Integration Guides

Integration Guides

MCP Task Orchestrator can be integrated at different levels of sophistication. These guides are progressive — each tier builds on the previous. Start where you are, level up when you need more.

Guide Overview

Progressive Tiers

Each tier builds on the previous.

Tier	Guide	Audience	What You Get
1	Bare MCP	Any MCP client user	13 tools, persistent SQLite, role-based workflow
2	CLAUDE.md-Driven	Claude Code users	Consistent agent behavior via project instructions
3	Note Schemas	Schema configurers	Phase gate enforcement, required documentation
4	Plugin: Skills and Hooks	Claude Code + plugin	Automated workflows, plan-mode pipeline, subagent protocols
5	Output Styles	Power users	Full orchestrator mode with delegation
6	Self-Improving Workflow	Self-optimizers	Feedback loop, observation logging, auto-memory correction

Specialized Patterns

These are not part of the progressive tier ladder — they are alternate operational modes that build on Tier 4 (plugin) but operate differently from Tier 5 (orchestrator).

Pattern	Guide	Audience	What You Get
Autonomous Drain	Ralph Loop	Backlog drainers, claim-mode consumers	Fresh-context-per-iteration queue drain, schema-driven termination, dual circuit breakers

Which Guide Is Right for Me?

• "I use a non-Claude-Code MCP client" → Tier 1
• "I use Claude Code but don't want a plugin" → Tiers 1-2
• "I want to enforce documentation quality at each phase" → Add Tier 3 to any tier
• "I want automated skill workflows and plan-mode integration" → Tier 4
• "I want Claude to orchestrate and delegate, not implement directly" → Tier 5
• "I want the system to improve itself over time" → Tier 6
• "I want to drain a backlog of independent items autonomously" → Ralph Loop (specialized pattern)

Layering

Each tier adds on top of the previous. Note schemas (Tier 3) can be added independently at any tier — they require only a .taskorchestrator/config.yaml file and no plugin or CLAUDE.md changes. The self-improving workflow (Tier 6) is also relatively standalone — it can be adapted with or without the full output style.

Specialized patterns (Ralph Loop) are alternate operational modes rather than additional tiers. They build on Tier 4 (plugin) but follow a different execution pattern than Tier 5: where Tier 5 is a single-session orchestrator that plans and delegates, Ralph spawns a fresh claude -p per item and walks the backlog autonomously. Pair Ralph with Tier 3 schemas to drive what each iteration does, or with Tier 6 to capture cross-session signal from drain runs.