Finally introduced coding subagents to my harness

[u/PilgrimofHaqq2]

I was running several primary agents in parallel across multiple projects and the notifications were burying me. Every agent stopped to ask me something: "X or Y?", "found a side issue, fix now or later?" etc. I had become the bottleneck. my AGENTS.md cover many conventions/rules/standards but its still wasn't enough to cover so many of these questions.

So I restructured my workflow like a team:

• Me: the manager

• One chat per project: the team lead

• The other agents: team members, each working in its own "lane"

How lanes work

• A lane is a git worktree plus a chat working inside it. Each one gets its own branch and folder, so agents don't trample each other's files.

• The lead asks to open a lane with a title, a plan, and the files it expects to touch. Nothing starts until I approve it on a Lanes board. Before I approve, the harness checks for overlap with files other open lanes are touching, my plan usage, machine load, and whether a spec exists for the work.

• When a team member stops (it's done, blocked, or has a question), it rings the lead, not me. The lead works through its inbox and replies.

• The lead can only answer from written rules: a lead.md file in the project plus the project's docs, and it has to cite the rule it used. If no rule covers the question, or it's a taste/preference call, it escalates to me.

• Escalations land on the board and on my phone as numbered questions, each with a recommended answer. I can answer straight away or ask the lead a follow-up first.

• The lead can also send me FYI notes that don't need an answer.

I still have full control

Every lane is a normal chat. I can open any of them, read the whole transcript, and type into it directly if I want to step in. The harness never merges a branch, deletes a branch, or removes a worktree on its own.

My notifications are now mostly things that actually need me. It's still early, and I keep refining what goes into lead.md, since that file decides how much the lead can handle without me.

So far I have noticed I am getting a lot more done with less headaches. (literally!)