One job, three agents at once. Wait for all three. Get one answer back.
“Give me three takes on this pitch.” One job, three analysts, one combined answer.
The job arrives at the INBOX and reaches the SPLITTER.
The splitter sends a copy down every lane. Three desks start at the same time.
Each result rides to the JOINER. The joiner waits until all three are in.
It sends one merged crate onward — to a writer, or straight to the OUTBOX.
Two signposts, two jobs. The SPLITTER fans work out. The JOINER is a barrier: nothing leaves it until every branch has reported in.
Each job goes down one lane, in turn: first east, then south, then east again. Two desks, half the queue — not double the spend.
If the lanes meet at a joiner downstream, the splitter switches to fan-out: every lane gets the same job. Every branch is a real run, so this stage costs once per desk.
You don’t choose between the two modes. The station reads your belts: lanes that meet at a joiner mean “everyone works on it”; lanes that don’t mean “take turns”.
Open REFIT STATION. Place an INBOX, a SPLITTER, two or three BAYs side by side, a JOINER past them, and an OUTBOX.
BELT 7: INBOX → SPLITTER, then SPLITTER → each BAY. Every belt must leave the splitter’s square on its own side. Two lanes minimum, or the tile says SPLITTER NEEDS 2 OUT-LANES.
BELT each BAY → JOINER, into the joiner’s square on different sides. Two lanes minimum, or the tile says JOINER NEEDS 2 IN-LANES. Then JOINER → OUTBOX.
Click the JOINER. The default is 10 minutes for a late branch (you can set 1 to 120). If a branch is slower than that, the joiner sends what it has and marks the result partial.
Give every bay an agent. Send one job. Watch three crates leave the splitter, three desks light up, and one crate leave the joiner.
There is a third tile called MERGER. It looks similar and does something much simpler: several belts come in, one belt goes out, and every crate rides straight through. It combines lanes, never jobs. Nothing to configure. Use it when two lines share one OUTBOX; use a JOINER when results must be combined.
Only one belt leaves the splitter. Run a second belt out of its square on another side.
Only one belt reaches the joiner. Run a second belt into its square.
A belt clips a corner of the splitter or joiner instead of passing through the square.
One desk in the crew is empty. The joiner would wait forever for it, so the lane stays dark until you fill the desk.
No. Three different specialists on the same job is the whole point of SECOND OPINION: an analyst, a skeptic, and a writer each read the same brief.
Every branch’s result, labelled by desk, in one crate. Put a writer after the joiner to turn three takes into one document.
The joiner’s waiting room is not saved across a restart — on purpose, so a stale half-job can never surprise you a week later. Parked branches are reported at boot and the job is marked superseded. Send it again.
Yes. A splitter downstream of a splitter fans out again, and one joiner at the end still waits for every leaf.