129 real-world AI agent setups analyzed: Boris Cherny's parallel worktrees lead the pack
abe17124 · reddit · 2026-11-06
The author combed Reddit, X, blogs and GitHub for agent setups people actually kept running, verified 129 of them, and highlighted three:
- Parallel worktrees (Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code): runs 3-5 sessions at once, each in its own git worktree; complex work starts in plan mode with one Claude writing the plan and a second reviewing it like a staff engineer; anything done daily becomes a slash-command skill (e.g. an end-of-session /techdebt sweep).
- Done-when lists (u/tracheopteryx): every task starts with a programmatically checkable "done when" list; a lead agent (Claude Code or Codex) splits work across models in separate worktrees, verifies each report against the list, and hard-stops after two failed tries; review intensity scales with how hard a change is to undo.
- A personal operating contract (aditya): one standing contract auto-loaded by both Claude Code and Codex — Linear ticket first, Claude plans, Codex reviews, isolated worktrees, test-first, independent review before any PR.
Common threads: narrow jobs, durable shared state (worktree/checklist/contract file instead of chat context), and a second agent or hard stop catching mistakes — which is what keeps them running past the first demo.
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