Art Of War Agents

📜 Art of War Agents

兵者，国之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也

"War is vital — the province of life or death. It must be thoroughly studied."

Sun Tzu's 13 chapters → AI agent orchestration patterns.

This skill provides a complete framework for strategic agent deployment: when to use agents, which ones, how to organize them, and how to avoid wasting tokens on unwinnable battles.

⚡ Quick Reference Card

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           ART OF WAR AGENT DECISION FLOW                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  1. 始计 → 值得做吗？(五事七计评估)                          │
│     ├─ Score ≥70% → 部署                                    │
│     ├─ Score 50-70% → 先补弱点                              │
│     └─ Score <50% → 不做，重新规划                          │
│                                                             │
│  2. 谋攻 → 能不做吗？(上兵伐谋)                             │
│     ├─ 可自动化/消除 → 不做                                 │
│     ├─ 单 agent 可解 → 单 agent                               │
│     └─ 必须多 agent → 继续                                  │
│                                                             │
│  3. 作战 → 预算多少？(速战速决)                             │
│     ├─ <10k tokens → 单 agent，快速迭代                       │
│     └─ >10k tokens → 多 agent，设检查点                      │
│                                                             │
│  4. 军形 → 有风险吗？(先胜后战)                             │
│     ├─ 高风险 → 防御优先，多重验证                          │
│     └─ 低风险 → 速度优先                                    │
│                                                             │
│  5. 部署 → 监控信号 (行军篇)                                │
│     ├─ 重复提问 → 补充上下文                                │
│     ├─ 输出变长但质量降 → 强制简洁                          │
│     ├─ 过度自信 → 要求来源                                  │
│     └─ 循环论证 → 介入重定向                                │
│                                                             │
│  6. 验证 → 三反原则 (用间篇)                                │
│     └─ 至少 3 个独立来源交叉验证                              │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🎯 Core Principles

知彼知己 (Know Enemy, Know Yourself)

• 知彼: Understand the task deeply — requirements, constraints, success criteria
• 知己: Know your agents' capabilities, limitations, and costs
• 百战不殆: With both, every agent deployment is calculated, not hopeful

上兵伐谋 (Best Strategy Attacks Plans)

• Planning > Execution. Invest in task analysis before spawning agents
• A well-planned single agent beats three confused agents
• "Win before fighting" — structure the problem so the solution is obvious

奇正相生 (Orthodox + Unorthodox)

• 正: Standard workflows, proven patterns, reliable agents
• 奇: Creative approaches, novel combinations, experimental agents
• Use 正 for reliability, 奇 for breakthrough. Never rely on 奇 alone.

速战速决 (Speed is Essential)

• Prolonged agent runs waste tokens and drift from intent
• Set clear termination conditions upfront
• If an agent isn't making progress in 2-3 iterations, reassess

先胜后战 (Victory Before Battle)

• Ensure conditions favor success before deploying agents
• If you can't articulate what "winning" looks like, don't start
• Retreat is better than wasting resources on unwinnable tasks

The Thirteen Chapters → Agent Patterns

1. 始计篇 (Laying Plans) — Task Assessment

Before deploying any agent, run the Five Constants + Seven Metrics:

五事 (Five Constants):

1. 道 (Wisdom): Does this task align with overall goals?
2. 天 (Timing): Is now the right time? Dependencies ready?
3. 地 (Environment): Do we have the right context/data/tools?
4. 将 (Capability): Which agent(s) have the right skills?
5. 法 (Process): What's the workflow? Success criteria?

七计 (Seven Metrics):

• Which side has better task clarity?
• Which side has more capable agents?
• Which side has better context/data?
• Which side has clearer success criteria?
• Which side has better tool access?
• Which side has more disciplined execution?
• Which side will waste fewer resources?

Decision: If you can't answer these, don't deploy. Plan first.

2. 作战篇 (Waging War) — Cost Awareness

Agent runs cost tokens. Treat them like war costs:

• 速战速决: Set iteration limits. Force conclusions.
• 因粮于敌: Use existing outputs/data; don't regenerate what exists
• 胜久则钝: Long-running agents lose focus and waste tokens
• 预算先行: Estimate token cost before starting; track as you go

Rule: If a task can be done in 1 agent iteration, don't use 3.

3. 谋攻篇 (Attack by Stratagem) — Planning Over Force

Hierarchy of agent deployment:

1. 上策: Restructure the problem so it solves itself (no agent needed)
2. 中策: Single focused agent with clear instructions
3. 下策: Multiple agents in complex orchestration

Avoid siege warfare: Don't throw more agents at a poorly-defined problem.

全胜思维: The best outcome is winning without fighting — automate or eliminate the task entirely.

4. 军形篇 (Tactical Dispositions) — Defense First

Before offense, ensure defense:

• What can go wrong? (Hallucination, outdated info, tool failures)
• What's the rollback plan if the agent makes things worse?
• What guardrails prevent catastrophic outputs?

先为不可胜: Make yourself undefeatable first — have validation, version control, and undo capability.

以待敌之可胜: Then wait for the opportunity — deploy when conditions are favorable.

5. 兵势篇 (Energy/Impetus) — Momentum & Combination

Create unstoppable momentum:

• 势 (Shi): Build configurations where each agent output naturally triggers the next
• 奇正: Combine standard agents (正) with creative approaches (奇)
• 节 (Timing): Release agents in waves, not all at once

Example pattern: Research agent → Synthesis agent → Critique agent → Final polish Each builds on the previous, creating momentum.

6. 虚实篇 (Weak Points & Strong) — Strategic Targeting

Avoid strength, attack weakness:

• Identify the critical bottleneck in the task
• Don't waste agent capacity on parts you can handle yourself
• Deploy agents where they have comparative advantage

避实击虚: If an agent struggles with nuance, handle the nuance yourself; let it handle the bulk work.

致人而不致于人: Control where the agent focuses; don't let it drift.

7. 军争篇 (Maneuvering) — Indirect Approaches

The longest path may be fastest:

• Sometimes 2-3 focused agents beat 1 generalist agent
• Sometimes doing background research first saves 10 iterations later
• "Appear weak when strong" — let the agent explore naive approaches first, then guide

以迂为直: A seeming detour (extra planning, extra validation) often reaches the goal faster.

8. 九变篇 (Nine Variations) — Adaptability

Agents must adapt to changing conditions:

• Have contingency plans: If agent A fails, what's plan B?
• 将在外，君命有所不受: Give agents autonomy within boundaries
• Recognize when to change strategy mid-execution

Five dangerous agent faults:

1. Reckless iteration (burns tokens)
2. Excessive caution (never completes)
3. Quick temper (argues with user)
4. Over-optimization (loses the goal)
5. Blind compliance (no pushback on bad instructions)

Watch for these; intervene early.

9. 行军篇 (Marching) — Environmental Awareness

Read the signals:

• 相敌 (Observing the enemy): Watch agent outputs for drift, hallucination, confusion
• 信号 (Signals): Repeated questions = unclear instructions; circular reasoning = stuck
• 地形 (Terrain): Some tasks are "difficult ground" — high uncertainty, need more oversight

When to intervene:

• Agent asks the same question twice
• Output quality degrades over iterations
• Agent is confident but wrong

10. 地形篇 (Terrain) — Task Classification

Six terrain types → Six task types:

11. 九地篇 (Nine Grounds) — Commitment Levels

Match resource commitment to task importance:

Most tasks are 散地 or 轻地 — don't over-invest.

12. 火攻篇 (Fire Attack) — Tool Usage

Fire = powerful tools (code execution, API calls, external data):

• 五种火 (Five fires):
  1. 人火 (Human fire): User-provided data/context
  2. 积火 (Accumulated fire): Cached/prepared resources
  3. 辎火 (Supply fire): Tool/API access
  4. 库火 (Arsenal fire): Code execution
  5. 队火 (Unit fire): Multi-agent collaboration

用火的时机 (When to use fire):

• 行必有备 (Always prepared): Have fallback if tool fails
• 发火有时 (Right timing): Don't use tools prematurely
• 发火在早 (Early): Use tools early to validate direction

Warning: Fire can burn you. Validate tool outputs; don't trust blindly.

13. 用间篇 (Spies) — Information Gathering

Five types of intelligence sources:

关键原则:

• 三反: Cross-verify with 3+ independent sources
• 不可偏信: Never trust a single source
• 先知: Gather intelligence before making decisions