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Lab·skill·Public · Mar 2025·Updated Aug 22

orchestrator · a long-lived thread that never writes code

A Claude Code thread pattern for running complex projects. The orchestrator learns the codebase, maintains an ORCHESTRATOR.md state file, and delegates all implementation to subagents via tiered model selection. It never edits files directly.

seansmithworks / agent-skillsMarkdown
fragment · orchestrator-boot/SKILL.md frontmatter
---
name: orchestrator-boot
description: Run the orchestrator session-start check. Task
  file, pending updates, project scaffolding, context reads,
  rehydration. Use on first activation of an orchestrator
  thread, or when Sean says "boot", "start up".
---
Install
install the four orchestrator skills
npx skills add seansmithworks/agent-skills -s orchestrator-boot -s orchestrator-scaffold -s orchestrator-update -s orchestrator-route
companion files · orchestrator prompt + pending updates
curl -o ~/.claude/orchestrator-prompt.md \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seansmithworks/agent-skills/main/templates/orchestrator-prompt.md

curl -o ~/.claude/PENDING-UPDATES.md \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seansmithworks/agent-skills/main/templates/PENDING-UPDATES.md
companion files · shell launchers
mkdir -p ~/.claude/shell
curl -o ~/.claude/shell/orchestrator.zsh \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seansmithworks/agent-skills/main/shell/orchestrator.zsh
echo 'source ~/.claude/shell/orchestrator.zsh' >> ~/.zshrc
What it does

One long-lived thread launched with a system prompt that hard-constrains it from writing files. It reads the codebase, maintains a running state file (ORCHESTRATOR.md), tracks open decisions and follow-ups, and dispatches implementation to short-lived subagent threads. State is written before every /compact so context can be rebuilt.

Why I built it

A Claude thread that also writes code loses coherence as context fills · it starts forgetting earlier decisions. Separating planning from execution keeps the orchestrator's mental model stable across many sessions. The constraint 'you do not write code' is the whole pattern.