RLM Mode Skill

You detect when users need large-scale operations that would benefit from recursive decomposition and route to RLM commands instead of attempting to load everything into context.

Triggers

Alternate expressions and non-obvious activations (primary phrases are matched automatically from the skill description):

• "RLM" / "recursive language model" → explicit RLM mode activation
• "process in chunks" → chunk-based decomposition request
• "decompose and process" → explicit decomposition shorthand
• "fan out" → parallel fan-out processing across files or modules

Core Problem

Loading entire codebases or directory trees into context causes:

• Context window overflow: Exceeding model limits
• Degraded quality: Agent struggles with too much information
• Poor performance: Slow processing, truncated responses
• Memory exhaustion: System crashes on large repos

RLM solution: Decompose → Process in chunks → Aggregate results

Trigger Patterns Reference

Detection Logic

High Confidence (Auto-Suggest)

Patterns that almost always need RLM:

1. Quantifiers: "all", "every", "entire", "whole", "throughout"
2. Scope words: "codebase", "repository", "project-wide"
3. Recursive terms: "recursively", "nested", "hierarchical", "tree"
4. Batch terms: "batch", "bulk", "mass", "apply to multiple"

Heuristics:

• User mentions directory paths (src/, lib/, test/)
• User wants aggregated output ("list all", "summarize", "generate report")
• Task involves file count estimation >20 files
• User explicitly says "this might be a lot" or "there are many files"

Medium Confidence (Suggest with Alternatives)

Patterns that might need RLM:

1. User asks about "multiple files" without quantity
2. User wants to "find patterns" without specifying scope
3. Task could be done with grep but user phrases it as analysis

In these cases: Ask user to clarify scope before recommending RLM

Low Confidence (Don't Suggest)

Patterns that DON'T need RLM:

1. Single file operations: "analyze this file", "refactor login.ts"
2. Specific file list: "check auth.ts, user.ts, and session.ts"
3. Interactive exploration: "show me the auth module"
4. Already scoped: "in this directory" (with small directory)

Decomposition Strategies

When RLM is appropriate, suggest the right strategy:

Strategy 1: Recursive Query (rlm-query)

Use when: User wants to find, list, or aggregate information

Example triggers:

• "find all functions that use deprecated API"
• "list all files missing tests"
• "identify all TODO comments"
• "show me all error handling patterns"

Suggested command:

/rlm-query "{query}" --path {directory} --pattern "{glob}" --depth {N}

Example:

User: "find all TODO comments across the entire codebase"

Decomposition:
  Query: "Extract TODO comments with file:line locations"
  Path: "." (whole repo)
  Pattern: "**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}" (all code files)

Suggested: /rlm-query "Extract TODO comments" --path . --pattern "**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}"

Strategy 2: Batch Processing (rlm-batch)

Use when: User wants to transform, update, or generate for multiple files

Example triggers:

• "update every component to use new prop types"
• "add JSDoc comments to all functions"
• "refactor all API calls to use new client"
• "generate tests for each module"

Suggested command:

/rlm-batch "{operation}" --path {directory} --pattern "{glob}" --parallel {N}

Example:

User: "add TypeScript types to every JavaScript file in src/"

Decomposition:
  Operation: "Add TypeScript type annotations"
  Path: "src/"
  Pattern: "**/*.js"
  Parallel: 4 (concurrent workers)

Suggested: /rlm-batch "Add TypeScript type annotations" --path src/ --pattern "**/*.js" --parallel 4

Strategy 3: Hierarchical Summary (rlm-summarize)

Use when: User wants to understand large-scale structure or relationships

Example triggers:

• "summarize the entire repository structure"
• "explain the architecture of this codebase"
• "show me the dependency tree"
• "what are the main modules?"

Suggested command:

/rlm-summarize --path {directory} --depth {N} --output-format {markdown|json}

Example:

User: "summarize the whole repository so I can understand the architecture"

Decomposition:
  Path: "." (whole repo)
  Depth: 3 (top 3 levels)
  Format: markdown

Suggested: /rlm-summarize --path . --depth 3 --output-format markdown

Response Templates

When RLM is Clearly Needed

This request involves processing {N estimated} files, which exceeds comfortable
context window usage.

I recommend using RLM (Recursive Language Model) processing:

**Suggested approach:**
{command}

This will:
1. Decompose the task into manageable chunks
2. Process files independently (avoiding context overflow)
3. Aggregate results into a coherent summary

Would you like me to proceed with this RLM approach, or would you prefer a
different strategy?

When Scope is Unclear

This could involve processing many files. To choose the right approach:

1. How many files are we talking about?
   - A few (1-5): I can handle directly
   - Several (5-20): Borderline, depends on size
   - Many (20+): RLM processing recommended

2. What's the scope?
   - Specific directory: {suggest path}
   - Whole repository: Definitely use RLM
   - Filtered by pattern: {suggest glob pattern}

Please clarify and I'll recommend the best approach.

When User Insists on Direct Processing (Warning)

I can attempt to load {estimated files} directly, but I should warn you:

⚠️ Risks:
- Context window overflow (may truncate output)
- Degraded quality (too much information to process well)
- Slow response time
- Possible incomplete results

**Recommended**: Use RLM processing instead via:
{command}

Do you want to proceed with direct loading anyway, or use the recommended
RLM approach?

Parameter Extraction

Path Extraction

From explicit mention:

• "in src/" → --path src/
• "under lib/components/" → --path lib/components/
• "the test directory" → --path test/

From implicit context:

• No mention → --path . (whole repo)
• "the codebase" → --path .
• "source files" → --path src/ (if src/ exists)

Pattern Extraction

From file type mention:

• "TypeScript files" → --pattern "**/*.ts"
• "React components" → --pattern "**/*.{jsx,tsx}"
• "test files" → --pattern "**/*.test.{js,ts}"
• "markdown docs" → --pattern "**/*.md"

From explicit pattern:

• "files matching *.config.js" → --pattern "**/*.config.js"

Default:

• No mention → --pattern "**/*" (all files)

Depth Extraction

From explicit mention:

• "top-level only" → --depth 1
• "two levels deep" → --depth 2
• "recursively" → --depth -1 (infinite)

From implicit context:

• Summary request → --depth 3 (reasonable overview)
• Search request → --depth -1 (exhaustive)
• Transform request → --depth -1 (all matches)

Parallelism Extraction

For batch operations:

• Default: --parallel 4 (balanced)
• User mentions "fast" → --parallel 8 (aggressive)
• User mentions "careful" → --parallel 2 (conservative)

Clarification Prompts

If Query is Ambiguous

To set up RLM processing, I need to clarify:

1. **Scope**: Which directories?
   - [ ] Entire repository (.)
   - [ ] Specific directory: _______
   - [ ] Multiple directories: _______

2. **Files**: Which file types?
   - [ ] All files
   - [ ] Code files only (*.js, *.ts, etc.)
   - [ ] Specific pattern: _______

3. **Operation**: What should I do with each file?
   - [ ] Extract information (use rlm-query)
   - [ ] Transform/update (use rlm-batch)
   - [ ] Summarize structure (use rlm-summarize)

Please provide these details.

If Scope Seems Too Large

This request would process approximately {N estimated} files.

**Options:**

1. **Narrow the scope** (recommended):
   - Specific directory: {suggest path}
   - File type filter: {suggest pattern}
   - Depth limit: {suggest depth}

2. **Proceed with full scope** using RLM:
   - Command: {command}
   - Estimated time: {estimate}
   - This will process in chunks to avoid overflow

3. **Sample first**:
   - Process a subset to verify approach
   - Then expand to full scope

Which option do you prefer?

Invocation Examples

Example 1: Find Pattern Across Codebase

User: "find all instances of console.log across the entire project"

Detection:

• Trigger: "all instances", "across the entire project"
• Strategy: rlm-query (finding information)

Extraction:

• Query: "Find all console.log statements"
• Path: "." (entire project)
• Pattern: "**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}" (JavaScript/TypeScript files)

Response:

This requires searching across the entire codebase. I'll use RLM processing:

/rlm-query "Find all console.log statements with file and line number" \
  --path . \
  --pattern "**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}"

This will:
1. Recursively scan all JavaScript/TypeScript files
2. Extract console.log locations
3. Aggregate results into a summary report

Proceeding...

Example 2: Batch Update

User: "update every React component to use the new useAuth hook instead of the old AuthContext"

Detection:

• Trigger: "update every", "React component"
• Strategy: rlm-batch (transformation)

Extraction:

• Operation: "Replace AuthContext with useAuth hook"
• Path: "src/" (source code)
• Pattern: "**/*.{jsx,tsx}" (React components)
• Parallel: 4 (default)

Response:

This is a batch refactoring task that will affect multiple components. Using RLM:

/rlm-batch "Replace AuthContext with useAuth hook pattern" \
  --path src/ \
  --pattern "**/*.{jsx,tsx}" \
  --parallel 4

This will:
1. Identify all React components using AuthContext
2. Refactor each to use useAuth hook
3. Process 4 files concurrently for efficiency
4. Verify changes compile before proceeding to next

Proceeding with batch operation...

Example 3: Repository Summary

User: "summarize the whole repository structure so I can understand what this project does"

Detection:

• Trigger: "summarize the whole repository"
• Strategy: rlm-summarize (hierarchical understanding)

Extraction:

• Path: "." (entire repo)
• Depth: 3 (good overview depth)
• Format: markdown

Response:

I'll create a hierarchical summary of the repository using RLM:

/rlm-summarize --path . --depth 3 --output-format markdown

This will:
1. Analyze the top 3 levels of directory structure
2. Identify main modules and their purposes
3. Map dependencies and relationships
4. Generate a markdown summary document

Proceeding...

Example 4: Ambiguous Scope (Clarification Needed)

User: "check for missing error handling"

Detection:

• No scope quantifiers ("all", "every", "entire")
• Could be single file or entire codebase

Response:

I can check for missing error handling. To choose the right approach:

**Scope unclear**:
1. Current file only? (I can do this directly)
2. Specific module/directory? (Please specify path)
3. Entire codebase? (I'll use RLM processing)

**If entire codebase, I recommend:**
/rlm-query "Identify functions missing try-catch or error handling" \
  --path . \
  --pattern "**/*.{js,ts}"

Which scope did you have in mind?

Integration Notes

• Priority: Medium (yields to agent-loop for explicit iteration requests)
• Exclusivity: Partial (suggest RLM, but user can override)
• Confirmation: Always confirm strategy before invoking RLM commands
• Fallback: If user rejects RLM, warn about context limits but proceed if insisted

Performance Heuristics

File Count Estimation

Quick heuristics for estimating whether RLM is needed:

Context Window Budgeting

Rule of thumb: If estimated total file size exceeds 50% of context window, use RLM.

Estimates:

• TypeScript file: ~200 lines avg = ~8,000 tokens
• Test file: ~100 lines avg = ~4,000 tokens
• Config file: ~50 lines avg = ~2,000 tokens

Context windows:

• Claude Opus 4.6: 200k tokens → Safe limit ~100k tokens → ~12 large TS files
• GPT-5.3-Codex: 128k tokens → Safe limit ~64k tokens → ~8 large TS files

Related

• /rlm-query command - recursive information extraction
• /rlm-batch command - parallel batch processing
• /rlm-summarize command - hierarchical summarization
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/rlm/schemas/rlm-config.yaml - RLM configuration schema
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/rlm/docs/rlm-architecture.md - RLM system design
• @.aiwg/research/findings/REF-087-recursive-decomposition.md - Decomposition research

Version History

• 1.0.0: Initial implementation for RLM mode detection and routing

References

• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/rlm/README.md — RLM addon overview and architecture
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/rlm/schemas/rlm-config.yaml — RLM configuration schema
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/rlm/docs/rlm-architecture.md — RLM system design and decomposition strategy
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/aiwg-utils/rules/subagent-scoping.md — Subagent scoping and context budget rules
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/aiwg-utils/rules/context-budget.md — Context window budgeting for parallel subagents
• @$AIWG_ROOT/docs/cli-reference.md — CLI reference for rlm commands