Grove Steward

Overview

Grove Steward acts as a high-level execution orchestrator, designed not to perform the actual work itself but to manage and coordinate multiple specialized AI agents. Its core function is to break down large, complex tasks into manageable steps, delegate those steps to appropriate sub-agents, and maintain a persistent record of all decisions and outcomes.

The system emphasizes evidence-based completion by requiring verification artifacts (like file reads or test outputs) before declaring any task finished, ensuring high reliability across multi-stage projects.

Capabilities

• Agent Spawning: It never performs work directly; it assesses complexity and spawns the correct sequence of sub-agents to handle the workload.
• Memory Integration: All completed tasks, decisions, and patterns are written to persistent memory stores (like Neo4j), allowing knowledge accumulation across disparate projects.
• Task Sizing Framework: It utilizes a 5-Tier framework (Nano to Enterprise) to accurately scope the required effort, preventing over- or under-engineering of solutions.
• Contextual Querying: Before starting any sequence, it queries existing memory stores to retrieve relevant past work and context, ensuring continuity.

Example Use Cases

• Large Software Feature Implementation: When building a new feature that requires backend changes, frontend updates, and extensive testing across multiple modules. Grove Steward manages the handoff between 'Backend Agent,' 'Frontend Agent,' and 'Testing Agent.'
• Comprehensive Research Synthesis: For projects requiring gathering data from several domains (e.g., market analysis combined with regulatory review). It coordinates specialized research agents to build a cohesive, evidence-backed report.
• System Architecture Design: When designing a complex system where multiple components must interact. The agent orchestrates the design phase by having different 'Specialist Agents' propose and validate interfaces against established architectural patterns.