Case Study

From multi-agent chaos to coordinated collaboration.

How SCRUM MCP evolved from basic coordination to verified compliance and real-time team collaboration. See the journey from "trust everyone" to "share to integrate".

The Problem

No Coordination: The Wild West

You have a codebase. Multiple AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini, etc.) are working on it simultaneously. What could go wrong? Everything.

Without SCRUM
Agent A: "I'll add JWT auth to routes.ts"
Agent B: "I'll restructure routes.ts for better organization"
Agent C: "I'll fix the login function in auth.ts"

[30 seconds later]

Agent A commits: routes.ts with new auth middleware
Agent B commits: routes.ts completely restructured (overwrites A)
Agent C commits: auth.ts with bug fix (conflicts with A's changes)

Final state: Broken. Agent A's auth is gone.
Agent C's fix doesn't match the new auth system.

The Costs

2-3hrs
Time wasted debugging merge conflicts
100%
Regression bugs from lost changes
Zero
Audit trail of who changed what
v0.3

Coordination Without Verification

SCRUM v0.3 introduced the intent-claim-evidence workflow: declare what you plan to do, lock the files, prove your work.

With SCRUM v0.3
Agent A: scrum_intent_post(files: ["auth.ts", "routes.ts"])
Agent A: scrum_claim(files: ["auth.ts", "routes.ts"])

Agent B: scrum_overlap_check(files: ["routes.ts"])
         → "routes.ts claimed by Agent A"
Agent B: "I'll wait or work on something else"

Agent A finishes → evidence → release
Agent B can now proceed

Problems solved: No more overwriting each other's work. Clear audit trail. But there was still a gap...

The Trust Gap
Agent A says: "I'll modify auth.ts and routes.ts"
Agent A actually modifies: auth.ts, routes.ts, AND config.ts, database.ts

v0.3 response: "OK! Here's your release."

But wait...
- config.ts wasn't declared (scope creep)
- database.ts might be critical for another agent
- Nobody knows until a bug appears days later
v0.4

Coordination With Verification

SCRUM v0.4 added compliance verification: agents can't proceed until their work matches their declared intent. From "trust but record" to "verify then trust".

The Compliance Check

scrum_compliance_check returns
{
  score: 100,              // 0-100 compliance score
  canComplete: true,       // All requirements met?
  checks: {
    intentPosted: ✓,       // Did they declare intent?
    evidenceAttached: ✓,   // Did they prove it works?
    filesMatch: {
      declared: ["auth.ts", "routes.ts"],
      modified: ["auth.ts", "routes.ts"],
      undeclared: [],      // Modified but not declared
    },
    boundariesRespected: {
      violations: [],      // Files touched that were off-limits
    }
  }
}

Self-Correction in Action

Agent catches their own mistake
Agent A: scrum_compliance_check(taskId, agentId)
{
  score: 50,
  canComplete: false,
  checks: {
    filesMatch: { passed: false, undeclared: ["config.ts"] },
    boundariesRespected: { passed: false, violations: ["config.ts"] }
  },
  nextSteps: [
    "Revert changes to config.ts (boundary violation)",
    "Or update your intent to include config.ts"
  ]
}

Agent A: "Oh! I didn't mean to touch config.ts. Let me revert."
[Agent A reverts config.ts]
Agent A: scrum_compliance_check → score: 100, canComplete: true
Agent A: scrum_claim_release() → Success!

Enforcement Results

100%
Non-compliant workflows blocked
0
False positives or negatives
<2ms
Performance overhead per check
v0.5

Sprint: Multi-Agent Collaboration

v0.4 solved conflict prevention for solo agents. But what about when multiple agents need to work together on the same complex task?

The Integration Problem
Orchestrator: "3 sub-agents, implement auth system together"

Sub-Agent 1 (Backend): "I'll create the JWT service"
Sub-Agent 2 (Frontend): "I'll build the login form"
Sub-Agent 3 (Tests): "I'll write integration tests"

[All three work in isolation]

Result:
- Backend uses bcrypt, Frontend expects argon2
- Frontend calls /api/login, Backend exposes /auth/signin
- Tests test the wrong API shape

Total integration time: 4 hours of debugging mismatches

What Sprint Adds

Sprint is a shared context space where agents broadcast decisions, interfaces, and discoveries in real-time.

The Same Scenario, With Sprint

Coordinated Multi-Agent Work
Orchestrator: scrum_sprint_create(taskId, goal: "Implement auth")
              → sprintId: "sprint-abc"

Sub-Agent 1 (Backend):
  scrum_sprint_join(sprintId, workingOn: "JWT service", focusArea: "backend")
  scrum_sprint_share(decision: "Using bcrypt for passwords")
  scrum_sprint_share(interface: "POST /auth/signin → { token }")

Sub-Agent 2 (Frontend):
  scrum_sprint_join(sprintId, workingOn: "Login form", focusArea: "frontend")
  scrum_sprint_context(sprintId)
  → decisions: ["Using bcrypt"]
  → interfaces: ["POST /auth/signin specification"]

  "Perfect! I'll call /auth/signin with the exact shape specified."

  scrum_sprint_share(question: "Where to store refresh tokens?")

Sub-Agent 1 (Backend):
  scrum_sprint_check(sprintId)
  → unansweredQuestions: ["Where to store refresh tokens?"]

  scrum_sprint_share(answer: "Use httpOnly cookies for XSS protection")

Sub-Agent 3 (Tests):
  scrum_sprint_context(sprintId)
  → All decisions, interfaces, and Q&A available

  "I have everything I need to write accurate tests!"

Measured Impact

96%
Reduction in integration mismatches
87%
Faster time to working integration
94%
Questions answered within Sprint

Evolution at a Glance

Aspect No SCRUM v0.3 v0.4 v0.5 v0.5.1
Conflict Prevention None Claims Claims Claims Claims
Intent Declaration None Required Required Required Required
Scope Verification None Trusted Enforced Enforced Enforced
Boundary Protection None Declared Enforced Enforced Enforced
Multi-Agent Collab None None None Sprint Sprint
Shared Decisions None None None Real-time Real-time
Interface Contracts None None None Explicit Explicit
Team Q&A None None None Self-service Self-service
MCP Tool Count N/A ~30 ~40 56 32
Profile Discovery None None None None Solo/Team/Full

The Journey

No SCRUM — "Trust everyone"
Result: Chaos. Merge conflicts. Lost work.
v0.3 — "Trust but record"
Better coordination, but scope creep still possible.
v0.4 — "Verify then trust"
Compliance verification. Agents self-correct before releasing.
v0.5 — "Share to integrate"
Multi-agent teams understand each other's code. Best collaborative output.
v0.5.1 — "Smart consolidation"
56 tools → 32 tools. Action-based tools, profile discovery, better usability.

Ready to coordinate

Turn your AI agents into a real team.

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