ensemble-team

What this skill does

# Ensemble Team Setup

Set up an AI ensemble programming team for any software project. Creates the full
structure for a team of expert agents working in a single-driver mob programming style
with consensus-based decisions, TDD, and continuous retrospectives.

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Project Discovery

Gather essential project information. Ask the user:

1. **Project name and description**: What is being built? What problem does it solve?
2. **Tech stack**: Language, framework, database, frontend approach, testing tools.
   If unsure, help them decide based on their goals.
3. **Product vision**: Target user? MVP scope? Vague ideas are fine — the Product
   Manager agent will refine them.
4. **Dev environment**: Nix? Docker? Standard package managers? CI provider?
5. **Repository**: Existing repo or new? Branching strategy?

### Phase 2: Team Composition

Determine the right team.

**PREREQUISITE**: Read `references/role-catalog.md` before proceeding.

#### Tiered Team Presets

Start with a preset, then adjust based on project needs. The team formation session
(Phase 5) helps determine the right fit. The user may modify any preset.

| Preset | Size | Composition |
|--------|------|-------------|
| **Full** | ~9 | 1 Product Manager, 1 UI/UX Designer, 1 Accessibility Specialist, 1 Domain SME, 1 QA Analyst, 4 Software Engineers |
| **Lean** | ~5-6 | 1 Product Manager, 1 Domain SME, 1 Dev Practice Lead, 2-3 Software Engineers, 1 flex role (UX, QA, or DevOps based on need) |
| **Solo-plus** | ~3 | 1 Domain SME, 1 Dev Practice Lead, 1 Software Engineer |

**Approximate token costs per discussion round**:
- **Solo-plus** (~3 agents): Lightweight. ~5-10K tokens per round.
- **Lean** (~5-6 agents): Moderate. ~15-25K tokens per round.
- **Full** (~9 agents): Heavy. ~30-50K tokens per round. Reserve for projects
  where the governance overhead pays for itself.

Actual costs depend on model, context length, and discussion complexity. These
are rough estimates for setting expectations, not precise accounting.

**Selecting a preset**: Ask the user about project scope, timeline, and complexity.
Solo-plus suits focused tasks or spikes. Lean suits most projects. Full suits
large-scope products with UI, accessibility, and quality requirements.

**Extend, do not replace**: These presets build on the role catalog. See the catalog
for conditional roles (Security, Data/ML, API Specialist, etc.) that can augment any
preset. Odd numbers preferred for tie-breaking.

**Research each expert — do NOT pick from a memorized list.** For each role:
1. Identify the specific technology/domain this project needs
2. Use WebSearch to find the recognized authority — the person who wrote the book,
   created the tool, or gave the defining talks for that specific area
3. Verify their credentials, recent work, and relevance to this project
4. Evaluate: published authority, distinctive voice, practical experience,
   complementary perspective to other team members

Present each proposed expert with: name, credentials, key published work, why they
fit THIS project, and what they'd focus on. Let user approve, swap, or remove.

### Phase 3: Generate Team Profiles

Create `.claude/agents/<name>.md` for each member.

**PREREQUISITE**: Read `references/profile-template.md` before proceeding.

Required sections: Opening bio, Role, Core Philosophy (5-8 principles from their
published work), Technical Expertise (6-12 items), On This Project (concrete
guidance), Communication Style (personality + 4-6 characteristic phrases), Mob
Approach, Code Review Checklist (6-12 checks), Lessons (empty, to be updated).

**Quality gates**: Profile must not be interchangeable with another expert. Must
include project-specific guidance. Must capture their distinctive voice.

#### AI-Approximation Disclaimer

Every profile MUST include the following disclaimer block immediately after the
opening biography paragraph:

```
> **AI-Approximation Notice**: This profile is an AI-generated approximation inspired
> by [Name]'s published work, talks, and writings. The real [Name] has not endorsed
> or reviewed this profile. All outputs should be verified against their actual
> published work. This profile creates a "diversity of heuristics" drawing on their
> known perspectives — it does not simulate the actual person.
```

#### AI Self-Awareness Clause

Each profile must include in the "Your Role on This Team" section a statement that
the team member is aware it is an AI agent embodying a perspective, not the actual
person. Human time constraints are irrelevant to AI agents. Standing aside on a
decision when the topic falls outside the role's expertise is appropriate deference,
not disapproval.

#### Compressed Active-Context Form

Each profile MUST include a `## Compressed Context` section at the end: a dense
summary of the profile in **under 500 tokens** covering role, top 3-5 principles,
key expertise areas, and characteristic review focus. This compressed form is loaded
during discussion and review phases. The full profile is loaded only when the member
is actively driving or navigating code.

### Phase 4: Generate Project Scaffolding

#### Coordinator Instructions

**PREREQUISITE**: Read `references/coordinator-template.md` before proceeding.

Fill in roster, build tools, team size. Generate the coordinator instructions at
`.team/coordinator-instructions.md`. Then add a pointer in the harness-specific
config file (e.g., `CLAUDE.md` for Claude Code, `.cursorrules` for Cursor, project
instructions for other harnesses) directing the main agent to read
`.team/coordinator-instructions.md`. The coordinator instructions file is for the
coordinator only.

#### AGENTS.md — Team Structure Section

Insert a "Team Structure" managed section into `AGENTS.md` noting:
- Team member profiles are located in `.claude/agents/`
- Project owner constraints are defined in `PROJECT.md`
- Domain glossary is maintained at `docs/glossary.md`

This section provides orientation for all agents. The conventions section of
`AGENTS.md` will be populated by the team during the formation session (Phase 5).

#### PROJECT.md

**PREREQUISITE**: Read `references/project-template.md` before proceeding.

Fill in tech stack, scope (Must/Should/Could/Out), dev mandates, environment.

#### Supporting docs

- **docs/glossary.md**: Domain glossary skeleton (Core Types table, Actions table,
  Errors table, Type Design Principles)
- **docs/deferred-items.md**: Tracker table (Item | Category | Source | Severity | Status)
- **docs/future-ideas.md**: Parking lot for out-of-scope ideas

### Phase 5: Team Formation Session

This is the critical phase. The team debates and reaches consensus on their working
conventions, architectural decisions, and domain terminology.

**How it works**: The coordinator activates the full team, then presents each discussion
topic one at a time. The team debates, proposes approaches,
and reaches consensus using the Robert's Rules protocol. Outputs go to the appropriate
location based on the type of decision:

- **Working conventions** (collaboration norms, definition of done, code conventions,
  communication norms, mob model details, retrospective cadence, tooling conventions)
  are recorded in the conventions section of `AGENTS.md`.
- **Architectural decisions** (principles, deployment strategy, state management,
  testing philosophy) are recorded as ADRs in `docs/ARCHITECTURE.md`.
- **Domain terminology** (types, actions, errors, naming conventions) updates
  `docs/glossary.md`.

**The 10 topics** (non-exhaustive — team may add more):
1. How do we decide what to build?
2. How does the Driver-Reviewer mob model work?
3. When is a piece of work "done"?
4. What is our commit and integration pipeline?
5. How do we resolve disagreements?
6. What are our code conventions?
7. When and how do we hold retrospectives?
8. What are our architectural principles?
9. How do we communicate as a team?
10. What tooling and repository conventions do we