Marine Team Workflow: Coordinating AI Agents

Building software with AI agents is not just about asking one model to do everything. We discovered that structuring agents into specialized roles creates a more reliable and predictable workflow.

The Marine Team Structure

Our team consists of three specialized agents:

• marine-frontend — owns UI, components, state management, and client-side behavior
• marine-backend — owns API routes, database, server logic, and business rules
• marine-devops — owns deployment, CI/CD, infrastructure, and monitoring

Each agent has a clear scope and set of responsibilities. This prevents overlap and makes handoffs explicit.

How Coordination Works

The key insight is that agents need contracts, not just instructions:

// Shared type contract between frontend and backend
interface BlogPost {
  slug: string;
  title: string;
  date: string;
  excerpt: string;
  category: string;
  tags: string[];
  content: string;
}

When the frontend agent needs data, it references the contract. When the backend agent implements the API, it follows the same contract. No ambiguity.

Plan Before Execute

One of our most important rules: always submit a plan before executing work. This means:

1. Read and understand existing code
2. Propose changes with rationale
3. Get approval before modifying files
4. Report results and next steps

This prevents wasted effort and ensures alignment.

Lessons Learned

• Scope boundaries matter — agents work better when they know what they own
• Contracts reduce errors — shared types eliminate integration bugs
• Planning saves time — a few minutes of planning prevents hours of rework
• Transparency is essential — every change should be traceable and explainable

What is Next

We are continuing to refine this workflow. Future improvements include better handoff protocols, automated contract validation, and cross-agent testing.

The marine team workflow is still evolving, but the foundation is solid. Structure creates freedom.