Story · Semantic Scholar
An Agentic Workflow for Legacy HPC Modernization: Converting the Two-Electron-Integral Core of GAMESS (Semantic Scholar)
paper · Story page
Three prompt-specialized Claude Code roles, in isolated worktrees, converted 56,448 lines across twelve files and 225 subroutines of GAMESS from Fortran 77 to Fortran 2008, working from a spec the agents wrote and revised. Humans held a few gates; an exact domain oracle marked where safe delegation ends.
In plain words
- Researchers used three specialized Claude Code setups to update scientific software from Fortran 77 to Fortran 2008.
- Fortran is a programming language, and the work moved old files into a newer version of that language.
- The setups followed a written plan they created and revised, while working in separate copies to avoid conflicts.
- People approved a few stages, while an exact scientific checker tested whether converted calculations stayed correct.
- The approach could help scientific teams update large old programs, while keeping people in charge where exact checking ends.
Appeared in
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Aug 18, 2026 · in the sections
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