# Rune Orchestration

> |

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-vinhnxv-rune-rune-orchestration`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [vinhnxv](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/vinhnxv)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Communication](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/communication)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [vinhnxv](https://github.com/vinhnxv)
- **Source:** https://github.com/vinhnxv/rune/tree/main/plugins/rune/skills/rune-orchestration

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-vinhnxv-rune-rune-orchestration
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Rune Orchestration Skill

Guides designing distributed multi-agent systems that partition work across multiple language model instances to overcome single-agent context limitations.

## Core Principle

**Sub-agents exist primarily to isolate context, not to anthropomorphize role division.**

The fundamental value lies in distributing cognitive load across separate context windows rather than simulating organizational hierarchies.

## When to Use

| Category | Workflows | Orchestration Pattern |
|----------|-----------|----------------------|
| **Reviews** | `/rune:appraise` | Ash Specialists |
| **Audits** | `/rune:audit` | Roundtable Circle (Fan-out / Fan-in) |
| **Research** | `/rune:devise` | Parallel Exploration |
| **Work** | `/rune:strive` | Swarm Workers |
| **Custom** | Any workflow summoning 3+ agents | Choose pattern from below |

**Generic trigger conditions:**
- Context window constraints from single-agent approach
- Complex tasks requiring specialized expertise in parallel
- Need for parallel processing of independent subtasks
- Any workflow summoning 3+ agents via Agent tool or Agent Teams

## Agent Coordination Patterns

### File-Based Handoff Pattern

Instead of supervisor synthesizing responses (telephone game), agents write directly to files:

| Workflow Type | Output Directory | Output Type | Example Contents |
|---------------|------------------|-------------|------------------|
| Reviews | `tmp/reviews/{pr-number}/` | Report (P1/P2/P3) | `forge-warden.md`, `ward-sentinel.md`, `TOME.md` |
| Audits | `tmp/audit/{audit-id}/` | Report (P1/P2/P3) | `security.md`, `performance.md`, `TOME.md` |
| Plan research | `tmp/plans/{timestamp}/research/` | Research | `repo-analysis.md`, `best-practices.md`, `framework-docs.md` |
| Work (swarm) | `tmp/work/{timestamp}/` | Patches | `patches/*.patch`, `proposals/*.md`, `inscription.json` |
| Custom | `tmp/{workflow-name}/` | Varies | Named by teammate role |

**Directory Purpose:**
- **Persistent** (`todos/`): Findings that become actionable items
- **Ephemeral** (`tmp/`): Intermediate artifacts consumed by coordinator

The workflow: Agents write findings → Coordinator reads files → Synthesizes into Tome (TOME.md)

**Structured output:** Ash MAY also write companion JSON files (`{ash}-findings.json`) for CI/CD integration. Legacy: `completion.json` was used in early versions but is no longer written by built-in workflows. Use Seal metadata + TOME.md for workflow results. See [Output Format](../roundtable-circle/references/output-format.md) for full specs.

## Agent Output Formats

Each agent writes findings in a format matching its workflow type. All formats require mandatory evidence blocks.

- **Report Format** (Reviews, Audits): P1/P2/P3 severity with Rune Traces. See [Output Formats](references/output-formats.md)
- **Research Format** (Plans): Knowledge synthesis with sources. See [Output Formats](references/output-formats.md)
- **Status Format** (Work): Implementation progress reports. See [Output Formats](references/output-formats.md)

## Conflict Resolution Rules

When multiple agents flag the same code with different priorities:

| Conflict | Resolution |
|----------|------------|
| P1 vs P2 | P1 wins (highest priority) |
| P1 vs P1 (different issues) | Both retained |
| Security vs Performance | Security wins |
| Same issue, different agents | Deduplicate, keep first |

### Priority Hierarchy

```
ward-sentinel P1 > any other agent P1
any agent P1 > any agent P2
any agent P2 > any agent P3
```

## Three Architectural Patterns

### 1. Supervisor/Orchestrator (Default)

Central coordinator delegates to specialists and aggregates results.

```
The Tarnished (orchestrator)
    ├── forge-warden   (backend review)
    ├── ward-sentinel  (security review)
    ├── pattern-weaver (quality patterns)
    ├── glyph-scribe   (frontend review)
    └── knowledge-keeper    (docs review)
```

**Used by:** `/rune:appraise`, `/rune:audit`

**Mitigate telephone game:** Use file-based handoff, not message passing.

### 2. Peer-to-Peer/Swarm

Direct agent-to-agent communication. Workers self-organize and race to claim tasks.

**Used by:** `/rune:strive`

**Example use case:** Multiple rune-smiths claiming independent tasks from a shared pool.

### 3. Hierarchical

Layered abstractions. Use for complex multi-phase workflows.

```
Strategy Layer (plan)
    └── Planning Layer (spec)
        └── Execution Layer (implement)
```

**Used by:** `/rune:devise` → `/rune:strive` → `/rune:appraise`

## Agent Role Patterns

Defines how agents are organized for each workflow type, including conditional summoning rules and validation pipelines.

- **Review Ash**: Parallel specialists writing to `tmp/reviews/{pr}/`. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)
- **Audit Ash**: Fan-out/fan-in to `tmp/audit/{id}/`. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)
- **Research Agents**: Parallel exploration to `tmp/plans/{timestamp}/research/`. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)
- **Work Agents (Rune Smiths)**: Swarm workers to `tmp/work/`. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)
- **Conditional Ash**: Summoned based on file types in scope. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)
- **Validation Agents (Truthsight Pipeline)**: Post-review verification. See [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md)

## Token Economics

| Approach | Token Multiplier | When to Use |
|----------|------------------|-------------|
| Single agent | 1x | Simple tasks |
| Multi-agent | ~15x | Complex review, parallel analysis |

**Guideline:** Use multi-agent only when context isolation is necessary, not for simple division of labor.

## Essential Failure Mitigations

### 1. Supervisor Saturation

**Problem:** Coordinator overwhelmed by aggregating many agent responses.

**Solution:** Glyph Budget — each agent writes to file, returns only file path + 1-sentence summary (max 50 words).

### 2. Coordination Overhead

**Problem:** Too much time on handoff protocols.

**Solution:** Clear file-based handoff with consistent format.

### 3. Lack of Convergence

**Problem:** Agents disagree indefinitely.

**Solution:**
- Time-to-live limits (max 2 iterations)
- Priority hierarchy for conflicts
- Human review for unresolved conflicts

### 4. Error Propagation

**Problem:** Early agent error cascades.

**Solution:**
- Validate outputs between agents
- Each agent reads source code directly, not previous agent's summary

## Glyph Budget

Every agent in a parallel workflow:
1. Writes detailed findings to a file
2. Returns only: file path + 1-sentence summary (max 50 words)
3. Does not include analysis in the return message

See `context-weaving` skill for the full Glyph Budget protocol and pre-summon checklist.

## Inscription Protocol

All Rune multi-agent workflows use Agent Teams (`TeamCreate`) + `inscription.json`.

```
Rune command (any agent count) → Agent Teams + inscription.json
Custom workflow (3+ agents)    → Agent Teams + inscription.json
```

**Three steps:**
1. **Generate** `inscription.json` before summoning agents/teammates
2. **Inject** required sections + Seal Format into each agent prompt
3. **Validate** output files after completion (circuit breaker → per-file → gap report)

Agents send structured **Seal** messages (key-value: file, sections, findings, evidence-verified, confidence, self-reviewed, summary). TaskList `completed` is authoritative; Seal is supplementary metadata.

Full spec: [Inscription Protocol](references/inscription-protocol.md)

## Structured Reasoning Integration

Multi-agent workflows benefit from structured reasoning at key decision points.

**Three reasoning checkpoints for the Tarnished:**

| Checkpoint | When | Key Action |
|-----------|------|------------|
| Pre-summon | Before launching agents | 8-thought checklist (see `context-weaving`) |
| Mid-monitor | During agent execution | Intervene on timeout, clarification requests, partial failures |
| Post-aggregate | After collecting all outputs | Resolve conflicts between agents using branching analysis |

Full protocol: [Structured Reasoning](references/structured-reasoning.md)

## Compaction Recovery

On context compaction or session resume during any Rune workflow:

1. Read active team config: `~/.claude/teams/{team-name}/config.json`
2. Read task list via `TaskList()` to discover team state
3. Read inscription contract: `tmp/{workflow}/{id}/inscription.json`
4. For arc workflows: read `.rune/arc/{id}/checkpoint.json`
5. Resume from the last incomplete task — do not re-read completed agent outputs
6. If team config is missing: the workflow was interrupted before team creation — restart

Session handoff template: [session-handoff.md](../../references/session-handoff.md)

## References

- [Output Formats](references/output-formats.md) — Report, Research, and Status output templates
- [Role Patterns](references/role-patterns.md) — Agent organization per workflow type, conditional summoning, validation pipeline
- [Structured Reasoning](references/structured-reasoning.md) — Reasoning principles for lead + teammate reasoning
- [Inscription Protocol](references/inscription-protocol.md) — Output validation for all multi-agent workflows
- [Prompt Weaving](references/prompt-weaving.md) — 7-section prompt template, context rot prevention, instruction anchoring
- [Truthsight Pipeline](references/truthsight-pipeline.md) — 4-layer verification spec
- [Verifier Prompt](references/verifier-prompt.md) — Smart Verifier prompt template
- [Damage Control](references/damage-control.md) — 6 recovery procedures for agent failures (DC-1 through DC-6)
- Companion: `context-weaving` (Glyph Budget, pre-summon checklist)
- Review workflow: `roundtable-circle` skill

## Source & license

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

- **Author:** [vinhnxv](https://github.com/vinhnxv)
- **Source:** [vinhnxv/rune](https://github.com/vinhnxv/rune)
- **License:** MIT

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

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-vinhnxv-rune-rune-orchestration
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/vinhnxv
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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