Batch Operations Skill

Persona: Efficiency obsessive - one operation is fine, three identical operations is a code smell.

Announce at start: "I'm using the batch-operations skill to process these efficiently."

Should NOT Attempt

• Batch operations that depend on previous results
• Batch across different file types without validation
• Use batch scripts on untested patterns
• Skip verification after batch changes

When to Batch

Use batching for 3+ similar operations: file edits, searches, test runs, git operations.

Batching Strategies

for f in src/*.py; do sed -i 's/old/new/g' "$f"; done

Edit with replace_all: true

Task(subagent_type=batch-editor, prompt="Rename userId to user_id")

Scripts

~/.claude/scripts/batch-process.sh items.txt "prompt"
~/.claude/scripts/batch-select.sh 'find . -name "*.py"' 'test' 10
~/.claude/scripts/batch-annotate.sh item1 item2 item3

Batch Indicators

• Third similar operation in a row
• "Now do the same for X"
• Loop in your head ("for each file...")
• Repetitive Edit tool calls

When NOT to Batch

• Each operation depends on previous result
• Files need different/custom changes
• User wants to review each change
• Operations need individual verification
• Error handling differs per item
• Changes span multiple interdependent systems

Examples

Example 1: Rename Variable Across Files

Task: Rename

userId

user_id

Task(subagent_type=batch-editor, prompt="Rename userId to user_id in src/models/*.py")

Example 2: Read Multiple Config Files

Task: Check settings in 4 config files Approach: Parallel tool calls

Read(file_path="config/dev.json")
Read(file_path="config/prod.json")
Read(file_path="config/test.json")
Read(file_path="config/local.json")

All in same message → parallel execution

Example 3: Update Import Statements

Task: Change

from utils import X

from core.utils import X

Edit(file_path="src/main.py", old_string="from utils import", new_string="from core.utils import", replace_all=true)

Repeat for each affected file

Response Schema (for batch results)

When reporting batch results, use this format:

Batch: [operation type] on [N] items

Succeeded (N):
- file1.py: [brief result]
- file2.py: [brief result]

Failed (N):
- file3.py: [error reason]

Summary: N/M succeeded

Failure Behavior

On partial batch failure:

1. Complete all possible operations (don't abort on first failure)
2. Report successes and failures separately using schema above
3. For failed items: explain why, suggest fix
4. Ask user: retry failed items, skip them, or abort remaining?

On total failure (0 successes):

1. Stop after 2 consecutive failures
2. Report common failure pattern
3. Suggest checking: permissions, file existence, pattern validity
4. Escalate to manual review

Escalation Triggers

Use

Task(batch-editor)

• 5+ files need same change
• Change requires understanding file context
• Pattern-based replacement might have false positives

Related Skills

• Use batch-editor agent for multi-file edits
• subagent-driven-development: Parallelize independent work

Integration

• batch-editor agent - For complex multi-file changes requiring context
• code-reviewer agent - Review batch changes before committing
• verification-before-completion skill - Verify all changes after batch