From c96296a30e3f712561b5f05f3f1e9d95588f643e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Craig Jennings Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:23:37 -0500 Subject: feat(rules): add subagents.md — when, how, and when not to delegate MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Cross-cutting rule covering subagent hygiene: - Decision table: parallel-safe (read-only investigation, independent test failures, multi-domain research) vs sequential-with-review (plan execution, coupled edits) vs never-parallel (concurrent writes) vs don't-subagent-at-all (target known, work fits in ~10 tool calls). - Prompt contract: scope / pasted context / explicit 'do NOT' list / required output format. Missing any field yields shallow work. - Context-pollution rule: subagents absorb noise the main thread shouldn't carry. When one fails, dispatch a fix-agent with the failure report — do not retry in the orchestrator. - Review-gate cadence: after each sequential task, or every ~3 in parallel batches. - Anti-patterns including parallel implementation on overlapping files, broad 'fix all the tests' prompts, timeout-tuning to mask flakes, and letting the agent decide scope. Added one-line cross-references to subagents.md from debug/, review-code/, and finish-branch/ SKILL.md — the skills that most rely on delegation. Clean-room synthesis from NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit's subagent-driven-development pattern (MIT). --- finish-branch/SKILL.md | 2 ++ 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+) (limited to 'finish-branch/SKILL.md') diff --git a/finish-branch/SKILL.md b/finish-branch/SKILL.md index 5cb02ef..0903010 100644 --- a/finish-branch/SKILL.md +++ b/finish-branch/SKILL.md @@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ Commands vary by stack. Use what the project's Makefile, `package.json` scripts, **If verification passes:** continue to Phase 2. +If any verification step fails and triggers sub-investigations, follow `subagents.md` — dispatch a fresh fix-agent per failure with pasted error context rather than retrying in the orchestrator. + ## Phase 2 — Determine Base Branch The four outcomes need to know what the branch is being integrated into. Find the base: -- cgit v1.2.3