Required Plugins

Superpowers plugin: MUST be active for all work using this skill. Use throughout the entire build pipeline — design decisions, code generation, debugging, quality checks, and any task where it offers enhanced capabilities. If superpowers provides a better way to accomplish something, prefer it over the default approach.

AI-Assisted Development Orchestration

Overview

Learn to orchestrate multiple AI agents (like Claude Code, custom sub-agents, or specialized AI tools) to work together effectively in software development.

This skill bridges prompting patterns + orchestration + sub-agent coordination for real-world AI-assisted development.

What you'll learn:

• The 5 orchestration strategies for AI development
• AI-specific coordination patterns (Agent Handoff, Fan-Out/Fan-In, Human-in-the-Loop)
• Real-world examples (MADUUKA, BRIGHTSOMA apps)

Documentation Structure (Tier 2 Deep Dives):

• 📖 orchestration-strategies.md - The 5 core strategies with detailed examples
• 📖 ai-patterns.md - AI-specific orchestration patterns
• 📖 practical-examples.md - Real MADUUKA and BRIGHTSOMA projects

When to Use This Skill

✅ USE when:

• Coordinating multiple AI agents on a single project
• Planning complex features with AI assistance
• Creating workflows that involve AI + human collaboration
• Setting up multi-agent development pipelines
• Optimizing AI-assisted development processes

❌ DON'T USE when:

• Single simple task with one AI agent (just use that agent directly)
• Manual development without AI assistance
• Basic prompting (use prompting-patterns-reference.md instead)

Core Concepts (Quick Reference)

1. AI Agent (Definition)

An AI agent is a specialized AI assistant that handles ONE category of work.

Examples:

• Planning Agent: Analyzes requirements, creates specs
• Coding Agent: Writes implementation code
• Testing Agent: Creates test cases
• Review Agent: Reviews code quality
• Documentation Agent: Writes documentation

Each agent has focused expertise and context.

2. Orchestration (for AI Development)

Orchestration = Coordinating multiple AI agents to work on a project together.

Example workflow:

Planning Agent: Create feature spec
    ↓ (spec output)
Coding Agent: Implement feature (uses spec as input)
    ↓ (code output)
Testing Agent: Create tests (uses code as input)
    ↓ (tests output)
Review Agent: Review everything (uses spec + code + tests)
    ↓
Human: Approve and deploy

3. Execution Strategies

• Sequential: One agent after another (most common)
• Parallel: Multiple agents working simultaneously (50-70% faster)
• Conditional: Different agents based on project type
• Looping: Iterate until quality threshold met
• Retry: Re-run agent if output unsatisfactory

The 5 Orchestration Strategies (Summary)

📖 See orchestration-strategies.md for complete details with code examples.

Strategy 1: Sequential AI Workflow

Use when: Each AI agent needs previous agent's output

Pattern:

Agent 1 (Planning) → Spec
    ↓
Agent 2 (Coding) → Code
    ↓
Agent 3 (Testing) → Tests
    ↓
Agent 4 (Review) → Feedback

Example: Feature development pipeline (planning → coding → testing → review)

Time: 60 minutes (15 + 25 + 15 + 5)

Strategy 2: Parallel AI Execution

Use when: AI agents work on independent components

Pattern:

                ┌─→ Agent 2a: Backend ──┐
Agent 1 (Spec) ─┼─→ Agent 2b: Frontend ─┼─→ Agent 3 (Integration)
                └─→ Agent 2c: Docs ─────┘

Example: Full-stack feature (backend + frontend + docs simultaneously)

Time: 20 minutes parallel (vs 60 sequential) = 67% faster

Strategy 3: Conditional AI Routing

Use when: Different AI agents handle different project types

Pattern:

Analyze Project
  │
  ├─ IF (legacy) → Refactoring Agent
  ├─ ELIF (greenfield) → Architecture Agent
  ├─ ELIF (API) → Integration Agent
  └─ ELSE → Ask human

Example: Documentation generation based on project type

Strategy 4: Looping AI Iteration

Use when: AI agent needs to refine output until quality threshold met

Pattern:

┌──────────────────┐
│ Agent generates  │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ Quality >= 80%?  │◄──┐
│ YES → Done       │   │
│ NO → Refine      │───┘
└──────────────────┘
(max 3 iterations)

Example: Code generation with quality loop (syntax → style → tests)

Strategy 5: Retry with Fallback

Use when: AI agent might fail due to external dependencies

Pattern:

Attempt 1 → Success? YES → Done
            ↓ FAIL (wait 5s)
Attempt 2 → Success? YES → Done
            ↓ FAIL (wait 10s)
Attempt 3 → Success? YES → Done
            ↓ FAIL
Fallback → Degraded mode

Example: External API integration (fetch schema, retry on timeout, use cache if all fail)

The 3 AI Orchestration Patterns (Summary)

📖 See ai-patterns.md for complete details with code examples.

Pattern 1: Agent Handoff (Pipeline)

Use case: One AI agent completes work, passes output to next AI agent

Flow:

Agent A → Output → Agent B → Output → Agent C → Done

Example: Requirements Agent → Specification Agent → Implementation Agent

Key principle: Each agent's output is next agent's input

Pattern 2: Fan-Out/Fan-In (Parallel + Combine)

Use case: Split work across multiple AI agents, then combine results

Flow:

                ┌─→ Agent A ──┐
Input (split) ──┼─→ Agent B ──┼─→ Combine → Output
                └─→ Agent C ──┘

Example: Multi-component documentation (database + API + UI docs in parallel, then combine)

Speedup: 50-70% faster than sequential

Pattern 3: Human-in-the-Loop (Gated Approval)

Use case: AI agents generate work, human approves before continuing

Flow:

Agent 1 → Output → [HUMAN REVIEW] → Approved? YES → Agent 2
                                                 ↓ NO
                                              Revise

Example: Spec → [Review] → Code → [Review] → Tests → [Review] → Deploy

Benefits: Safety, quality control, compliance, learning

Quick Reference: When to Use Which

Real-World Examples (Summary)

📖 See practical-examples.md for complete detailed walkthroughs.

Example 1: MADUUKA - Franchise Inventory Sync

Project: Multi-tenant franchise inventory management

Orchestration used:

• Sequential (Requirements → Implementation → Testing → Review)
• Parallel (Database + API + Tests simultaneously)
• Human-in-the-Loop (3 approval gates)

Agents:

1. Requirements Agent: Create spec (15 min)
2. Database Agent: Schema + models (20 min) ─┐
3. API Agent: Endpoints + validation (20 min) ├─→ Parallel
4. Testing Agent: Tests (20 min) ─────────────┘
5. Integration Agent: Run tests (10 min)
6. Review Agent: Quality check (15 min)

Result: 75 minutes (vs 115 sequential) = 35% faster

Example 2: BRIGHTSOMA - AI Exam Generation

Project: AI-powered exam question generator

Orchestration used:

• Looping (Generate questions until quality >= 80%)
• Retry (Handle AI API failures)
• Sequential (Generator → Rubrics → PDF)

Agents:

1. Question Generator: 17 questions with quality loops (30 min)
2. Validator: Check quality (embedded in loop)
3. Rubric Generator: Grading rubrics (10 min)
4. PDF Generator: Formatted exam + answer key (5 min)

Result: 45 minutes (vs 180 manual) = 75% faster + higher quality

Practical Workflow: How to Apply This Skill

Step 1: Analyze Your Task

Questions to ask:

• How many components does this feature have?
• Can any work be done in parallel?
• Are there external dependencies (APIs, databases)?
• Is this high-risk (needs human approval)?
• What's the quality threshold?

Step 2: Choose Orchestration Strategies

Based on analysis:

• Sequential dependencies? → Use Sequential strategy
• Independent components? → Use Parallel strategy
• Different project types? → Use Conditional strategy
• Quality threshold? → Use Looping strategy
• External APIs? → Use Retry strategy

Combine multiple strategies for complex projects.

Step 3: Design Agent Workflow

Define agents:

• What does each agent do? (ONE job each)
• What input does each need?
• What output does each produce?
• What's the execution order?

Example:

Agent 1: Planning Agent
  Input: User requirements
  Output: docs/specs/feature-spec.md
  Execution: Sequential (first)

Agent 2a: Backend Agent
  Input: docs/specs/feature-spec.md
  Output: Backend code
  Execution: Parallel with 2b and 2c

Agent 2b: Frontend Agent
  Input: docs/specs/feature-spec.md
  Output: Frontend code
  Execution: Parallel with 2a and 2c

Agent 2c: Testing Agent
  Input: docs/specs/feature-spec.md
  Output: Test files
  Execution: Parallel with 2a and 2b

Agent 3: Integration Agent
  Input: Backend + Frontend + Tests
  Output: Integrated feature
  Execution: Sequential (after 2a, 2b, 2c)

Step 4: Write Clear Prompts

Use prompting patterns (see prompting-patterns-reference.md):

"[TASK]

FILE TO READ: [input file from previous agent]

CONTEXT: [Why this is needed, what it builds on]

ORCHESTRATION: [Sequential/Parallel/Conditional/Looping/Retry]
[Dependencies or parallel info]

CONSTRAINTS:
- [Technical constraint 1]
- [Limit 2]
- [Standard 3]

OUTPUT: [Expected output files/format]"

Step 5: Add Human Gates (if needed)

For high-risk work:

Agent → Output → [HUMAN REVIEW] → Approved? → Next agent

What to check:

• Security implications
• Business logic correctness
• Compliance requirements
• Performance concerns

Step 6: Execute and Monitor

Track:

• Which agent is running
• What output was produced
• Quality metrics (if looping)
• Time spent per agent
• Any failures or retries

Log everything for debugging and optimization.

Best Practices

DO:

✅ Break work into focused agents - Each agent does ONE job well ✅ Parallelize when possible - 50-70% faster execution ✅ Add quality loops - Don't accept poor output ✅ Include human gates - High-risk work needs approval ✅ Handle failures gracefully - Retry with backoff, have fallbacks ✅ Provide clear context - Each agent gets spec, input files, orchestration info ✅ Log everything - Agent interactions, decisions, outputs ✅ Combine strategies - Use multiple for complex projects

DON'T:

❌ Don't over-orchestrate simple tasks - Sometimes 1 agent is enough ❌ Don't parallelize dependent work - Causes race conditions ❌ Don't skip quality validation - AI output needs verification ❌ Don't forget exit conditions - Loops must end ❌ Don't assume AI is perfect - Plan for failures ❌ Don't skip human review - Critical features need oversight

Integration with Other Skills

• feature-planning: Use AI agents to execute implementation plans
• prompting-patterns-reference: Better prompts = better agent output
• orchestration-patterns-reference: General orchestration concepts
• custom-sub-agents: Create specialized AI agents

Summary

AI-assisted development orchestration delivers:

• 30-75% faster development (parallelization + automation)
• Higher quality output (validation loops, human gates)
• Better consistency (AI follows patterns reliably)
• Reduced errors (validation catches issues early)

Key concepts:

• Break work into focused agents (ONE job each)
• Use 5 orchestration strategies (Sequential, Parallel, Conditional, Looping, Retry)
• Apply 3 AI patterns (Agent Handoff, Fan-Out/Fan-In, Human-in-the-Loop)
• Combine strategies for complex projects
• Always include quality validation and human oversight

Next steps:

1. 📖 Read orchestration-strategies.md for detailed strategy examples
2. 📖 Read ai-patterns.md for AI-specific patterns
3. 📖 Read practical-examples.md for real MADUUKA and BRIGHTSOMA walkthroughs
4. Apply to your own projects!

Related Skills:

• feature-planning/ - Create implementation plans that AI agents can execute
• prompting-patterns-reference.md - Better prompts for better AI output
• orchestration-patterns-reference.md - General orchestration concepts
• custom-sub-agents/ - Create specialized AI agents

Last Updated: 2026-02-07 Line Count: ~490 lines (compliant with doc-standards.md)