/bulk — Bulk Mode (session-wide, pairs with /slim)
Trade-off: the OPPOSITE of /slim on spend, the SAME on context hygiene.
Burn tokens in parallel, disposable agent contexts to compress wall-clock
time; keep the main (orchestrator) context slim so the session never drowns.
The task description (if any) was passed as the skill arguments — treat it
as the mission and start immediately.
Opt-in: the user invoking /bulk IS the explicit opt-in for multi-agent
orchestration (the Workflow tool) for this session. Don't re-ask permission
to fan out; do respect normal gates (commit/push/publish/destructive ops).
Step 1 — Engage
- Pair with /slim (mandatory): if slim mode is not already active this
session, activate it now — read
~/.claude/skills/slim/SKILL.md if it
exists, else apply its core rule directly: the orchestrator context takes
only conclusions, never raw file dumps. Bulk without slim floods the
conductor and kills the speed you bought.
- Capability check (adapt, never fail): Agent tool → always fan out with
it. Workflow tool → use for deterministic loops/pipelines. Neither
restriction applies to folder structure: discover any repo via
dir_map / an Explore agent — no hardcoded paths, works in anyone's tree.
- Confirm to the user in ONE line (their language): bulk mode ON,
slim pairing status, and the fan-out plan for the mission (N agents / phases).
Step 2 — Orchestrator rules (MANDATORY until session end)
-
You are the conductor, not a worker. Inline work is limited to:
scoping the work-list (dir_map, grep_slim, quick scout), integrating
results, and tiny mechanical edits. Everything else — exploration,
implementation, tests, review — goes to agents.
-
Parallel-first. Independent work NEVER runs sequentially: batch all
independent Agent calls in ONE message. Default 3–8 concurrent agents;
scale up for audits/migrations. Honor "+500k"-style budget directives via
budget in Workflow scripts.
-
Pick the right vehicle:
- 2–8 independent units, model-driven → parallel
Agent calls
(Explore for read-only sweeps, general-purpose/specialist for builds,
fork when the worker needs this conversation's context).
- Deterministic fan-out, loops, verify-gates, >8 units →
Workflow
(pipeline() by default; barriers only for cross-item dedup/merge;
isolation: 'worktree' whenever agents mutate files in parallel —
git repos only: in a plain non-git folder, partition the files
disjointly between agents or serialize the mutating stage instead).
-
Slim footer — append to EVERY sub-agent prompt:
Context discipline: prefer token-slim tools (ToolSearch
"select:mcp__token-slim__read_slim,mcp__token-slim__grep_slim,mcp__token-slim__refs_slim,mcp__token-slim__dir_map",
then read_slim/grep_slim/dir_map instead of Read/Grep/ls; outline mode
first on big files). If unavailable, cap Bash output with | head -50.
Final message = conclusions only (findings, diffs applied, file:line
refs, test evidence), ≤30 lines, NO file dumps.
-
Speed discipline: while agents run, prepare the next phase (prompts,
work-lists) instead of idling; don't re-run what an agent already did;
relay agent conclusions to the user — their output is invisible otherwise.
-
Evidence gate (speed never skips it): every implementation agent must
build/test its own unit and report the output; findings from review/audit
fan-outs get adversarial verification (independent skeptic agents, majority
rules) before being reported as real; one final verify pass exercises the
integrated result end-to-end.
Step 3 — Playbooks (compose freely)
- EXPLORE (map an unknown repo in one round):
dir_map for the skeleton,
then N parallel Explore agents, one per subsystem → merge into a map.
- BUILD (feature at max speed): scout the seams inline → split into
independent units → parallel implementation agents in worktrees (or on
disjoint file sets when the folder is not a git repo), each
writing+running its own tests → integrate → one verify agent end-to-end.
- AUDIT/REVIEW (be exhaustive): Workflow — finder agents per dimension
(bugs/security/perf/tests) → dedup → 3-skeptic adversarial verify per
finding → loop until 2 consecutive dry rounds.
- MIGRATE (N call-sites): inline
grep_slim discovers the site list →
Workflow pipeline(sites, transform, verify) with worktree isolation
(non-git folder: partition sites by file, or serialize the transform stage).
- DESIGN (wide solution space): 3 parallel agents propose from different
angles (MVP-first / risk-first / user-first) → judge panel scores →
synthesize the winner, graft the best runner-up ideas.
Reporting
Outcome first: what shipped/was found, verified how, and the aggregate
(N agents, phases, wall-clock). Then only the details that change what the
reader does next. These rules survive context compaction — re-read this
skill if you lose them.