cyberneticlibrary

Orchestrate multi-agent work delegation

delegation-principleskillsetup L3338
tzachbon/smart-ralph
What it does

Enforce delegation to subagents; coordinator never implements directly

Best for

Multi-agent orchestration where a coordinator routes work to specialized agents and each phase has explicit approval checkpoints.

Inputs
  • · User command with intent and context
Outputs
  • · Task delegated to appropriate subagent_type
  • · Status report after subagent completion
  • · Transition signal if awaiting approval
Requires
  • · Task tool for subagent creation
  • · State files for context (state.json, tasks.md)
Preconditions
  • · Coordinator agent architecture (main agent + specialized subagents)
  • · SpecKit subagent types defined: constitution-architect, spec-analyst, plan-architect, task-planner, spec-executor, qa-engineer
  • · Task tool available in harness
Failure modes
  • · Coordinator violates rule and implements directly → loses context separation and auditability
  • · Quick mode invoked → coordinator skips delegation and hand-codes artifact (violates principle)
  • · Subagent returns incomplete result → coordinator must re-delegate, not finish the work
Trust signals
  • · Explicit rule statement: 'YOU MUST NEVER IMPLEMENT ANYTHING YOURSELF'
  • · Coordinator pattern diagram showing 7-step flow with explicit Task tool call
  • · Subagent type lookup table (6 types with examples)
  • · Phase transition rules: awaitingApproval flag, coordinator stops, user runs next command