Subagent Delegation Patterns

Skill Paths

• Workspace skills: .github/skills/
• Global skills: C:/Users/LOQ/.copilot/skills/

Activation Conditions

SHOULD activate when task contains:

• Repetitive or boilerplate subtasks
• Scanning or transformation subtasks
• Documentation-helper subtasks

SHOULD activate when:

• Creating repetitive code structures or boilerplate
• Performing data transformation tasks
• Analyzing codebase for patterns or information
• Generating documentation from existing code
• Creating simple utility functions
• Breaking down complex features into manageable subtasks

Non-Activation Conditions

Do NOT activate this skill when:

• Task involves core architecture decisions (planning must stay in main agent)
• Task involves security-critical logic (must keep in main agent)
• Task is a trivial one-shot task where delegation overhead is wasteful
• Task requires complex architectural decisions or critical security implementations
• User wants to learn how to implement the feature themselves
• Project documentation and context are insufficient for delegation
• Task is time-critical and delegation overhead would delay implementation
• User needs real-time collaboration rather than asynchronous delegation
• Core business logic or critical implementation paths are involved
• Task is too simple to warrant delegation overhead

Core Delegation Patterns

See Delegation Patterns for detailed examples of:

• Boilerplate generation (API routes, CRUD operations, component structures)
• Data transformations between formats
• File analysis and pattern extraction
• Documentation generation from code
• Utility function creation

Examples & Scripts

• Delegation Pattern Examples — Code examples of common delegation patterns
• Delegation Template — JavaScript template for structuring delegation calls

Integration Workflow

For delegating tasks to subagents, follow this 5-step process:

• Step 1: Plan – Analyze problem, design solution, identify routine subtasks
• Step 2: Delegate – Use runSubagent for routine or repetitive work
• Step 3: Review – Check output for correctness, completeness, integration compatibility
• Step 4: Integrate – Incorporate output into codebase, handle conflicts
• Step 5: Validate – Test integrated code, debug issues, ensure quality

Quality Control

Before integrating subagent results, verify:

• Code follows project conventions (style, naming, structure)
• Matches specified interfaces and contracts
• Includes necessary error handling
• Has appropriate comments/documentation
• No security vulnerabilities or obvious performance issues
• Compatible with existing codebase (imports, dependencies)

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Over-delegation: Don’t delegate critical security logic or core business rules
• ❌ Vague instructions: Always provide specific, actionable prompts
• ❌ No integration plan: Have clear plan for using subagent output
• ❌ Delegating planning: Never ask subagents to decide what to do

Combining with Sequential Thinking

For complex tasks, use Sequential Thinking first to plan architecture, then delegate routine parts:

// Use Sequential Thinking to plan
mcp_sequentialthi_sequentialthinking({
  thought: "Breaking down feature...identifying repetitive CRUD for delegation",
  thoughtNumber: 1,
  totalThoughts: 5,
  nextThoughtNeeded: true
})

// Then delegate boilerplate
runSubagent({
  description: "Generate CRUD API",
  prompt: "Create CRUD functions matching data model..."
})

// Main agent implements core logic