[Bug] Race condition in task claiming allows duplicate execution in multi-worker swarms
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Jan 31, 2026 by odysseus0 Closed Feb 4, 2026
Bug Description
Title: Race condition in swarm task claiming
Issue:
TaskList → TaskUpdate has no atomic claim. Multiple workers can claim and execute the same task.
What happened:
3-worker swarm, 6 tasks. Both alpha and beta saw Task #=1 available, both claimed it, both executed it (duplicate web searches). Same race occurred on Task 4.
Evidence: Both workers messaged me "Completed Task 1" — beta won the final JSON write, but both did all the work.
Fix:
Atomic claim: TaskClaim(taskId, ifOwnerIs: null) that fails if already claimed.
Impact:
Wasted compute, potential file conflicts, breaks the self-organizing swarm pattern.
Environment Info
- Platform: darwin
- Terminal: tmux
- Version: 2.1.27
- Feedback ID: a3306fa4-6ecb-48a8-bc87-91991fbf5e84
Errors
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