Agents

Agents are individual Claude Code instances running in isolated environments.

Overview

Each agent in Colony:

  • Runs in its own tmux pane
  • Has its own git worktree
  • Can use specialized templates
  • Shares state with other agents
  • Has a unique ID and configuration

Agent Lifecycle

  1. Configuration - Defined in colony.yml
  2. Initialization - Worktree and environment setup
  3. Start - Claude Code instance launched
  4. Running - Agent performs tasks
  5. Stop - Graceful shutdown

Agent Isolation

Agents are isolated through:

  • Separate git worktrees (no conflicts)
  • Individual tmux panes (process isolation)
  • Unique working directories
  • Independent MCP server instances

Communication

Agents communicate through:

  • Shared state system
  • Task queue
  • Message passing
  • Shared memory

See State Management for details.