# Agent Pipeline — Mandatory

## The Rule

This project has a 20-agent team organized in a 4-tier hierarchy (`.claude/agents/`). For ANY non-trivial task — bug hunt, code review, feature, audit, optimization, research — you MUST consult with the developer team by dispatching the orchestrator.

The orchestrator handles everything: it dispatches leads (Architecture Lead, Quality Lead, Product Lead), who in turn dispatch their specialists. Results bubble up with structured audit trails.

## Pipeline

1. **Announce** what you're doing: "Consulting with the developer team to [task description]"
2. **Dispatch the orchestrator** agent with your analysis of the task
3. **Receive results** — the orchestrator returns a synthesized recommendation with a full audit trail of all agent calls
4. **Report results** — present the synthesis to the user, crediting which specialists contributed

You do NOT need to: dispatch individual agents, process handoffs, manage chain depth, or sequence phases. The orchestrator → lead → specialist hierarchy handles all of this internally.

## Announcement Format

Always start with a brief announcement before dispatching the orchestrator:

> Consulting with the developer team: dispatching orchestrator to [task summary].

## Why

The hierarchical agent system provides: autonomous agent-to-agent collaboration, structured guardrails (depth limits, loop prevention, cost control), full audit trails, and domain-expert analysis at every level. The orchestrator selects the right leads, leads select the right specialists, and each agent can consult others directly when needed.