One repo, many agents: parallel features from a Figma prototype

Ivar, a tool for running multiple coding agents in parallel, published a walkthrough showing how three agents can build onboarding, checkout and profile features from a single Figma prototype in one app repository and deliver the work as a single pull request. The workflow uses `ivar init`, `ivar repo add`, a Figma MCP server declared once in ivar.json, a setup script at .ivar/setups/app.sh, and one subfeature per slice created with `ivar feature create <name> --parent figma-proto` and promoted with `ivar feature promote`, each running in its own worktree and session. Each slice is integrated into the parent feature via `ivar plan create`, `ivar plan approve` and `ivar feature integrate`, after which `ivar feature deliver figma-proto --preview` prints a fingerprint without writing anything.

Your designer hands over a Figma prototype with onboarding, checkout and a profile area. It all lands in one app repository. You want three agents working at once, one per area, and you want the result to arrive as a single pull request. Does ivar make sense with one repo and many parallel branches, or only when work spans several repositories? It does, and this post walks through it end to end. Start a hall and add the repository: ivar initivar repo add app git@github.com:acme/app.git The Figma MCP server is declared once in ivar.json and materialised into each session, so every agent you start can read the prototype. Configure Figma MCP for OpenCode in one step https://ivar.run/blog/figma-mcp-opencode shows the block and the auth step, and the MCP guide https://ivar.run/docs/guide/mcp covers the other harnesses. A fresh worktree is a clean checkout. Installed dependencies and generated code are not there. Put what a new worktree needs in a setup script at .ivar/setups/app.sh: bash /bin/shset -emake depsmake codegen Every branch you cut below runs it, so each agent starts from a working tree instead of a broken build. Create the main feature and promote the repo in it first: ivar feature create figma-protoivar feature promote figma-proto app Order matters. A subfeature’s branch is cut from its parent’s branch, and that branch only exists once the parent has promoted the repo. If you promote a child first, ivar asks to promote the parent for you, and without a terminal it refuses with the exact ivar feature promote command to run — it never cuts the child from main behind your back. Now add one subfeature per slice and promote the repo in each: ivar feature create onboarding --parent figma-protoivar feature promote onboarding appivar feature create checkout --parent figma-protoivar feature promote checkout appivar feature create profile --parent figma-protoivar feature promote profile app Each child has its own branch and worktree, based on figma-proto. The Subfeatures section of the features guide https://ivar.run/docs/guide/features subfeatures is the short reference for this flow. Open a terminal per slice and start a session in each: ivar session start onboarding Then ivar session start checkout in the second terminal and ivar session start profile in the third. There is no single command that starts all three; you open them yourself, one per terminal. Each session works in its own worktree, so the agents never touch each other’s files, index or HEAD. Each session also gets the same harness config and the same MCP servers, Figma included. You point each agent at its frame in the prototype and let it build. From any terminal, look at the whole tree: ivar feature status figma-proto --recursive After onboarding and checkout have been folded back, it looks like this: Subtree: figma-proto state active repos 1 blocked by: profile active checkout state integrated repos 1 onboarding state integrated repos 1 profile state active repos 1 The main feature lists the children that still block it. Once profile is integrated, nothing does. When a slice is done, integrate it into its parent. Integration requires the child’s plan gate to be approved. For a small slice, the plan alone is enough: ivar plan create onboarding planivar plan approve onboarding planivar feature integrate onboarding The child’s work lands on the figma-proto branch and the child closes as integrated. If a slice deserves a written plan with requirements first, the planning guide https://ivar.run/docs/guide/planning covers the full flow. Repeat for checkout and profile. With every child integrated, the main feature carries all three slices. Preview the delivery first: ivar feature deliver figma-proto --preview The preview writes nothing. It reads the branch, the remote, the base and any existing pull request, and prints a fingerprint. When it looks right, apply it with the fingerprint the preview printed: ivar feature deliver figma-proto --fingerprint <fp That pushes the figma-proto branch and opens one pull request against main. Creating the pull request needs a GitHub remote; with a local remote, delivery only pushes. The delivery guide https://ivar.run/docs/guide/delivery covers the details, including updating a pull request that already exists. If you use one harness on one repo and never run work in parallel, you may not need any of this. Commit an .mcp.json with the Figma server, use git worktree add when you want a second branch checked out, and move on. ivar starts paying off when several agents run at once, possibly in different harnesses, and each needs the same MCP servers, the same setup script and an isolated worktree, with a way to fold the pieces back into one change. One repo, many agents: parallel features from a Figma prototype https://blog.devgenius.io/one-repo-many-agents-parallel-features-from-a-figma-prototype-5bcaf2e9910f was originally published in Dev Genius https://blog.devgenius.io on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.