Pipeline Mode

Sequential agent chains where each stage’s output feeds the next.

Pipeline Request

$ARGUMENTS

Arguments

Built-in Presets

Workflow

Step 1: Parse Pipeline

Parse $ARGUMENTS to determine the pipeline stages.

If preset name: Map to the built-in chain from the presets table above.

If custom chain: Parse agent1 -> agent2 -> agent3 "task description" format.

• Each stage is separated by ->
• Optional model override with : suffix (e.g., explore:haiku)
• The task description is the quoted string at the end, or all remaining text after the last agent

Default model per agent:

• explore: haiku
• oracle: sonnet
• leviathan: sonnet
• kraken: sonnet
• spark: sonnet
• build-fixer: sonnet
• critic: sonnet

Step 2: Create Team

TeamCreate("pipeline-team")

Step 3: Initialize Pipeline State

Create pipeline state file:

Write(".maestro/handoff/pipeline-{timestamp}.json", {
  "type": "pipeline",
  "stages": [
    { "agent": "agent1", "model": "model1", "status": "pending", "output": null },
    { "agent": "agent2", "model": "model2", "status": "pending", "output": null }
  ],
  "task": "the task description",
  "started_at": "ISO timestamp",
  "current_stage": 0
})

Step 4: Execute Stages Sequentially

For each stage in order:

1. Build context from all previous stages:

   ## Pipeline Context
   
   ### Stage 1: explore (completed)
   {output from stage 1}
   
   ### Stage 2: leviathan (completed)
   {output from stage 2}
   
   ### Current Stage: kraken
   {original task description}
   

2. Create a task for the current stage agent:

   TaskCreate({
     subject: "Pipeline stage {N}: {agent} - {task}",
     description: "## Pipeline Stage {N}\n\n{context from previous stages}\n\n## Task\n{task description}"
   })
   

3. Spawn the agent as a teammate with the appropriate model:

   Task(agent: "{agent}", model: "{model}", prompt: "Execute your assigned task. Read the task description for full context including output from previous pipeline stages.")
   

4. Wait for completion: Monitor via TaskGet until the task status is completed.

5. Capture output: Read files modified or created by the agent. Update the pipeline state file with the stage output.

6. Update state: Mark current stage as completed, advance current_stage.

Step 5: Finalize

After all stages complete:

1. Summary: Report what each stage produced
2. Cleanup: Call TeamDelete(reason: "Pipeline complete"). If it fails, fall back to: rm -rf ~/.claude/teams/pipeline-{id} ~/.claude/tasks/pipeline-{id}
3. Archive state: The pipeline state file remains in .maestro/handoff/ for session recovery

Error Handling

• If a stage fails (agent reports error or task stays in_progress too long), log the error in the pipeline state and stop the pipeline
• Report which stage failed and the error context
• Do NOT proceed to subsequent stages after a failure
• The user can inspect the pipeline state file and re-run from the failed stage

Constraints

• Maximum 5 stages per pipeline
• Each stage runs one agent (no parallel stages — use /work for parallel execution)
• Pipeline state is persisted for crash recovery
• Read-only agents (explore, oracle, leviathan) should be early in the chain
• Write agents (kraken, spark, build-fixer) should be late in the chain