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feat(skills): add cross-machine-coordination skill for multi-machine squad deployments#513

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bradygaster merged 1 commit intobradygaster:devfrom
tamirdresher:feat/cross-machine-coordination
Mar 23, 2026
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feat(skills): add cross-machine-coordination skill for multi-machine squad deployments#513
bradygaster merged 1 commit intobradygaster:devfrom
tamirdresher:feat/cross-machine-coordination

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@tamirdresher
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Summary

Adds a new cross-machine-coordination skill that enables squad agents running on different physical machines to coordinate work without human intervention.

Problem

In multi-machine squad deployments (e.g., laptop + DevBox + Azure VM), agents on different machines need to:

  • Assign work to machines with specific capabilities (GPU, high memory, etc.)
  • Pass task results back to the originating machine
  • Handle urgent ad-hoc tasks across machines

Without this, humans must manually copy files, paste commands, and relay results between machines — defeating the purpose of a autonomous agent squad.

Solution

This skill defines a git-based task queue protocol:

  1. Orchestrating machine writes a YAML task file to .squad/cross-machine/tasks/
  2. Commits and pushes to the shared git repo
  3. Executing machine's Ralph polls on each watch cycle, validates, and executes
  4. Result YAML written to .squad/cross-machine/results/, committed and pushed
  5. Originating Ralph picks up the result on next cycle

For urgent tasks: GitHub Issues with squad:machine-{name} labels provide an alternative channel that Ralph monitors.

Skill Contents

  • Task file format (YAML schema with required/optional fields)
  • Result file format (status, exit code, stdout/stderr, artifacts)
  • Security validation pipeline (schema validation, command whitelist, resource limits, execution isolation, audit trail)
  • Ralph Watch integration (automatic poll-and-execute loop)
  • Error handling (failures, timeouts, network interruptions)
  • Configuration (per-machine settings in .squad/config.json)
  • Full worked examples (GPU workload, urgent debug request)

Origin

Developed and battle-tested in a squad deployment spanning laptop ↔ DevBox ↔ Azure VM workflows. Contributed back upstream as part of the skill library expansion.

Checklist

  • Follows existing SKILL.md format
  • No personal/environment-specific identifiers
  • Security model documented
  • Examples included
  • Compatible with Ralph Watch loop

@bradygaster
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Hey @tamirdresher 👋 — the CI failures on this PR are from the old dev base (cspell words and a broken link that have since been fixed). The test timeout on platform-adapter.test.ts also appears to be a pre-existing flaky test. If you rebase on current dev, this should go green. Great skill contribution!

Adds a new skill for coordinating work between squad agents running on
different machines (laptop, DevBox, Azure VMs, etc.).

**Pattern:** Git-based task queuing + GitHub Issues supplement

The skill defines:
- YAML task file format for cross-machine work assignment
- YAML result file format for execution outcomes
- Security validation pipeline (schema, command whitelist, resource limits)
- Ralph Watch integration (automatic poll-and-execute cycle)
- Urgent task routing via GitHub Issues + machine-specific labels
- Error handling for failures, stalls, and network issues

This pattern enables multi-machine squad deployments to divide work
by capability (e.g., GPU workloads on a powerful remote machine) without
human intervention in the handoff.

Closes: N/A (new skill contribution from tamirdresher/squad fork)
@tamirdresher tamirdresher force-pushed the feat/cross-machine-coordination branch from 6773508 to 8291a15 Compare March 23, 2026 20:14
@bradygaster bradygaster merged commit 112c42d into bradygaster:dev Mar 23, 2026
2 checks passed
chrislomonico pushed a commit to clomonico/squad that referenced this pull request Mar 26, 2026
…r#546)

Consolidated 15 remaining issues into a single PR. Redesigns help UX with grouped categories, surfaces all /help commands, aligns docs with actual CLI behavior, adds first-run welcome, standardizes naming.

Closes bradygaster#510, Closes bradygaster#513, Closes bradygaster#514, Closes bradygaster#515, Closes bradygaster#516, Closes bradygaster#517, Closes bradygaster#518, Closes bradygaster#521, Closes bradygaster#522, Closes bradygaster#523, Closes bradygaster#524, Closes bradygaster#525, Closes bradygaster#527, Closes bradygaster#528, Closes bradygaster#529

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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2 participants