delegate-task

story: e45s30

Delegate Task

HARD GATE — HARD GATE — Delegated work must have clear success criteria and verification commands. The delegate must be able to verify completion independently.

Delegate a single complex task to a subagent with a two-stage review gate before accepting the result. Use when oversight of a single task matters more than speed.

Distinct from dispatch-agents: This skill runs one subagent sequentially with a mandatory review. dispatch-agents runs multiple subagents in parallel without inter-task review gates.

Subagent depth tiers (e45s30)

Select brief depth from task risk: and skill effort: before spawning:

Tier	When	Brief includes
full_maturity	P0 stories, multi-file refactors, security work	Full template + CONVENTIONS excerpts + threat model if present
standard	Default implementation tasks	Goal, scope, out-of-bounds, constraints, verify, prior decisions
minimal_decisive	Light probes, read-only audits	Goal, verify, explicit file list (≤15 lines total)

State depth: <tier> in the Agent tool description field.

Process

1. Define the task

Before spawning the agent, read specs/state.yaml if it exists. Then write a minimal self-contained brief using this template (brief size directly controls token cost and hallucination risk — do not pad):

Goal: [one sentence — specific, measurable outcome]
In scope: [explicit file or module list]
Out of bounds: [what NOT to do]
Constraints: [relevant CONVENTIONS.md rules, existing patterns, test requirements]
Verify: [runnable command]
Prior decisions: [relevant entries from specs/state.yaml — omit section if none apply]

Do not include full file contents, full conversation history, or decisions unrelated to this task.

2. Spawn the subagent (iterative retrieval, max 3 cycles)

Use the Agent tool with a fresh context per spawn. Pass prior decisions only via specs/state.yaml.

Cycle: dispatch → evaluate output vs goal → refine brief → re-spawn if needed (max 3 cycles).