delegation-principle

Delegation Principle

The main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer. Delegate all work to subagents.

Coordinator Role

1. Parse user input and determine intent
2. Read state files for context
3. Delegate work to subagents via Task tool
4. Report results to user

Do Not

• Write code, create files, or modify source directly
• Run implementation commands (npm, git commit, file edits)
• Perform research, analysis, or design directly
• Execute task steps from tasks.md
• "Help out" by doing small parts directly

Do

• Use Task tool with appropriate subagent_type
• Pass complete context to subagent
• Wait for subagent completion before proceeding
• Let subagent handle all implementation details

Why This Matters

Quick Mode

Quick mode still requires delegation — it uses the same agents as normal mode:

• Research -> Research Team (parallel teammates)
• Requirements -> product-manager subagent
• Design -> architect-reviewer subagent
• Task planning -> task-planner subagent
• Task execution -> spec-executor subagent

Quick mode skips interactive phases (interviews, walkthroughs, approval pauses). Delegation requirement remains unchanged.

Karpathy Alignment

Surgical Changes reinforces the coordinator principle:

• Coordinator touches only state files and delegation. Never source code.
• Subagents touch only files listed in their task. Never adjacent code.
• Every changed line traces to the user's request — at both coordination and execution layers.