Agent Collaboration

Use this skill when a second agent should critique or verify work instead of having one agent keep self-reviewing in place.

This skill assumes smux and tmux-bridge are available. If they are missing, read references/smux-setup.md first and say so explicitly if tmux collaboration is not configured.

Most Useful Command

tmux-bridge message <target> <text>

Use message for agent-to-agent handoffs because it includes sender identity and reply routing in the typed text. It still requires the read guard: read first, then message, read again to verify, then press Enter.

Peer Selection

• Prefer a different runtime for critique when available:
  • if you are in Claude Code, ask Codex CLI
  • if you are in Codex CLI, ask Claude Code
• If the other runtime is not available, start a fresh instance of the same runtime in another tmux pane and label it separately, for example claude-review or codex-review.
• Never ask the current pane to critique its own work.

Instructions

1. Confirm the collaboration surface exists:
   • tmux-bridge id
   • tmux-bridge list
2. Label your pane and the peer pane if labels are missing. See references/smux-setup.md.
3. Pick the peer pane:
   • use the other runtime if it already exists
   • otherwise create a new pane and start a fresh instance of the same runtime
4. Pick the collaboration mode:
   • code review
   • plan critique
   • results critique
   • scientific writing critique
   • second-opinion debugging or design review
5. Make the ask concrete. Always name:
   • the artifact or scope
   • the review goal
   • the output format
   • what to ignore
6. Use the read-act-read-submit cycle:
   • tmux-bridge read <target> 30
   • tmux-bridge message <target> "<request>"
   • tmux-bridge read <target> 10
   • tmux-bridge keys <target> Enter
7. Do not wait or poll the peer agent pane for a reply. The reply should come back into your pane through the tmux-bridge header route.
8. When you receive a [tmux-bridge from:...] message, reply to the pane:%N value in that header.
9. For non-agent panes or shell prompts, use type instead of message, then read again to inspect the result.
10. When the task is domain-specific, combine this skill with the domain skill:

• manuscript or rebuttal critique: scientific-writing
• evidence, rigor, or claim critique: bio-logic

Request Design

• Ask for findings first on reviews.
• Ask for hidden assumptions, edge cases, and missing verification on plans.
• Ask for unsupported claims, citation risk, overstatement, and missing caveats in scientific writing.
• Ask the peer agent to stay within supplied artifacts instead of inventing context.
• Prefer one bounded request per message.

Quick Reference

Task	Action
Discover panes	tmux-bridge list
Label current pane	tmux-bridge name "$(tmux-bridge id)" claude
Read target pane	tmux-bridge read codex 40
Send an agent review request	tmux-bridge message codex "review ..."
Submit the typed message	tmux-bridge keys codex Enter
Resolve a label	tmux-bridge resolve codex

Input Requirements

• active tmux session
• tmux-bridge available in PATH
• a target pane running Codex CLI, Claude Code, or another shell/agent
• the artifact, diff, plan, draft, or summary to review

Output

• peer review findings, critique, or suggested revisions returned to your pane
• a reproducible cross-agent collaboration pattern instead of ad hoc copy/paste

Quality Gates

• panes are labeled or explicitly targetable
• read guard satisfied before every message, type, or keys
• request names the artifact, scope, and desired output format
• agent panes are not polled for responses after submission
• replies are sent to the sender pane from the tmux-bridge header

Examples

Example 1: Code Review Handoff

tmux-bridge read codex 40
tmux-bridge message codex "Review the current diff for bugs, regressions, and missing tests. Findings first, ordered by severity. Ignore style-only issues."
tmux-bridge read codex 10
tmux-bridge keys codex Enter

Example 2: Scientific Writing Critique

tmux-bridge read claude 40
tmux-bridge message claude "Critique the discussion draft for unsupported claims, inflated language, missing caveats, and citation risk. Stay within the supplied manuscript artifacts."
tmux-bridge read claude 10
tmux-bridge keys claude Enter

Example 3: Same-Platform Fallback

If you are already in Claude Code and no Codex pane is available, open another tmux pane, start a fresh Claude Code instance there, label it claude-review, and use that pane for critique instead of self-reviewing in place.

References

• smux setup and pane labeling: references/smux-setup.md
• review request patterns and command idioms: references/review-patterns.md