Agent Delegate Skill

Spawn specialized sub-agents to handle specific phases of complex tasks. Each delegate receives curated context from the parent session and returns structured results that merge back into the main conversation.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• A task requires multiple distinct areas of expertise (security review + performance + style)
• You need to break down a complex problem into specialized phases
• Different parts of a task need different system prompts/personalities
• You want parallel execution of independent subtasks
• Building recursive problem-solving workflows

❌ DON'T use for:

• Simple single-focus tasks (delegate adds overhead)
• Tasks requiring continuous human interaction
• When you already have the expertise needed
• Deep recursion (capped at depth 3 to prevent infinite loops)

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Parent Agent Session            │
│  "Review this entire codebase"          │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
               │ delegate()
               ▼
    ┌──────────────────────┐
    │  Delegate Context    │
    │  - Parent prompt     │
    │  - Relevant files    │
    │  - Parent's analysis │
    │  - Depth counter     │
    └──────────┬───────────┘
               │
    ┌──────────▼───────────┐
    │  Sub-Agent Session   │
    │  "Check for security │
    │   vulnerabilities"   │
    └──────────┬───────────┘
               │
               ▼
    ┌──────────────────────┐
    │  Structured Result   │
    │  { findings, files,  │
    │    severity, next }  │
    └──────────────────────┘

Commands

# Delegate a subtask with default settings
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review for security vulnerabilities"

# Delegate with custom system prompt
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Analyze performance bottlenecks" \
  --system "You are a performance optimization expert" \
  --model "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"

# Delegate with file context
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review this code" \
  --files "./src/auth.ts ./src/api.ts"

# Parallel delegation (spawn multiple agents)
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --parallel \
  --task-1 "Check for security issues" \
  --task-2 "Check for performance issues" \
  --task-3 "Check for code style"

# With parent context
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Build on this analysis" \
  --context "./parent_analysis.md"

Command-Line Options

Option	Description	Default
--task	The task prompt for the delegate	Required
--system	Custom system prompt for delegate	Inherited from parent
--model	LLM model to use	claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929
--files	Space-separated file paths to include	None
--context	Parent analysis/context file	None
--parallel	Enable parallel delegation mode	false
--task-N	Task N for parallel mode (1-5)	N/A
--depth	Current delegation depth (internal)	0
--max-depth	Maximum recursion depth	3
--output	Output file for results	stdout
--verbose	Verbose logging	false

Delegation Depth & Loop Prevention

To prevent infinite delegation loops:

• Depth 0: Parent agent (you)
• Depth 1: First-level delegates (spawned by parent)
• Depth 2: Second-level delegates (spawned by depth-1)
• Depth 3: Maximum - delegates at this depth cannot spawn further delegates

The delegate skill automatically tracks depth via the DELEGATE_DEPTH environment variable. Attempts to delegate beyond max depth return an error.

Context Handoff

When you delegate, the sub-agent receives:

1. Task prompt - What to do
2. System prompt - How to behave (expertise persona)
3. File context - Relevant files from parent session
4. Parent analysis - Your findings so far (optional)
5. Depth metadata - Prevents infinite recursion

Context Packaging

{
  delegateTask: "Check for SQL injection vulnerabilities",
  parentAnalysis: "Found 3 database queries in auth.ts...",
  relevantFiles: [
    { path: "./src/auth.ts", content: "..." },
    { path: "./src/db.ts", content: "..." }
  ],
  delegationDepth: 1,
  maxDepth: 3,
  parentSession: "job/abc123"
}

Structured Output Format

Delegates return JSON-structured results:

{
  "delegateTask": "Check for SQL injection vulnerabilities",
  "delegationDepth": 1,
  "status": "complete",
  "findings": [
    {
      "file": "./src/auth.ts",
      "line": 42,
      "severity": "high",
      "issue": "Potential SQL injection via unsanitized input",
      "codeSnippet": "const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${userId}`;",
      "recommendation": "Use parameterized queries"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "Found 2 high-severity SQL injection risks",
  "filesAnalyzed": 5,
  "nextSteps": [
    "Review ./src/api.ts for similar patterns",
    "Add input validation layer"
  ],
  "allowFurtherDelegation": true
}

Examples

Example 1: Code Review with Specialized Delegates

# Parent: "Review this PR comprehensively"

# Delegate security review
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review for security vulnerabilities: SQL injection, XSS, auth bypass, CSRF" \
  --system "You are a security engineer with 10 years experience. Focus on OWASP Top 10." \
  --files "./src/auth.ts ./src/api.ts ./src/db.ts" \
  --output security_review.json

# Delegate performance review
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review for performance issues: N+1 queries, memory leaks, inefficient algorithms" \
  --system "You are a performance optimization expert. Identify bottlenecks and optimization opportunities." \
  --files "./src/db.ts ./src/cache.ts" \
  --output performance_review.json

# Merge results
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/merge.js \
  --inputs security_review.json performance_review.json \
  --output combined_review.md

Example 2: Research with Parallel Delegates

# Parallel research delegation
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --parallel \
  --task-1 "Research market trends for AI agents in enterprise" \
  --task-2 "Identify top 10 competitors and their key features" \
  --task-3 "Summarize customer pain points from Reddit, Hacker News, Twitter" \
  --system-1 "You are a market analyst" \
  --system-2 "You are a competitive intelligence specialist" \
  --system-3 "You are a user research expert" \
  --output-1 market_trends.json \
  --output-2 competitor_analysis.json \
  --output-3 user_pain_points.json

Example 3: Multi-Phase Problem Solving

# Phase 1: Analysis
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Analyze this bug report and identify root cause candidates" \
  --context "./bug_report.md" \
  --output analysis.json

# Phase 2: Solution Design (builds on Phase 1)
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Design a fix for the identified root cause" \
  --context "./analysis.json" \
  --system "You are a senior engineer specializing in system design" \
  --output solution.json

# Phase 3: Implementation Plan
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Create a step-by-step implementation plan with code examples" \
  --context "./solution.json" \
  --system "You are a tech lead who writes clear implementation guides" \
  --output implementation_plan.md

Integration with PopeBot Jobs

Use agent delegation inside a job by calling the delegate script:

# job.md

I need to review this pull request comprehensively.

## Step 1: Delegate Security Review

First, let me spawn a security specialist:

\`\`\`bash
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review PR #{{pr_number}} for security vulnerabilities" \
  --system "You are a security engineer focused on OWASP Top 10" \
  --files "./src/auth.ts ./src/api.ts"
\`\`\`

## Step 2: Delegate Performance Review

Now a performance specialist:

\`\`\`bash
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --task "Review PR #{{pr_number}} for performance issues" \
  --system "You are a performance optimization expert"
\`\`\`

## Step 3: Synthesize Results

Now I'll merge the findings...

Parallel Delegation Mode

The --parallel flag spawns multiple delegates concurrently:

node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/delegate.js \
  --parallel \
  --task-1 "Security review" \
  --task-2 "Performance review" \
  --task-3 "Style review" \
  --system-1 "Security expert persona..." \
  --system-2 "Performance expert persona..." \
  --system-3 "Style expert persona..." \
  --output-1 security.json \
  --output-2 performance.json \
  --output-3 style.json \
  --synthesize "Combine all reviews into unified report"

Parallel mode behavior:

• Spawns all delegates simultaneously (up to 5)
• Waits for all to complete
• Optionally runs a synthesis step to merge results
• Returns array of all delegate results

Error Handling

Delegation Depth Exceeded

{
  "error": "MAX_DEPTH_EXCEEDED",
  "message": "Cannot delegate further: maximum depth (3) reached",
  "currentDepth": 3,
  "recommendation": "Complete this subtask directly without further delegation"
}

Task Failure

{
  "error": "DELEGATE_FAILED",
  "message": "Sub-agent failed to complete task",
  "task": "Check for SQL injection",
  "reason": "LLM API error: rate limit exceeded",
  "retryable": true
}

Best Practices

When to Delegate

1. Clear expertise boundaries - Security, performance, style, UX
2. Independent subtasks - Can run in parallel
3. Need different personas - Each delegate has unique system prompt
4. Complex multi-phase work - Analysis → Design → Implementation

When NOT to Delegate

1. Simple tasks - Overhead exceeds benefit
2. Tightly coupled work - Requires continuous back-and-forth
3. You have the expertise - No need to spawn a clone
4. Time-critical - Delegation adds latency

Effective Delegation Patterns

Good:

Parent: "Comprehensive code review"
├─ Delegate 1: Security review (OWASP focus)
├─ Delegate 2: Performance review (bottleneck focus)
└─ Delegate 3: Style review (best practices focus)

Bad:

Parent: "Review code"
├─ Delegate 1: "Find bugs"
│  └─ Delegate 2: "Find security bugs"  # Too similar!
└─ Delegate 3: "Find security issues"   # Duplicate!

Testing

# Run unit tests
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/tests/unit.test.js

# Run integration test
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/tests/integration.test.js

# Test depth limiting
node /job/.pi/skills/agent-delegate/tests/depth.test.js

Files

File	Purpose
delegate.js	Main delegation executor
merge.js	Merge multiple delegate results
parallel.js	Parallel delegation coordinator
context.js	Context packaging utilities
tests/	Unit and integration tests
SKILL.md	This documentation

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
DELEGATE_DEPTH	Current delegation depth	0
DELEGATE_MAX_DEPTH	Maximum recursion depth	3
DELEGATE_PARALLEL_LIMIT	Max parallel delegates	5
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	API key for Claude	Required

See Also

• Prose Runner - Multi-session workflow orchestration
• Workflow Orchestrator - Job-based pipelines
• SOP System - Standard operating procedures

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Inspired by ZeroClaw's delegate.rs architecture - Real-time agent-to-agent context handoff with depth limiting and structured result merging.