Drop #13 · CTA keyword: AGENTS · Type: prompt + agent files Works with: Claude Code (subagents). The orchestration prompt is plain text, so the same structure works in any agent tool that can run parallel workers.
One lead agent splits your goal into specialist jobs, runs them at the same time, checks their evidence and ships one finished result. This is the exact prompt structure behind an 18-agent marketing setup.
What you get
- The lead prompt: paste it into Claude Code with your goal. The lead writes a brief for each specialist, launches them in parallel, then merges and ships.
- A specialist template for the brief every agent gets: the job, the evidence rules, the output file, the crash-safety rule and the model to use.
- Two agent files (
.claude/agents/) you can keep: a deep-work researcher on Opus and a mechanical worker on Sonnet. - House rules that stop a small laptop from crashing: one heavy job at a time, partial results saved as you go.
Why it works: a single agent doing ten jobs in one long chat loses the thread. Ten agents with one tight brief each don't, and the lead only has to read ten short reports.
Before you start
- Claude Code installed and signed in (
claudein a terminal). - A project folder with Git (
git initif it's new). Every agent writes files, and Git lets you undo anything. - One goal you can state in a sentence, and what "done" looks like (a file, a report, a deployed page).
- Optional: a Pro or Max plan with enough usage for parallel agents. Parallel agents use several times the tokens of one.
Step by step
Step 1: Create the two agent files
In Claude Code, type /agents and choose "Create new agent", or create the files by hand. Project agents live in .claude/agents/; personal ones in ~/.claude/agents/.
.claude/agents/deep-researcher.md:
---
name: deep-researcher
description: Deep research and judgment work. Use for anything that needs reading many sources, weighing evidence or making creative or video decisions.
model: opus
---
You are a specialist on a team run by a lead agent. You get one brief. Do only that brief.
Evidence rules:
- Every number you report has a public source link and the date you read it.
- If a number is not visible, write "n/v". Never estimate and never fill gaps from memory.
- Label every finding Strong (4+ examples), Medium (2-3) or Weak (1 example or an inference).
Crash safety:
- Create your output file first, with a STATUS line at the top.
- Append each finding to the file as soon as you have it. Never hold results only in the chat.
- When done, set STATUS: COMPLETE and end with a 5-line summary for the lead.
.claude/agents/worker.md:
---
name: worker
description: Mechanical work with a clear spec: renaming, formatting, converting files, scheduling, checking lists. Not for judgment calls.
model: sonnet
tools: Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Bash
---
You get one precise task. Do exactly that, append progress to your output file as you go,
and report what you changed with file paths. If the spec is unclear, stop and say what is missing.
Model rule of thumb: Opus for deep work, research synthesis, writing, design and video decisions. Sonnet for mechanical, well-specified work. Start a new session (or run /agents) after adding files so they load.
Step 2: Paste the lead prompt
Start claude in your project folder and paste this, with your goal filled in:
You are the LEAD. My goal: <one sentence goal>.
Done means: <the exact deliverable, e.g. "a published landing page and a 1-page report">.
1. PLAN. Split the goal into 3 to 8 independent specialist jobs. Jobs must not edit
the same files. Show me the list (name, job, output file, model) and wait for my OK.
2. BRIEF. For each job write a brief with: the goal in one line, what to read first,
what to produce and where (one file per agent under work/<name>.md), the evidence rules,
"append partial results as you go", and the model: deep-researcher (Opus) for research,
writing, design or video; worker (Sonnet) for mechanical tasks.
3. RUN. Launch all independent agents in parallel in a single step. Run dependent jobs
only after the job they depend on reports COMPLETE.
4. HEAVY JOBS. Anything that loads a big model, renders video, encodes with ffmpeg or runs
a browser is a heavy job. Run at most ONE heavy job at a time, even if agents are parallel.
Tell each agent this rule in its brief.
5. CHECK. When an agent reports, open its file. Reject any number without a source or date,
and any file without STATUS: COMPLETE. Send it back with the exact gap.
6. SYNTHESIZE. Merge the reports into one decision or build. Where reports conflict,
the stronger evidence wins; say which and why.
7. SHIP. Produce the deliverable, commit with a clear message, and give me a report under
200 words: what shipped, where it is, what is still open.
Rules: ask me only about money, publishing and irreversible actions. Everything else, decide.
Keep a RESUME.md with the current step so we can continue after a crash.
Step 3: Approve the plan
The lead shows you the job list first. Check two things:
- No two agents touch the same file. If they must, run them one after the other.
- Each job has one output file. That's what makes a crash cheap: the partial file survives.
Reply "OK, run it" or correct the list.
Step 4: Let them run
- The lead launches the independent agents together and waits for their reports.
- You can keep talking to the lead while they work.
- If your machine is small (8 GB of RAM), keep the heavy-job rule. The safest version is a lock that every heavy command must take:
# heavy-run.sh: run one heavy job at a time
LOCK=/tmp/heavy.lock
until mkdir "$LOCK" 2>/dev/null; do sleep 20; done
trap 'rmdir "$LOCK"' EXIT
"$@"
Tell the lead: "Every render, encode or model run goes through bash heavy-run.sh <command>."
Step 5: Review the lead's merge
The lead reads every report, rejects unsourced numbers and ships. You get one short report with file paths. Open the deliverable, not the chat.
Optional: builders in separate copies of the repo
When several agents write code at once, give each its own Git worktree so they never collide:
git worktree add ../feature-a -b feature-a
git worktree add ../feature-b -b feature-b
Tell the lead: "Each builder works in its own worktree and branch. You merge them one by one and run the tests after each merge."
Optional: run it on a schedule
For a job that repeats (a morning news scan, a weekly report), save the lead prompt to a file and run it headless on a schedule:
claude -p "$(cat lead-prompt.txt)"
Put that line in cron (Mac/Linux) or Task Scheduler (Windows), or use your Claude Code version's scheduled tasks if it has them.
What you get at the end
- One finished deliverable, not ten half-answers.
- A
work/folder with every specialist's report, each with its sources and a STATUS line. - A plan you approved before anything ran, and a RESUME.md if anything stopped halfway.
Troubleshooting
- Agents run one at a time: ask the lead to "launch all independent agents in a single step". Parallel launches happen when they're sent together.
- Two agents overwrote each other: they shared a file. Give each its own output file, or its own worktree for code.
- The laptop froze: two heavy jobs overlapped. Add the lock above and tell every brief about it.
- Reports full of guesses: repeat the evidence rules in each brief and have the lead reject any number without a link and a date.
- Usage ran out fast: fewer agents (3 to 5 at a time), Sonnet for mechanical jobs, and tighter briefs.
- New agent files not found: restart the session after adding files to
.claude/agents/.
Safety and license
- Agents act with your permissions. Keep Claude Code's permission prompts on for anything that deletes files, spends money, sends messages or publishes.
- Don't paste passwords, API keys or customer data into briefs. Point agents at files instead, and keep secrets out of the repo.
- The prompt and agent files on this page are yours to copy and change.
Tested
- This is the structure behind an 18-agent setup (5 researchers, a news desk, voice, studio, design, funnel, publishing and checking roles) run on 2026-09-29 and 2026-09-30 on an 8 GB laptop, with the one-heavy-job lock.
- The agent file format (YAML frontmatter with
name,description, optionaltoolsandmodel) follows the Claude Code subagent docs. The/agentscommand andclaude -pare Claude Code features; check the docs for your version.
Sources
- Claude Code subagents: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/sub-agents
- Claude Code headless mode (
claude -p): https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/sdk/sdk-headless - Git worktrees: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-worktree