How to orchestrate coding agents: 5 ways, from subagents to cloud VMs

The options differ in where the agents run and how isolated they are from each other. Isolation decides how many agents you can run before they start overwriting files, fighting over ports, or overwhelming your review queue. Checked October 7, 2026 against vendor documentation. Replicas publishes this guide and is one of the options.

Subagents are the lightest form of orchestration. The main session hands a focused task to a helper with its own context window, and only the result comes back, so searches and logs do not fill the main conversation.

Agent teams are an experimental Claude Code feature. Set CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS to 1 in your environment or in the env block of settings.json, then describe the team you want, for example "spawn three teammates to review PR 142: one for security, one for performance, one for test coverage".

The lead session creates a shared task list, teammates claim tasks and message each other directly, and the lead combines the findings. Teammates run inside your terminal by default; set teammateMode to tmux to give each one its own pane.

• Start with three to five teammates and give each one its own files, since two teammates editing the same file overwrite each other.
• Teammates do not inherit the lead's conversation, so put the context they need in the spawn prompt.
• Known limits: /resume does not restore in-process teammates, a session has one team, teammates cannot start their own teams, and token use grows with every teammate.

A git worktree is a second working directory with its own branch that shares the repository's history. Running each agent session in its own worktree means one session can build a feature while another fixes a bug without touching the same files. This works with any agent: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cline, or a mix.

Claude Code creates worktrees for you. Run claude --worktree feature-auth to start a session in .claude/worktrees/feature-auth on a new branch named worktree-feature-auth, then run it again with another name in a second terminal. Add .claude/worktrees/ to .gitignore, and list files such as .env in a .worktreeinclude file so they are copied into each new worktree.

For other agents, create the worktree with git: git worktree add ../app-feature-a -b feature-a. Then start the agent there in a detached tmux session, for example tmux new-session -d -s feature-a -c ../app-feature-a codex, and attach with tmux attach -t feature-a when you want to check in.

• Worktrees isolate files, not runtimes. Two dev servers on the same port, a shared local database, or two test suites competing for CPU still collide.
• Each worktree is a fresh checkout, so it needs its own dependency install.
• Your machine has to stay on, and you review and merge every branch yourself. Remove finished worktrees with git worktree remove.

Each major coding agent now has a hosted mode that runs every task on its own machine and returns a branch or pull request. You can start several at once and close your laptop. Each runs only its own agent, with its own environment settings and task list.

A platform takes over the parts you would otherwise script yourself: the queue, the environment, the trigger, and the review loop. Replicas runs each task in its own Linux VM prepared from an environment your team defines once, and lets you pick Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, or another supported agent per task. Tasks start from Slack, Linear, GitHub, GitLab, schedules, webhooks, failed CI runs, or the API.

Because every task has its own machine, runtimes do not collide: each agent can start services, run the full test suite, and use a desktop browser. Reviewers can watch a session, take over, comment on the diff, and have the agent continue in the same workspace. Devin and Factory also orchestrate at this level, each around its own agent. The agent orchestration platforms guide compares them in detail.

Start with the lightest option that covers the work, and move up when isolation, triggers, or review start to hurt. The options combine: an agent running in a Replicas workspace or a cloud session can still delegate to its own subagents.

You need research or a second opinion inside one task

Subagents.

One hard problem would benefit from several perspectives

Agent teams, starting with research or review rather than parallel edits.

You are running two to four tasks yourself today

Worktrees, one terminal or tmux session per task.

You want work to continue with your laptop closed

A provider cloud, if your team uses one agent and one code host.

Your team wants agents working its backlog

An orchestration platform, so tasks start from team tools, run in consistent environments, and arrive as pull requests everyone can review.

These appear whichever way you orchestrate. Plan for them before adding more agents.

Merge conflicts

Split work by module or file ownership, and keep each task to one pull request.

Review capacity

More agents produce more pull requests. Measure how many your reviewers can handle before adding agents.

Shared resources

Ports, local databases, and caches collide on one machine. Separate machines per task remove the problem.

Cost

Every subagent, teammate, and parallel session uses its own tokens. Check usage after the first few runs.

Missing context

Workers do not see the lead's conversation. Put file paths, constraints, and acceptance checks in each task prompt.

Replicas includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Connect a repository, define the environment once, and assign a few independent tickets from the dashboard, Slack, or Linear. Each task runs in its own Linux VM with the agent you pick and comes back as a pull request.

• What is an AI agent orchestrator?

  The orchestrator-worker pattern, and Claude Code and Codex as orchestrators.

• Agent orchestration platforms

  Patterns and nine orchestration platforms compared.

• Multi-agent orchestration for coding agents

  Queues, isolation models, and a reference architecture for a fleet.

• Run parallel sessions with worktrees

  Anthropic's reference for --worktree, .worktreeinclude, and cleanup.

• Claude Code agent teams

  Setup, display modes, and limitations of agent teams.

• Codex subagents

  Built-in and custom Codex agents and their settings.