You want fully autonomous implementation through to PR-ready state
• You trust automated review cycles before human involvement

When NOT to Use

• Tasks are interdependent (would cause merge conflicts)
• Requirements are unclear (need human input during implementation)
• You want human oversight during implementation

Iron Laws

1. Human confirms task selection before dispatch
2. One worktree per task - no shared git state
3. CI must pass before presenting to human
4. All review comments must be addressed AND threads resolved
5. Never skip the review loop - iterate until clean

Progress Checklist

Copy this checklist and track progress:

• Tasks identified (natural language, --from-issues, beads, or asked user)
• User confirmed task selection
• Worktrees created (one per task)
• Workers dispatched (one per task)
• PRs created
• Polling loop running (every 60s)
• For each PR: CI passing (gh pr checks)
• For each PR: reviewDecision is APPROVED or null (not CHANGES_REQUESTED)
• For each PR: unresolved review threads = 0
• All clean PRs presented to human
• After merge: worktrees removed and tasks closed

Configuration

The Smithers Loop

digraph smithers {
  rankdir=TB;
  fetch [label="Get tasks"];
  confirm [label="Human confirms"];
  worktrees [label="Create worktrees"];
  dispatch [label="Dispatch agents"];
  pr [label="Create PR"];
  poll_check [label="Poll 60s / check ready"];
  fix [label="Dispatch fix"];
  present [label="Present to human"];

  fetch -> confirm;
  confirm -> worktrees [label="yes"];
  confirm -> fetch [label="no"];
  worktrees -> dispatch;
  dispatch -> pr;
  pr -> poll_check;
  poll_check -> fix [label="CI fail or comments"];
  fix -> poll_check;
  poll_check -> present [label="all clean"];
}

Execution Steps

Step 1: Get Tasks

Determine task source in this order:

1. Natural language from user:

"implement login and fix the navbar"
"do X, Y, and Z"
"I want you to add auth, update the API, and write tests"

Parse into discrete tasks. Generate IDs: smithers-1, smithers-2, etc.

2. GitHub issues (if --from-issues specified):

gh issue list --label ready --json number,title,body --limit 10

Use issue number as ID: issue-123, issue-456, etc.

3. beads (if bd CLI available and no other source):

bd ready --json

Filter for tasks without gates. Use bead ID: bd-123, etc.

4. None of the above: Ask user: "What tasks should I implement in parallel?"

Step 2: Detect Review Bots

Check which automated reviewers are configured:

# Check for roborev
ls .roborev.yaml .roborev.yml 2>/dev/null && echo "roborev: enabled"

Step 3: Present for Confirmation

Display parsed tasks to user:

Ready to dispatch 3 tasks:

1. [smithers-1] Add user authentication
2. [smithers-2] Fix navbar responsive layout
3. [smithers-3] Update API error handling

Review bots detected: CodeRabbit, roborev

Proceed? (y/n/select specific)

STOP HERE. Wait for explicit user confirmation.

Step 4: Create Worktrees

For each confirmed task:

# Ensure .gitignore covers worktrees
grep -q "^\.worktrees/" .gitignore || echo ".worktrees/" >> .gitignore

# Create isolated worktree (ID is smithers-N, issue-N, or bd-N)
git worktree add ".worktrees/<ID>" -b "feature/<ID>-<slug>"

Step 5: Dispatch Parallel Subagents

Launch one smithers-worker subagent per task in parallel.

Dispatch command:

Task(
  subagent_type="smithers-worker",
  prompt="Implement task <ID>: <Title>

Working directory: .worktrees/<ID>
Description: <Description>

Return: PR URL, branch, test output, files changed, commit hash"
)

Critical: Use subagent_type="smithers-worker" - NOT general-purpose. The smithers-worker agent is configured with Write/Edit/Bash tools and acceptEdits permission mode.

Step 6: Monitor and Address Reviews (Polling Loop)

After PRs created, enter the polling loop. Check every 60 seconds until all PRs are ready.

Polling procedure (repeat every 60 seconds):

# For each PR, check status
gh pr view PR_NUMBER --json state,mergeable,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup,reviews,comments

Per-PR status check (MUST run both):

# 1. CI status (did checks pass?)
gh pr checks PR_NUMBER

# 2. Review decision (CRITICAL - don't skip this!)
gh pr view PR_NUMBER --json reviewDecision --jq '.reviewDecision'
# Returns: APPROVED, CHANGES_REQUESTED, REVIEW_REQUIRED, or null

Check for unresolved review threads:

gh api graphql -f query='
  query($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $pr: Int!) {
    repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
      pullRequest(number: $pr) {
        reviewThreads(first: 100) {
          nodes {
            isResolved
            comments(first: 1) { nodes { body } }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
' -f owner=OWNER -f repo=REPO -F pr=PR_NUMBER --jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes | map(select(.isResolved == false)) | length'

Ready when: Returns 0 (no unresolved threads)

CRITICAL:

• gh pr checks showing "pass" for CodeRabbit only means the bot ran - NOT that the review was approved
• You MUST check reviewDecision separately
• You MUST check that ALL review threads are resolved (not just comments addressed)

On each poll iteration:

1. Check all PRs for CI status + review status + unresolved threads
2. If CI fails: dispatch smithers-worker to fix, push, reset iteration count for that PR
3. If unresolved review threads exist: dispatch smithers-worker to address comments AND resolve threads, push, reset iteration count
4. If PR clean (CI pass + reviewDecision OK + zero unresolved threads): mark as ready
5. If 3+ fix iterations on same PR: escalate to human, stop polling that PR
6. If ALL PRs ready: exit loop, proceed to Step 7
7. Otherwise: wait 60 seconds, then poll again

Critical: Do not stop polling until ALL PRs are ready or escalated. Keep checking every 60 seconds.

Step 7: Present to Human

Only when ALL PRs have CI passing and no unresolved comments:

All PRs ready for your review:

1. PR #123: Add user authentication (smithers-1)
   https://github.com/org/repo/pull/123
   CI: passing | Reviews: approved

2. PR #124: Fix navbar responsive layout (smithers-2)
   https://github.com/org/repo/pull/124
   CI: passing | Reviews: approved

Step 8: Cleanup After Merge

# Always: remove worktree
git worktree remove ".worktrees/<ID>"

# If task was from beads: close it
bd close <ID> --reason "PR merged"

# If task was from GitHub issue: close it
gh issue close <NUMBER> --reason completed

Quick Reference

Red Flags

Failure Modes

Requirements

• gh CLI
• Git worktree support
• smithers-worker agent (see Prerequisites above)

Optional Integrations

• beads - Auto-detects ready tasks via bd ready
• roborev - Local code review
• CodeRabbit, Codex - Org-level PR review bots