> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agentic.proxify.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fan-Out / Fan-In

> Spawn N independent agents in parallel, then synthesize their results.

The simplest parallel pattern. Spawn N agents, each handling an independent slice, then synthesize results.

**How it works:**

1. Break work into independent units (by file, module, or concern)
2. Spawn one agent per unit with `run_in_background: true`
3. Each agent works autonomously and returns results
4. The parent synthesizes when all complete

**Best for:** research across multiple areas, independent file analysis, running tests in parallel.

**Key constraint:** tasks must have no shared state and clear file boundaries. If agents edit overlapping files without worktree isolation, they'll overwrite each other.

<Tip>**Context budget:** Keep the orchestrator at \~10-15% of its context window. Have subagents write outputs directly to disk and return only a brief confirmation — this gives each subagent a fresh, full context window with no accumulated noise.</Tip>

With [Agent Teams](../agent-teams), the shared task list adds flexibility — teammates can self-claim unassigned tasks rather than having all work pre-assigned.

## Examples in the wild

| Example                                                                                                                                 | What it shows                                                                                                                                                |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| [planning-coordinator](https://github.com/FlorianBruniaux/claude-code-ultimate-guide/blob/main/examples/agents/planning-coordinator.md) | 4 parallel researcher agents (code-explorer, arch-researcher, database-analyst, security-analyst) fan into a single plan. Explicit file ownership per agent. |
| [deep-research](https://github.com/affaan-m/everything-claude-code/blob/main/.agents/skills/deep-research/SKILL.md)                     | Breaks a topic into sub-questions, one agent per sub-question, synthesizes into a report. Write-to-disk / return-confirmation-only in practice.              |