{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/give-parallel-agents-independent-tests-and-merge-boundaries",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0717",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Give parallel agents independent tests and merge boundaries",
  "summary": "Parallel workers need an oracle and a border, not just separate chat windows.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "Give each agent an isolated workspace, a defined ownership slice or merge contract and a test that can be run without asking another agent what happened. Integrate through versioned artifacts or commits, then run cross-slice tests after merge. Use shared state for coordination, not as permission for every worker to rewrite everything.",
  "limits": [
    "Architectural changes that cross every slice may require centralized design before parallel implementation."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-ai-coding-harness-work"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-7CFA09733D80048C"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "The same experiment used isolated workspaces, tests and an upstream repository to let agents work concurrently while reducing accidental overwrite and giving progress an external oracle.",
      "source_id": "RS-7CFA09733D80048C",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Isolation does not remove semantic merge conflicts; overlapping architecture changes still need coordination.",
      "locator": "Parallel workspaces, pushes and test harness"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "Several agents will edit one codebase or shared project concurrently."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Architectural changes that cross every slice may require centralized design before parallel implementation."
  ],
  "example": "Three agents improve separate adapters in isolated branches, each with adapter tests; a fourth integration step runs the shared end-to-end suite.",
  "check": "One worker's failure or rollback does not erase another worker's validated progress.",
  "steps": [
    "Each worker has an isolated change surface or explicit ownership.",
    "Each slice has an independent acceptance test.",
    "Results are committed or versioned before integration.",
    "Cross-slice tests run after merge.",
    "Conflicts route to a deliberate integration step."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-7CFA09733D80048C",
      "title": "Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes",
      "url": "https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-c-compiler"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0717",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0954",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/let-subagents-write-durable-artifacts-instead-of-relaying-everything-through-the-coordinator"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-A76353E5E9A33FE5",
      "title": "Make coding agents work in inspectable increments",
      "url": "/collections/make-coding-agents-work-in-inspectable-increments"
    }
  ]
}