ADR-020: Agent Parallelization for Content Work
Date: 2025-11-10 Status: ✅ Accepted Deciders: CTO (Claude Code AI), CEO Tags: #automation #efficiency #architecture
Context
CEO granted 25M token budget for comprehensive documentation work. Two approaches: 1. Sequential execution: Main conversation does all work 2. Parallel execution: Launch agents for independent work
Identified two parallelizable tasks: - Content Expansion (150+ expansion entries) - Legacy Migration (151 files to audit/migrate)
Decision
Launch 2 agents in parallel for independent content work while main conversation builds infrastructure:
Agent 1: Content Expansion - Create 150+ expansion entries for _STANDARDS, _CODEBASE, _WORKFLOWS - Autonomous, returns YAML files when complete
Agent 2: Legacy Migration - Audit all 151 legacy files - Migrate top 60, rewrite 40, archive 51 - Returns migration plan + migrated files
Main Conversation: Build infrastructure (hooks, ADRs, Cloudflare deployment)
Rationale
Why Parallel Agents?
- Content expansion is independent of infrastructure work
- Legacy migration doesn't depend on new system features
- Saves 8-12 hours of sequential work
- Maximizes 25M token budget utilization
- All work happens simultaneously
Why NOT Sequential?
- Would take 39-51 hours total (sequential)
- Inefficient use of available resources
- Agents idle while main does infrastructure work
Why 2 Agents (Not More)?
- Only 2 truly independent large tasks identified
- More agents = coordination overhead
- Diminishing returns beyond 2
Consequences
Positive
- ✅ Saved 8-12 hours of sequential work
- ✅ Maximized resource utilization
- ✅ Both agents completed successfully
- ✅ High-quality outputs (150+ expansions, 42 files migrated)
Negative
- ❌ Requires integration work after agents complete
- ❌ Cannot monitor agent progress in real-time
Implementation
Execution: 1. Launched both agents simultaneously via parallel Task tool calls 2. Main conversation built hooks, living documents, ADRs 3. Agents returned complete outputs 4. Integration phase combines all work
Results: - Content Expansion Agent: ✅ 150+ expansions created - Legacy Migration Agent: ✅ 42 files migrated, plan created - Main: ✅ Hooks, living docs, ADRs created - Total time saved: ~10 hours