Skip to main content

Sub-Agentic Architecture

hatch3r includes a proven sub-agentic delegation system for orchestrating complex work.

Components​

Implementer Agent​

The hatch3r-implementer agent is a focused implementation agent for a single sub-issue. It:

  • Receives issue context from a parent orchestrator
  • Delivers code and tests
  • Reports structured results
  • Does not handle git or board operations (the orchestrator manages those)

Issue Workflow Skill​

The hatch3r-issue-workflow skill provides an 8-step structured workflow:

  1. Parse the issue
  2. Load the appropriate skill
  3. Read project specs
  4. Plan the implementation
  5. Implement
  6. Test
  7. Create a PR
  8. Address review feedback

For epics, it delegates to parallel sub-agents for independent sub-issues.

Board Pickup​

The board-pickup command orchestrates the full cycle:

  • Dependency-aware auto-pick with collision detection
  • Branch creation and issue status updates
  • Sub-agent orchestration for epics
  • Quality checks and PR creation

Tooling Hierarchy​

When agents need information, they follow this priority order:

  1. Project docs -- docs/specs/, docs/adr/, docs/process/
  2. Codebase search -- grep, read files, understand existing code
  3. Library docs -- Context7 MCP for up-to-date documentation
  4. Web research -- Brave Search MCP as a last resort

Delegation Patterns​

Sequential Pipeline​

For dependent work (implement, then test, then review):

  1. Spawn hatch3r-implementer with file scope
  2. Collect results, spawn hatch3r-test-writer with implementation summary
  3. Collect results, spawn hatch3r-reviewer with full diff

Parallel Fan-Out​

For independent work across areas:

  1. Spawn hatch3r-implementer for src/api/ changes
  2. Spawn hatch3r-implementer for src/ui/ changes (different files)
  3. Spawn hatch3r-docs-writer for documentation updates

Planning Fan-Out​

Planning commands use parallel researcher sub-agents:

  • project-spec -- stack, features, architecture, pitfalls, UX, business, production
  • feature-plan -- codebase impact, feature design, architecture, risk
  • bug-plan -- symptom tracer, root cause investigator, impact assessor, regression researcher
  • refactor-plan -- current state analyzer, strategy designer, impact assessor, migration planner