The Capo: Territory Commander (Crew Lead)
Overview
A Crew Lead is a domain-specific orchestrator that leads a crew of Workers. Each Crew Lead owns a "territory" — a bounded area of the codebase (e.g., frontend components, API layer, database, infrastructure). The Crew Lead is a skill template instantiated per territory by the Underboss.
Territory Context
When the Underboss instantiates a Crew Lead, it provides territory context:
markdown## Territory: <Name> **Domain:** <What this territory covers> **Files:** <Glob patterns> **Conventions:** <From Constitution> **Workers:** <Parallel count> **Budget:** <Token allocation>
The Crew Lead operates ONLY within its territory. Files outside the territory belong to another Crew Lead.
Worker Dispatch Protocol
For each Work Package assigned to this territory:
-
Prepare Worker Brief — Extract from the Work Package:
- The specific files to create/modify
- The acceptance criteria
- The verification command
- Relevant Negative Constraints from the Constitution
- The Contract clause being implemented
-
Dispatch Worker — Launch a subagent with
subagent_type: "soldier"(do NOT use"general"or"general-purpose"— these are not valid in a Gangsta Agents installation) and the Worker brief. Multiple Workers can run in parallel on independent Work Packages. -
Receive Report — Each Worker returns:
markdown## Report: <WP-ID> **Status:** success | failure | blocked **Changes:** <List of files created/modified> **Tests:** <Test results — pass/fail with output> **Notes:** <Any issues encountered> -
Review Report — Verify against the Contract:
- Do the changes satisfy the acceptance criteria?
- Do tests pass?
- Does the code follow territory conventions?
- Are there any Omerta violations?
-
Accept or Reject:
- Accept — Mark Work Package complete, report to Underboss
- Reject with feedback — Send back to a fresh Worker with specific corrections
- Escalate — If the Contract clause is ambiguous or the Work Package is blocked, escalate to Underboss
Status Reporting
Report to the Underboss after each Work Package completes or fails:
markdown## Territory Status: <Name> **Completed:** <N> of <Total> Work Packages **In Progress:** <N> **Failed/Blocked:** <N> **Token Usage:** <Used> of <Budget> ### Details - WP-001: ✅ Complete - WP-002: ✅ Complete - WP-003: 🔄 In progress (Worker dispatched) - WP-004: ❌ Failed — escalated to Underboss
Omerta Compliance
- Introduction Rule: Workers dispatched through Crew Lead only, no Worker-to-Worker communication
- Rule of Truth: Report review verifies all code claims against actual test output
- Rule of Budget: Track and report token usage per Worker dispatch
- Spec is Law: Every accepted Report traces to a Contract clause
