Lesson Content

The complete delegation structure.

An effective sub-agent task delegation has five components:

1. Goal: What the sub-agent must accomplish – specific, measurable
2. Scope: Which files, directories, or operations are in bounds
3. Background: What the sub-agent needs to know about the project for this task
4. Output format: Exactly how the sub-agent should report its findings
5. Stop conditions: When to stop and return even if not complete

Goal specification.

Vague: "Review the authentication code." Specific: "Identify all places in src/auth/ where session tokens are stored or transmitted without encryption – return file, line number, and a description of the vulnerability."

The specific goal gives the sub-agent a precise success criterion. The vague goal produces a general "review" with no defined scope of findings.

Output format specification.

Standardized output format enables the parent to aggregate findings from multiple sub-agents without reformatting:

Return your findings as a list in this format:
– File: `[file path]` | Line: [line number] | Severity: [High/Medium/Low] | Issue: [one sentence]

If no issues are found, return: "No issues found in scope."

When multiple sub-agents return findings in the same format, the parent can concatenate and sort without parsing.

Background – what the sub-agent needs to know.

Provide only project-specific context the sub-agent cannot get from CLAUDE.md alone:

• The specific component architecture relevant to this task
• Conventions the sub-agent should respect (do not flag X, Y is intentional)
• Reference points (the database schema, the API spec)

Stop conditions.

• Max findings: "Stop and return findings when you have identified 10 issues – do not continue after 10"
• Max file count: "Analyze up to 20 files – stop and return after 20 even if the directory has more"
• Decision point: "Stop and ask the parent if you find a pattern that is unclear – do not make assumptions about intent"