RLM-Style Recursive Orchestrator

Implement the orchestrator pattern from RLM research to handle arbitrarily large contexts and complex multi-part tasks. The main conversation acts as the recursive coordinator, spawning depth-1 subagents and aggregating results.

Core Principle

"No single language model call should require handling a huge context." — RLM Research (arXiv:2512.24601)

Since Claude Code subagents cannot spawn children (architectural limit), the main conversation becomes the "recursion stack," enabling functional depth >1.

When to Use This Skill

Ideal for:

• Tasks requiring >100K tokens of context
• Multi-file analysis or refactoring
• Research tasks with many sources
• Batch processing with independent partitions
• Any task showing signs of context rot (degraded recall, repeated mistakes)

Not ideal for:

• Simple single-file changes
• Tasks requiring tight sequential dependencies
• Quick exploratory questions

The RLM Orchestration Pattern

Main Session (orchestrator/recursion stack)
    │
    ├─[DECOMPOSE]─ Analyze task, identify independent partitions
    │
    ├─[SPAWN BATCH 1]──┬── Subagent A (fresh 200K context) → summary
    │                  ├── Subagent B (fresh 200K context) → summary
    │                  └── Subagent C (fresh 200K context) → summary
    │
    ├─[AGGREGATE]─ Combine results, identify gaps
    │
    ├─[SPAWN BATCH 2]──┬── Subagent D (uses batch 1 results) → summary
    │                  └── Subagent E (uses batch 1 results) → summary
    │
    ├─[AGGREGATE]─ Final combination
    │
    └─[COMPLETE]─ Return unified result

Orchestration Protocol

Phase 1: Task Analysis and Decomposition

Before spawning any subagents, analyze the task:

1. Estimate context requirements

   • Count files/sources to process
   • Estimate tokens (~4 bytes per token)
   • If <50K tokens total, consider direct execution

2. Identify partition boundaries

   • Find natural divisions (files, sections, topics)
   • Ensure partitions are independent (no cross-dependencies)
   • Aim for 3-7 partitions per batch (Claude Code limit: ~10 concurrent)

3. Define aggregation strategy

   • How will partition results combine?
   • What format should subagent outputs use?
   • What information must propagate between batches?

Phase 2: Subagent Dispatch

For each batch of partitions:

1. Prepare subagent prompts using the template in references/subagent-prompt-template.md

2. Spawn subagents in parallel using the Task tool:

   Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", description="[partition description]", prompt="...")
   Task(subagent_type="Explore", description="[research partition]", prompt="...")
   

3. Use appropriate subagent types:

   • Explore - For read-only research, file discovery
   • general-purpose - For tasks requiring code changes
   • Plan - For architecture/design work

4. Run in background when appropriate:

   • Set run_in_background=true for long-running tasks
   • Check results via TaskOutput or Read on output file

Phase 3: Result Aggregation

When subagents complete:

1. Collect all results - Read summaries from each subagent

2. Validate completeness - Check for error indicators:

   • "could not find", "unable to", "failed to"
   • Missing expected outputs
   • Incomplete coverage of partition

3. Merge results using appropriate strategy:

   • Union: Combine all findings (research tasks)
   • Synthesis: Create unified narrative (analysis tasks)
   • Reduce: Aggregate metrics (measurement tasks)

4. Identify gaps - What wasn't covered? What needs follow-up?

Phase 4: Iteration (if needed)

If gaps exist:

1. Create follow-up partitions for uncovered areas
2. Include previous batch context in new subagent prompts
3. Spawn next batch with refined focus
4. Repeat until complete or max iterations reached

Emerged Strategies (from RLM Research)

Encode these strategies in subagent prompts:

Peeking

Sample the beginning of context to understand structure before deep processing.

Before analyzing fully, first peek at the structure:
1. Read first 50 lines of each file
2. Identify file types and organization
3. Then proceed with targeted analysis

Grepping

Use pattern-based filtering to narrow context before semantic processing.

Use Grep to filter before reading:
1. Search for relevant patterns: `Grep(pattern="error|exception|fail")`
2. Read only matching files fully
3. This reduces context consumption by 80%+

Partition + Map

Break context into chunks, process in parallel, then aggregate.

This task uses partition+map strategy:
1. You handle partition [X] of [N]
2. Your partition covers: [specific scope]
3. Return findings in this format: [format spec]
4. Orchestrator will aggregate all partition results

Summarization

Extract condensed information for parent decision-making.

Return a structured summary, not raw data:
- Key findings (3-5 bullet points)
- Specific file:line references
- Confidence level (high/medium/low)
- Gaps or uncertainties

Token Budget Management

Track token consumption across the orchestration:

Component	Estimated Tokens	Notes
Main conversation	200K max	Reserve 50K for orchestration
Per subagent	200K max	Fresh context each
Subagent overhead	~20K	System prompt + tools (see caveat)
Summary return	~2-5K	Per subagent result

Budget formula:

Effective capacity = (Main 150K usable) + (N subagents × 180K usable each)
For 5 subagents: 150K + 900K = ~1M effective tokens

Caveat (this config, 2026-07-17): the ~20K-overhead / 180K-usable figures are the generic RLM-paper model. On THIS machine a custom subagent inherits the whole memory hierarchy for a base of ~235k tokens (rules ~195k + CLAUDE.md ~8.6k + ~31k fixed), which alone exceeds a 200K-window subagent — so a sub-1M-window subagent cannot start, and "180K usable each" does not hold. Use a 1M-window model for subagents, or the built-in Explore agent (which skips the rules corpus). See ~/.claude/rules/agent-prompt-discipline.md rule 15b for the measurements.

Integration with Existing Skills

This skill works with:

• superpowers:brainstorming - Use first to decompose complex problems
• superpowers:writing-plans - Create task partition structure
• superpowers:dispatching-parallel-agents - Detailed parallel dispatch patterns
• superpowers:subagent-driven-development - For implementation tasks
• ralph-loop - For autonomous iteration within partitions

Example: Large Codebase Analysis

# Task: Analyze security vulnerabilities across 500 files

## Phase 1: Decomposition
- Partition by directory: src/, lib/, tests/, config/
- Each partition: ~125 files, ~50K tokens
- Aggregation: Union of findings with deduplication

## Phase 2: Dispatch (Batch 1)
- Subagent A: src/ directory - authentication code
- Subagent B: lib/ directory - utility functions
- Subagent C: config/ directory - configuration files
- Subagent D: tests/ directory - test coverage gaps

## Phase 3: Aggregate
- Combine all vulnerability findings
- Cross-reference duplicates
- Prioritize by severity

## Phase 4: Follow-up (if needed)
- Deep dive on critical findings
- Verify false positives

Troubleshooting

Subagent returns incomplete results:

• Check if partition was too large (reduce scope)
• Verify subagent had appropriate tools
• Retry with more specific instructions

Aggregation produces conflicts:

• Subagents may find contradictory information
• Spawn a "resolver" subagent to investigate conflicts
• Or present both findings with uncertainty markers

Context still rotting in main session:

• You're keeping too much in the main context
• Delegate more aggressively to subagents
• Trust summaries instead of raw data

Hitting concurrent subagent limit:

• Queue batches: 10 concurrent max
• Wait for batch completion before spawning next
• Consider if fewer, larger partitions would work

Quick Start Template

For any large task, start with:

I'll use RLM orchestration for this task.

**Task Analysis:**
- Total scope: [X files / Y sources / Z components]
- Estimated tokens: [rough estimate]
- Natural partitions: [list 3-7 independent parts]

**Orchestration Plan:**
1. Batch 1: [partitions A, B, C] - parallel Explore subagents
2. Aggregate: [strategy]
3. Batch 2 (if needed): [follow-up partitions]

**Subagent assignments:**
- Subagent A: [specific scope and instructions]
- Subagent B: [specific scope and instructions]
...

Proceeding with Phase 1...