Pipeline Configuration

The orchestrator reads swarm.config.yaml from the repository root. If not found, it uses the built-in default pipeline.

Default Configuration

# Model tiers
primaryModel: claude-opus-4-6      # Main implementation model
reviewModel: gpt-5.3-codex         # Cross-model reviewer (different family)
fastModel: claude-haiku-4.5        # Lightweight coordination tasks

# Agent registry
agents:
  pm:              builtin:pm
  pm-reviewer:     builtin:pm-reviewer
  spec-reviewer:   builtin:eng-spec-reviewer
  designer:        builtin:designer
  design-reviewer: builtin:design-reviewer
  engineer:        builtin:engineer
  code-reviewer:   builtin:eng-code-reviewer
  tester:          builtin:tester
  cross-model:     builtin:cross-model-reviewer
  fleet-strategist: builtin:fleet-strategist
  fleet-reviewer:  builtin:fleet-reviewer

# Pipeline phases
pipeline:
  - phase: spec
    condition: noPlanProvided
    agent: pm
    reviews:
      - agent: pm-reviewer
        maxIterations: 3
        approvalKeyword: APPROVED
      - agent: spec-reviewer
        maxIterations: 3
        approvalKeyword: APPROVED

  - phase: decompose
    agent: pm
    frontendMarker: "[FRONTEND]"

  - phase: design
    condition: hasFrontendTasks
    agent: designer
    clarificationAgent: pm
    reviews:
      - agent: design-reviewer
        maxIterations: 3
        approvalKeyword: APPROVED
        clarificationKeyword: CLARIFICATION_NEEDED
        clarificationAgent: pm

  - phase: implement
    parallel: true
    agent: engineer
    clarificationAgent: pm
    clarificationKeyword: CLARIFICATION_NEEDED
    reviews:
      - agent: code-reviewer
        maxIterations: 3
        approvalKeyword: APPROVED
    qa:
      agent: tester
      maxIterations: 5
      approvalKeyword: ALL_PASSED

  - phase: cross-model-review
    condition: differentReviewModel
    agent: cross-model
    fixAgent: engineer
    maxIterations: 3
    approvalKeyword: APPROVED

  - phase: verify
    fixAgent: engineer
    maxIterations: 3

Model Tiers

Tier	Default	Purpose
`primaryModel`	`claude-opus-4-6`	Main work: spec, engineering, code review, QA, design
`reviewModel`	`gpt-5.3-codex`	Cross-model verification (different model family)
`fastModel`	`claude-haiku-4.5`	Coordination: prereq analysis, decomposition, PM review in task mode

Phase Conditions

Condition	Triggers when
`noPlanProvided`	No `--plan` flag was used
`hasFrontendTasks`	At least one task marked with `[FRONTEND]`
`differentReviewModel`	`reviewModel` differs from `primaryModel`

Custom Agents

Override any agent by pointing to your own markdown file:

agents:
  pm: ./my-agents/custom-pm.md
  engineer: ./my-agents/strict-engineer.md

Agent files use YAML frontmatter:

---
name: My Custom PM
tools: [read_file, list_dir]
---
You are a specialized PM for our e-commerce platform...