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