Delegating to New Relic Agent

Core Principle

Never handle New Relic operations directly. Always delegate to a specialized sub-agent to keep your context clean and costs low.

Recognition Patterns

Delegate when user says:

• •"query newrelic for..."
• •"show me nrql results"
• •"list drop rules"
• •"any alerts firing?"
• •"search newrelic logs"
• •"what applications are monitored?"
• •"verify this nrql query"
• •Any mention of: newrelic, nrql, monitoring, alerts, apm, drop-rules, observability

How to Delegate

Use the Task tool with a specialized prompt:

Task(
  subagent_type: "general-purpose",
  description: "Query New Relic monitoring",
  prompt: "<full agent instructions from AGENT-INSTRUCTIONS.md>"
)

Agent Prompt Template

When delegating, include:

1. •The complete agent instructions (see AGENT-INSTRUCTIONS.md)
2. •The user's specific request
3. •Clear output format requirements

Example:

You are a New Relic monitoring specialist. Your job is to query New Relic using shell wrappers and return clean results.

<AGENT INSTRUCTIONS HERE>

USER REQUEST: Show me active alerts

Return a clean summary with:
- Alert severity
- Entity names
- Alert conditions
- Status

After Agent Returns

1. •Present results cleanly to user
2. •Offer follow-up if relevant (e.g., "Would you like to see logs for that service?")
3. •Don't expose mechanics (NerdGraph, GraphQL, auth, etc.) to user

Benefits

• •✅ Main context stays clean
• •✅ Cheaper queries (sub-agent uses less expensive model)
• •✅ Specialized knowledge isolated
• •✅ Scalable pattern for other monitoring services

Example Flow

User: "show me active alerts"

Main Assistant: [Recognizes New Relic query]
              → Invokes Task tool with agent instructions
              → Agent runs monitoring-alerts wrapper
              → Agent returns formatted results

Main Assistant: "You have 2 active alerts:

                CRITICAL: federated-graphql - High error rate
                WARNING: nginx-gateway - Response time elevated

                Would you like details on either of these?"

Common Query Types

NRQL Queries:

• •"query logs for errors"
• •"count transactions"
• •"average response time"

Drop Rules:

• •"show drop rules"
• •"list log filters"
• •"verify nrql before dropping"

Alerts:

• •"any alerts?"
• •"critical alerts"
• •"what's alerting?"

Applications:

• •"list monitored apps"
• •"find nginx service"

Logs:

• •"search logs for 502"
• •"nginx error logs"

Red Flags

DON'T:

• •❌ Try to run monitoring-* scripts yourself
• •❌ Construct NerdGraph GraphQL queries in main session
• •❌ Load detailed New Relic API knowledge
• •❌ Handle authentication directly
• •❌ Parse complex monitoring data structures

DO:

• •✅ Immediately delegate on New Relic keywords
• •✅ Trust the sub-agent's results
• •✅ Present clean summaries to user
• •✅ Suggest relevant follow-up queries

Version History

• •1.0.0 (2025-10-15): Initial delegation skill created to reduce context pollution