Playbook
Spawn subagents
A nested loop to protect the parent window, to parallelize, or to apply a different skill set.
When: The parent is about to drown in search hits, or specialists need a fresh context.
- 01
Write the brief
Goal, constraints, return schema. The child does not inherit the transcript.
Subagents - 02
Reduce the principal
Fewer tools. No deploy keys. Read-only if the job is research.
Secrets, Identity, Least Privilege - 03
Take a document back
notes.md plus a 30-line summary. Not 40 search hits into the parent window.
Orchestrator–Workers
Done when
- Brief, reduced tools, no parent secrets, structured return, depth/breadth/time caps.
Refuse
- Subagent inherits the parent. Narrow tools, no parent tokens, written return, caps on depth, breadth, time.
- Shared mega-context. Fresh or sliced windows, written briefs, structured returns. Subagents protect the parent.