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Multi Agent Orchestration

Multi-agent task delegation and process orchestration with audit logging and agent learning capabili

Rating
4.5 (420 reviews)
Downloads
938 downloads
Version
1.0.0

Overview

Multi-agent task delegation and process orchestration with audit logging and agent learning capabilities.

Complete Documentation

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Colony Orchestration Skill

Multi-agent task delegation and process orchestration with audit logging and agent learning capabilities.

Quick Start

bash
# Single task - auto-routed
node scripts/colony.mjs dispatch "find top 5 time-series databases"

# Multi-stage process
node scripts/colony.mjs process validate-idea --context "AI meal planning for parents"
node scripts/colony.mjs process-status  # check progress
node scripts/colony.mjs approve abc123  # continue past checkpoint

# Check audit stats
node scripts/colony.mjs audit

# View agent memory
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout

Agents

AgentRoleSpecialization
scuttleresearcherQuick searches, lookups, fact-finding
scoutresearcherDeep market/competitor research, intelligence
forecastanalystData analysis, trends, projections
pincercoderWriting, debugging, refactoring code
shellopsGit, deployments, system tasks
forgeproductPRDs, specs, roadmaps
ledgerfinancePricing, costs, business cases
musecreativeBrainstorming, naming, ideas
scribewriterBlog posts, docs, long-form content
quillcopywriterLanding pages, sales copy, ads
echosocialTweets, social posts, promotion
sentryqaTesting, bug verification

Task Commands

Dispatch (Auto-Route)

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs dispatch "research best practices for API rate limiting"
Automatically detects the best agent based on task keywords.

Assign to Specific Agent

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs assign scout "find top 5 time-series databases"
node scripts/colony.mjs assign pincer "refactor the auth module to use JWT"
node scripts/colony.mjs assign shell "deploy the staging branch"

Check Status

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs status
Shows all agents and their current tasks.

Get Results

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs results              # Latest completed task
node scripts/colony.mjs results abc123       # Specific task by ID

View History

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs history              # Last 10 completed/failed
node scripts/colony.mjs history --limit 20   # Custom limit

Process Commands

Processes are multi-stage workflows that chain agents together.

List Available Processes

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs processes

Start a Process

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs process <process-name> --context "description"

Examples:

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs process validate-idea --context "AI-powered meal planning for busy parents"
node scripts/colony.mjs process content-pipeline --context "How to use vector databases for RAG"
node scripts/colony.mjs process product-launch --context "Life Lunch ritual kit for parents"
node scripts/colony.mjs process bug-triage --context "Login fails with OAuth on mobile"

Check Process Status

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs process-status           # Show latest run
node scripts/colony.mjs process-status abc123    # Specific run

Shows: current stage, completed stages, checkpoints, output files.

View Process Runs

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs runs                 # All runs (active, paused, completed)
node scripts/colony.mjs runs --limit 5       # Last 5

Approve Checkpoint

When a process hits a checkpoint, it pauses for human approval:
bash
node scripts/colony.mjs approve abc123

Also used to retry a failed stage.

Cancel a Process

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs cancel abc123

Audit Commands

Track agent performance, task statistics, and system health.

Dashboard

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs audit
Shows global stats, per-agent summary, and recent events.

Agent Details

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs audit agent scout
node scripts/colony.mjs audit agent pincer
Shows detailed stats for a specific agent including:
  • Total tasks, success rate
  • Average duration
  • Token usage
  • Recent failures

Event Log

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs audit log              # Last 20 events
node scripts/colony.mjs audit log --limit 50   # More events

Slowest Tasks

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs audit slow             # Top 10 slowest
node scripts/colony.mjs audit slow --limit 20

Recent Failures

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs audit failures         # Last 10 failures
node scripts/colony.mjs audit failures --limit 20

Learning Commands

Agents learn from experience and share knowledge.

Feedback

Record feedback for completed tasks:
bash
node scripts/colony.mjs feedback abc123 "Great research, but needed more pricing data"

Agent Memory

Each agent has a persistent memory file with lessons learned:

bash
# View an agent's memory
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout

# Add a lesson
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout add "Always check publication dates on research sources"

# Add to specific sections
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout add "Use bullet points for clarity" --pattern
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout add "Missed competitor X in analysis" --mistake
node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout add "Prefers markdown tables over lists" --pref

Shared Learnings

Cross-agent insights and lessons:

bash
# View all shared learnings
node scripts/colony.mjs learn

# Add a learning
node scripts/colony.mjs learn add "validate-idea works better with 3 competitors max" --category process
node scripts/colony.mjs learn add "Always verify API rate limits early" --category technical --source run-abc123

Global Context

Shared context all agents can access:

bash
# View global context
node scripts/colony.mjs context

# Set preferences
node scripts/colony.mjs context set preferences.codeStyle "TypeScript, functional"
node scripts/colony.mjs context set preferences.timezone "America/Chicago"

# Add active facts (temporary context)
node scripts/colony.mjs context add-fact "We're targeting enterprise customers"
node scripts/colony.mjs context add-fact "Launch deadline is Q2 2024"

# Add decisions
node scripts/colony.mjs context add-decision "Use Postgres over MySQL" --project "life-lunch"

# Add projects
node scripts/colony.mjs context add-project "life-lunch"

Retrospective

Review recent activity and generate insights:

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs retro              # Last 7 days
node scripts/colony.mjs retro --days 14    # Last 14 days

Shows:

  • Task completion summary
  • Per-agent stats
  • Failure patterns
  • Suggested learnings

Available Processes

validate-idea

Validate a business idea end-to-end
  • Stages: brainstorm → research → analyze → spec → estimate
  • Checkpoints: after analyze
  • Output: business-case.md

product-launch

End-to-end product launch
  • Stages: research → spec → build → copy
  • Checkpoints: after spec, after copy
  • Output: market-brief.md, prd.md, code/, landing-copy.md

content-pipeline

Research, write, publish, promote content
  • Stages: research → draft → review → publish → promote
  • Checkpoints: review (human reviews draft)
  • Output: research.md, draft.md, social-posts.md

bug-triage

Reproduce, fix, deploy bug fixes
  • Stages: reproduce → fix → test → deploy
  • Checkpoints: none (fast path)
  • Output: bug-report.md, fix-summary.md

customer-research

Deep dive on a customer segment
  • Stages: identify → pain-points → validate → synthesize
  • Checkpoints: none
  • Output: customer-profile.md, insights.md

landing-page

Create a full landing page
  • Stages: strategy → copy → review → build
  • Checkpoints: after copy review
  • Output: strategy.md, copy.md, landing.html, landing.css

How Processes Work

  • Start - Process creates a run entry and spawns first stage agent
  • Execute - Each stage runs with inputs from previous stages
  • Checkpoint - If stage is a checkpoint, process pauses for approval
  • Continue - After approval, next stage runs
  • Complete - All stages done, outputs in colony/context//

Context Passing

  • {context} in task templates is replaced with your --context value
  • Stage outputs are saved to colony/context//
  • Next stage reads inputs from previous stage's output files
  • Agent memory and global context are injected into prompts
  • Full task history in tasks.json

Parallel Stages

Stages that share the same parallel_group run concurrently:

yaml
stages:
  - id: spec
    agent: forge
    inputs: [analysis.md]
    parallel_group: "final"  # Stages with same group run together
    
  - id: estimate
    agent: ledger
    inputs: [analysis.md]
    parallel_group: "final"  # Same group = parallel execution

When the process reaches a parallel group:

  • All consecutive stages with the same parallel_group are collected
  • All stages spawn concurrently (using Promise.all())
  • Process waits for ALL parallel stages to complete
  • If any stage fails, the entire group fails
  • Checkpoints work per-group (pause after all parallel stages complete)
Output shows parallel execution clearly:
text
═══ Parallel Group: final (2 stages) ═══
    → Stage 4: spec (forge)
    → Stage 5: estimate (ledger)

--- [PARALLEL] Stage 4/5: spec ---
--- [PARALLEL] Stage 5/5: estimate ---

═══ Parallel Group: final completed ═══

When to use parallel groups:

  • Stages that read the same inputs (no dependencies on each other)
  • Build + copy tasks (both depend on spec, not on each other)
  • Multiple analyses of the same data
  • Independent research threads
Processes with parallel stages:
  • validate-idea: spec + estimate run in parallel
  • product-launch: build + copy run in parallel

Notifications

Colony can send notifications when processes hit checkpoints, complete, or fail. Notifications use openclaw cron wake to alert you.

Configuration (colony/config.yaml):

yaml
notifications:
  enabled: true         # Master switch for all notifications
  on_checkpoint: true   # Notify when process pauses at checkpoint
  on_complete: true     # Notify when process finishes
  on_failure: true      # Notify when process/stage fails

Manage via CLI:

bash
# View current config
node scripts/colony.mjs config

# Disable all notifications
node scripts/colony.mjs config set notifications.enabled false

# Enable only failure notifications
node scripts/colony.mjs config set notifications.on_checkpoint false
node scripts/colony.mjs config set notifications.on_complete false
node scripts/colony.mjs config set notifications.on_failure true

Notification examples:

  • 🛑 Colony checkpoint: Process "validate-idea" paused after stage "analyze". To continue: colony approve abc123
  • Colony complete: Process "validate-idea" finished in 120s. Run ID: abc123
  • Colony failed: Process "validate-idea" failed at stage "research". Error: Agent timed out. Run ID: abc123

Checkpoints

Checkpoints pause the process for human review. Two ways to define:

  • In process checkpoints array (after that stage completes)
  • As a standalone stage with checkpoint: true (human-only review step)

File Structure

text
skills/colony/
├── SKILL.md              # This file
├── package.json          # Dependencies (js-yaml)
├── colony/
│   ├── agents.yaml       # Agent definitions
│   ├── processes.yaml    # Process definitions
│   ├── config.yaml       # Notification & behavior config
│   ├── tasks.json        # Task queue and history
│   ├── runs.json         # Process run tracking
│   ├── feedback.json     # Task feedback storage
│   ├── learnings.yaml    # Shared cross-agent learnings
│   ├── global-context.json  # Shared context for all agents
│   ├── audit/
│   │   ├── log.jsonl     # Append-only event log
│   │   ├── global.json   # Aggregate statistics
│   │   └── agents/       # Per-agent statistics
│   │       ├── scout.json
│   │       ├── pincer.json
│   │       └── ...
│   ├── memory/           # Per-agent persistent memory
│   │   ├── scout.md
│   │   ├── pincer.md
│   │   └── ...
│   └── context/          # Per-task and per-run outputs
│       └── <run-id>/
└── scripts/
    ├── colony.mjs         # Main CLI
    ├── colony-worker.mjs  # Background agent executor
    ├── agent-wrapper.mjs # Task lifecycle utilities
    ├── audit.mjs         # Audit system functions
    └── learning.mjs      # Learning system functions

Audit Events

The audit log tracks these events:

EventFields
task_startedtaskId, agent, processRunId?, stage?
task_completedtaskId, agent, durationMs, tokens, success
task_failedtaskId, agent, durationMs, error
checkpoint_waitingrunId, stage
checkpoint_approvedrunId, stage
checkpoint_rejectedrunId, stage, reason
process_startedrunId, processId, context
process_completedrunId, processId, durationMs
feedback_receivedtaskId, agent, feedback

Customization

Add New Agents

Edit colony/agents.yaml:
yaml
agents:
  myagent:
    role: specialist
    description: >
      What this agent does...
    model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4
    triggers:
      - keyword1
      - keyword2

After adding, create their memory file:

bash
touch colony/memory/myagent.md

Add New Processes

Edit colony/processes.yaml:
yaml
processes:
  my-process:
    description: "What this process does"
    triggers: [keyword1, keyword2]
    stages:
      - id: stage1
        agent: scout
        task: "Do something with: {context}"
        outputs: [output1.md]
      - id: stage2
        agent: pincer
        task: "Next step based on previous"
        inputs: [output1.md]
        outputs: [output2.md]
    checkpoints: [stage1]  # Optional: pause after these stages

Integration

Works with OpenClaw's agent sessions.

Dispatch/Assign (async): Tasks are spawned in the background and the CLI returns immediately. Use colony status to monitor progress and colony results to view output.

Process stages (blocking): Multi-stage processes run sequentially, waiting for each stage to complete before proceeding. This ensures proper data flow between stages and checkpoint handling.

Each agent receives:

  • Their role description
  • Lessons from their memory file
  • Active facts from global context
  • Project/preference context

Examples

Validate a Startup Idea

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs process validate-idea \
  --context "Subscription box for home coffee brewing experiments"

Watch as it flows: brainstorm → research → analyze → (checkpoint) → spec → estimate

Write and Publish a Blog Post

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs process content-pipeline \
  --context "Why RAG is eating traditional search"

Stages: research → draft → (human review) → publish → promote

Quick Research Task

bash
node scripts/colony.mjs dispatch "compare Pinecone vs Weaviate vs Milvus"

Auto-routes to scout, returns comparison.

Track Performance

bash
# After several tasks, check overall health
node scripts/colony.mjs audit

# Deep dive into a struggling agent
node scripts/colony.mjs audit agent pincer
node scripts/colony.mjs audit failures

# Add learnings from issues
node scripts/colony.mjs memory pincer add "Handle file not found errors gracefully" --mistake

Installation

Terminal bash

openclaw install multi-agent-orchestration
    
Copied!

💻Code Examples

node scripts/colony.mjs memory scout

node-scriptscolonymjs-memory-scout.txt
## Agents

| Agent | Role | Specialization |
|-------|------|----------------|
| **scuttle** | researcher | Quick searches, lookups, fact-finding |
| **scout** | researcher | Deep market/competitor research, intelligence |
| **forecast** | analyst | Data analysis, trends, projections |
| **pincer** | coder | Writing, debugging, refactoring code |
| **shell** | ops | Git, deployments, system tasks |
| **forge** | product | PRDs, specs, roadmaps |
| **ledger** | finance | Pricing, costs, business cases |
| **muse** | creative | Brainstorming, naming, ideas |
| **scribe** | writer | Blog posts, docs, long-form content |
| **quill** | copywriter | Landing pages, sales copy, ads |
| **echo** | social | Tweets, social posts, promotion |
| **sentry** | qa | Testing, bug verification |

## Task Commands

### Dispatch (Auto-Route)

node scripts/colony.mjs dispatch "research best practices for API rate limiting"

node-scriptscolonymjs-dispatch-research-best-practices-for-api-rate-limiting.txt
Automatically detects the best agent based on task keywords.

### Assign to Specific Agent

node scripts/colony.mjs status

node-scriptscolonymjs-status.txt
Shows all agents and their current tasks.

### Get Results

node scripts/colony.mjs history --limit 20 # Custom limit

node-scriptscolonymjs-history---limit-20--custom-limit.txt
## Process Commands

Processes are multi-stage workflows that chain agents together.

### List Available Processes

node scripts/colony.mjs process-status abc123 # Specific run

node-scriptscolonymjs-process-status-abc123--specific-run.txt
Shows: current stage, completed stages, checkpoints, output files.

### View Process Runs

node scripts/colony.mjs runs --limit 5 # Last 5

node-scriptscolonymjs-runs---limit-5--last-5.txt
### Approve Checkpoint
When a process hits a checkpoint, it pauses for human approval:

node scripts/colony.mjs approve abc123

node-scriptscolonymjs-approve-abc123.txt
Also used to retry a failed stage.

### Cancel a Process

node scripts/colony.mjs cancel abc123

node-scriptscolonymjs-cancel-abc123.txt
## Audit Commands

Track agent performance, task statistics, and system health.

### Dashboard

node scripts/colony.mjs audit

node-scriptscolonymjs-audit.txt
Shows global stats, per-agent summary, and recent events.

### Agent Details

node scripts/colony.mjs audit agent pincer

node-scriptscolonymjs-audit-agent-pincer.txt
Shows detailed stats for a specific agent including:
- Total tasks, success rate
- Average duration
- Token usage
- Recent failures

### Event Log

Tags

#productivity_and-tasks

Quick Info

Category Development
Model Claude 3.5
Complexity Advanced
Author dabruhce
Last Updated 3/10/2026
🚀
Optimized for
Claude 3.5
🧠

Ready to Install?

Get started with this skill in seconds

openclaw install multi-agent-orchestration