Multi-Agent Invocation Pattern

Guide for using specialized research agents in parallel for comprehensive investigation.

Research Agents Overview

Agent	Tool	Use Cases	Output
research-breadth (haiku, blue)	Perplexity	Industry trends, best practices, multiple perspectives, comparative analyses, "What are common patterns?"	Narrative patterns with consensus, confidence ratings, contradictions
research-depth (haiku, purple)	Firecrawl	Specific URLs, detailed implementations, code examples, gotchas, "How did X implement Y?"	Source-by-source analysis with code, tradeoffs, applicability
research-technical (haiku, green)	Context7	Official docs, API signatures, TypeScript types, configs, migration guides, "What's the official API?"	Exact API specs with types, configurations, official examples

Agent Selection Decision Tree

Question Type	Agent Combination	Rationale
New technology/framework	breadth + technical	Industry patterns + Official API
Specific error/bug	depth + technical	Detailed solutions + API reference
API integration	technical + depth	Official docs + Real examples
Best practices/patterns	breadth + depth	Industry trends + Case studies
Comparison/decision	breadth + depth	Broad survey + Detailed experiences
Official API only	technical	Just need documentation

Default when unsure: breadth + technical

Parallel Invocation Syntax

Always use Promise.all for parallel execution:

await Promise.all([
  Task({
    subagent_type: 'research-breadth',  // or 'research-depth' or 'research-technical'
    model: 'haiku',
    description: 'Brief description',
    prompt: `Specific research question with focus areas and MCP tool guidance`
  }),

  Task({
    subagent_type: 'research-technical',
    model: 'haiku',
    description: 'Brief description',
    prompt: `Specific research question with focus areas and MCP tool guidance`
  })
]);

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: New Technology

Scenario: Learning a new framework Agents: breadth + technical Focus: breadth (architectural patterns, industry trends), technical (official API, configs) Consolidation: Industry patterns → Official implementation

Pattern 2: Specific Solution

Scenario: Debugging or implementing known solution Agents: depth + technical Focus: depth (blog posts, implementations, gotchas), technical (official API, types) Consolidation: Real-world patterns → Official API usage

Pattern 3: API Integration

Scenario: Integrating with library/API Agents: technical + depth Focus: technical (official API, error codes), depth (tutorials, testing approaches) Consolidation: Official API first → Battle-tested patterns

Pattern 4: Comparative Analysis

Scenario: Choosing between approaches Agents: breadth + depth Focus: breadth (comparisons, trends), depth (migration experiences, lessons) Consolidation: Industry trends → Real experiences

Synthesis Strategy

Use research-synthesis skill to consolidate findings:

Consolidate: Group by theme, identify consensus, note contradictions
Narrativize: Weave findings into story (not bullet dumps): "Industry uses X (breadth), implemented via Y (technical), as shown by Z (depth)"
Attribute: Link claims to sources, note which agent provided insights
Identify Gaps: Unanswered questions, contradictions, disagreements
Extract Actions: Implementation path, code/configs, risks, constraints

Anti-Patterns vs Best Practices

❌ Anti-Pattern	✅ Best Practice
Single agent for multi-faceted question	2-3 agents for comprehensive coverage
Sequential: `await` each agent	Parallel: `Promise.all([...])`
Copy agent outputs verbatim in sections	Synthesize into narrative with attribution
Skip source attribution	Note which agent/source for each claim
List findings separately	Weave into coherent story

Complete Example

User: "How do I implement real-time notifications in Next.js?"

Step 1: Analyze → New technology + implementation Step 2: Launch → breadth + technical in parallel Step 3: Synthesize:

## Findings

Industry research shows three approaches: SSE (most popular for Next.js), WebSockets
(bidirectional), Polling (fallback). Official Next.js docs indicate route handlers
support SSE via ReadableStream, but WebSockets require external service on Vercel.

**Recommendation**: Use SSE via Next.js route handlers - aligns with framework
capabilities and industry best practices.

**Implementation**: Create API route with ReadableStream → Client uses EventSource
→ Handle reconnection/errors → Consider Vercel limitations

**Sources**: [Perplexity] Next.js real-time patterns 2024-2025 | [Context7] Next.js Route Handlers

Integration Points

Used by:

/research command (essentials) - User-initiated research
implementing-tasks skill (experimental) - Auto-launch when STUCK
planning skill (experimental) - Uses exploration agents instead

Other agent categories:

Exploration (codebase): architecture-explorer + codebase-analyzer (parallel)
Review (code quality): test-coverage + error-handling + security (all 3 parallel)

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