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| -rw-r--r-- | claude-rules/subagents.md | 27 |
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diff --git a/claude-rules/subagents.md b/claude-rules/subagents.md index 310f979..8578dea 100644 --- a/claude-rules/subagents.md +++ b/claude-rules/subagents.md @@ -7,6 +7,33 @@ independent work. They are not free — every spawn pays a prompt-construction cost and breaks the chain of context from the current conversation. Use them deliberately, not reflexively. +## Pre-Dispatch Checks + +Run these two checks before any spawn. Both can send the work back to the +main thread without the spawn ever happening. + +### Availability + +The dispatch path assumes a subagent/Agent capability exists in the +environment. If it doesn't — no Agent tool, no spawn mechanism — don't +block. Do the work in the main thread, but preserve the same scope +boundaries the subagent contract would have enforced: bounded scope, the +explicit "do NOT" constraints, and the named output shape. The discipline +is in the contract, not the tool. Hold the task to it even when you're the +one executing, so the work doesn't sprawl. + +### Cost + +Dispatching isn't free — it pays the prompt-construction cost and breaks +context continuity (see the opening paragraph). For a small task, writing +the full contract (scope, context, constraints, output format) can cost +more than just doing the task inline. When that's the case, do it inline. +The subagent earns its place by absorbing context pollution and running +work in parallel, not on tasks where the handoff exceeds the work itself. +This is the same boundary the "Don't Subagent At All" section and the +"Subagenting trivial work" anti-pattern draw; treat it as an explicit gate +at dispatch time. + ## When to Spawn a Subagent ### Parallel-safe (spawn multiple in parallel) |