spawn-agent

Purpose

Spawn an AI coding agent in a new terminal window. Follow the 'Instructions', execute the 'Workflow', based on the 'Cookbook'.

Variables

Instructions

MANDATORY - You MUST follow the Workflow steps below in order. Do not skip steps.

Agent Selection

1. Explicit request: If user specifies an agent (e.g., "use gemini", "spawn codex"), use that agent
2. No agent specified: Use DEFAULT_AGENT (claude-code)
3. Check enabled: Verify the ENABLED_*_CLI flag is true before proceeding

Reading Cookbooks

• Based on the selected agent, follow the 'Cookbook' section to read the appropriate .md file
• You MUST read and execute the appropriate cookbook file before spawning the agent

Red Flags - STOP and follow Cookbook

If you're about to:

• Spawn an agent without reading the cookbook first
• Execute a CLI command without running --help
• Skip steps because "this is simple"
• Run a CLI agent with a prompt but without checking INTERACTIVE_MODE requirements

STOP -> Read the appropriate cookbook file -> Follow its instructions -> Then proceed

Common Mistake: When spawning agentic CLIs (Claude, Codex, Gemini) with a prompt, most require command chaining (e.g., && claude --continue) to stay in interactive mode after the prompt completes. Always check the cookbook for the correct pattern.

Spawn Summary User Prompt

• IF: The user requests spawning an agent with a summary of the conversation
• THEN:
  • Read and REPLACE the <user_prompt_summary> and <agent_response_summary> fields in './prompts/fork-summary-user-prompt.md' with the history of the conversation between you and the user.
  • Include the next users request in the Next User Request field.
  • This will be what you pass into the PROMPT field of the agentic coding tool.
  • Spawn the agent with: fork_terminal(command: str, capture=False, log_to_file=False, log_agent_output=True)
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use claude code to with a summary"
  • "spin up a new terminal with with claude code. Include a summary of the conversation."
  • "create a new agent with claude code to . Summarize work so far."
  • "spawn agent use gemini to with a summary"

Workflow

MANDATORY CHECKPOINTS - Verify each before proceeding:

1. Understand the user's request
2. SELECT AGENT: Determine which agent (explicit or DEFAULT_AGENT)
3. READ: './fork_terminal.py' to understand the tooling
4. Follow the Cookbook (read the appropriate .md file for selected agent)
5. CHECKPOINT: Confirm cookbook instructions were followed (e.g., ran --help)
6. Execute fork_terminal(command: str, capture=False, log_to_file=False, log_agent_output=True)
7. IF 'READ_CAPTURED_OUTPUT' is true: Read and display the agent output using read_fork_output()

Cookbook

Claude Code (Default)

• IF: User requests Claude Code OR no agent explicitly specified
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/claude-code.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn an agent to "
  • "Fork terminal to " (no agent specified = claude-code)
  • "Spawn agent use claude code to "
  • "spin up a new terminal with claude code"

Codex CLI

• IF: User requests Codex/OpenAI agent and 'ENABLED_CODEX_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/codex-cli.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use codex to "
  • "create a new terminal with codex cli to "
  • "spawn openai agent to "

Gemini CLI

• IF: User requests Gemini/Google agent and 'ENABLED_GEMINI_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/gemini-cli.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use gemini to "
  • "create a new terminal with gemini cli to "
  • "spawn google agent to "

Cursor CLI

• IF: User requests Cursor agent and 'ENABLED_CURSOR_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/cursor-cli.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use cursor cli to "
  • "create a new terminal with cursor to "
  • "spawn cursor agent to "

OpenCode CLI

• IF: User requests OpenCode agent and 'ENABLED_OPEN_CODE_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/opencode-cli.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use opencode cli to "
  • "create a new terminal with opencode to "
  • "spawn opencode agent to "

Copilot CLI

• IF: User requests Copilot/GitHub agent and 'ENABLED_COPILOT_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/copilot-cli.md'
• Examples:
  • "Spawn agent use copilot cli to "
  • "create a new terminal with copilot to "
  • "spawn github copilot agent to "

Output Retrieval

The fork_terminal() function supports three output controls:

Parameter Combinations

Retrieving Output Later

When log_agent_output=True (default), clean agent output is logged. Use read_fork_output(file_path) to retrieve it:

# Spawn without blocking (returns path to JSON output)
file_path = fork_terminal(cmd, log_agent_output=True)
print(f"Agent output will be at: {file_path}")

# Later, read the output when needed
output = read_fork_output(file_path, timeout=60)

Debug Mode

For debugging, enable log_to_file=True to capture full terminal output (including stderr):

# Debug mode: capture everything
file_path = fork_terminal(cmd, log_to_file=True, log_agent_output=False)