Fleet Mode

Fleet Mode

[](https://github.com/Jott2121/fleet-mode/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](https://github.com/Jott2121/fleet-mode/actions/workflows/codeql.yml) [](https://github.com/Jott2121/fleet-mode/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](LICENSE) [](https://www.python.org/)

A measured doctrine for orchestrating AI agents, and knowing when not to.

Most "multi-agent" advice assumes more agents is better. It usually isn't. Fleet Mode is the opposite stance, run as a live Claude Code skill: adding agents has a negative average payoff on most tasks, so you fan out only where it demonstrably earns it, and you keep the writes single-threaded and gated.

It's the operating mode behind bow (an autonomous all-Claude chief-of-staff agent) and the builds it ships.

> 🧩 One layer of a five-repo cost-governance stack for operating AI agents cost-efficiently; bow is the flagship that runs every layer in production.

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The four rules

1. Read-heavy work fans out. Research, codebase/PR review, multi-file audits: parallel

subagents in clean contexts, each returning a condensed summary. This is the only thing fan-out is for.

1. Writes stay single-threaded. One agent makes the edit. Never fan out to edit in parallel.
2. Deterministic checks first, then an independent refute-first review. Tests/types/lint/build

must pass with no model in the loop; then a separate clean-context reviewer tries to refute the work. No agent grades its own work. Fail closed.

1. Every added agent earns its fan-out. Default to a single strong agent. More agents add

intelligence (extra perspectives, verification), not parallel actions.

Plus the two non-negotiables: human-gate anything irreversible/MAJOR (push, deploy, send, real-money trade, mass-delete, new spend), and log an honest receipt of every kept/killed decision with the real number.

The gate (run in order)

1. Classify stakes. trivial: light check, ship. non-trivial: full gate. irreversible: full

gate plus human approval first.

1. Decide fan-out (bias-to-NO). Single strong agent by default; fan out only for read-heavy,

parallelizable work that exceeds one context window.

1. Write single-threaded.
2. QC gate. Deterministic checks, then an independent reviewer that tries to refute. Escalate

high-stakes output to a different-model judge.

1. Human-gate MAJOR items.
2. Log a receipt.

Full operational spec: [SKILL.md](SKILL.md).

Dependencies

The skill references the superpowers:* skill family (for dispatching parallel agents and requesting independent review). If superpowers skills are unavailable, substitute: fan-out decisions manually, run tests before any model review, get a colleague to review independently. The receipt script has zero dependencies (Python stdlib only).

Install (as a Claude Code skill)

git clone https://github.com/Jott2121/fleet-mode ~/.claude/skills/fleet-mode

Claude Code auto-discovers it. Invoke it (or let it auto-apply) on any non-trivial change. The receipt tool stands alone too:

python3 scripts/append_receipt.py \
  --task "add retry to uploader" --tried "exponential backoff" --verdict kept \
  --why "cut timeout errors to zero in a 200-run soak" --metric errors --value 0

Appends an append-only row to KILLLOG.md: the honest ledger of what you kept, killed, and why. See [KILLLOG.md](KILLLOG.md) for a sample of the format.

Why it exists

> Evaluate without prejudice; adopt only on measured proof. Receipts over hype.

The multi-agent discourse is full of impressive-sounding fan-out diagrams that, measured, lose to a single careful agent. Fleet Mode is the discipline that keeps the wins (parallel reading, independent review, hard gates) and drops the cargo-culting (parallel writers, self-grading, unbounded agent swarms). It scales to the task, not to the hype.

Reliability & security

A doctrine about hard gates runs its own:

• Coverage-gated tests — the receipt-writer script is tested on Python 3.11–3.12 and the build fails below the coverage floor (currently 92% covered).
• CodeQL — security-extended static analysis on every push, PR, and weekly; findings surface in the Security tab.
• Pinned supply chain — GitHub Actions pinned to commit SHAs, kept current by Dependabot.
• Branch protection — main requires CI + CodeQL to pass before a merge.
• Disclosure policy — see [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md); private reporting is enabled.

License

MIT, copyright 2026 Jeff Otterson. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Jott2121
• Source: Jott2121/fleet-mode
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.