codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature request: batch-spawn forked subagents from a shared preloaded context

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Please add an API / runtime primitive for batch-spawning multiple forked subagents from one shared preloaded context.

Today, fork_context=true appears to fork from the current caller agent's context, which is useful, but it is still fundamentally a one-agent-at-a-time interface.

What seems to be missing is a higher-level primitive like:

  • preload one shared prompt/context once
  • fork N subagents immediately after that shared prefix
  • provide each fork with a small per-agent payload, such as an agent id, worker index, or task selector
  • let each subagent follow the same common instructions but branch by its own identity or assigned shard

Conceptually, this is closer to a SIMD / CUDA-thread style launch:

  • same code / same shared prompt prefix
  • different thread / worker ids
  • different target objects or shards

Why this would help

This would likely improve orchestration efficiency for multi-agent workloads:

  • better shared-prefix reuse
  • higher KV-cache hit rate
  • potentially better MoE expert reuse / routing locality
  • lower repeated prompt overhead
  • lower latency for fan-out workloads
  • cleaner programming model for planner-worker or tree-search patterns

Right now, if I want a whole group of subagents to share the same long setup prompt, I effectively need to recreate that launch pattern one agent at a time. That feels less efficient than a native batch-fork primitive.

Proposed interface shape

Not prescribing exact naming, but something in this family:

spawn_agents({
  shared_context: ...,
  forks: [
    { id: "worker-0", message: "task selector: 0" },
    { id: "worker-1", message: "task selector: 1" },
    { id: "worker-2", message: "task selector: 2" }
  ]
})

extent analysis

TL;DR

Implement a batch-spawning API primitive to fork multiple subagents from a shared preloaded context, enabling efficient orchestration of multi-agent workloads.

Guidance

  • Investigate the feasibility of introducing a new API endpoint, such as spawn_agents, that accepts a shared context and an array of fork configurations, each containing a unique identifier and payload.
  • Consider the benefits of reusing the shared prefix and improving KV-cache hit rates, MoE expert reuse, and routing locality.
  • Evaluate the proposed interface shape and adjust it according to the specific requirements and constraints of the system.
  • Assess the potential performance improvements, such as reduced latency and overhead, that a batch-fork primitive could bring to fan-out workloads.

Example

spawn_agents({
  shared_context: "...long setup prompt...",
  forks: [
    { id: "worker-0", message: "task selector: 0" },
    { id: "worker-1", message: "task selector: 1" },
    { id: "worker-2", message: "task selector: 2" }
  ]
})

Notes

The implementation details of the spawn_agents API will depend on the underlying architecture and technology stack. Careful consideration should be given to ensure that the new primitive is efficient, scalable, and easy to use.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by creating a custom solution that mimics the proposed spawn_agents API, using existing primitives to fork subagents and manage their shared context, until a native batch-fork primitive is available. This will allow developers to benefit from the improved efficiency and performance of batch-spawning subagents.

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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature request: batch-spawn forked subagents from a shared preloaded context