| name | background-agent-pings |
| description | Trust system reminders as agent progress notifications instead of polling for completion. Use when waiting on background agents. Trigger phrases: "agent still running", "check agent progress", "stop polling agents". |
| user-invocable | false |
Background Agent Pings
Trust system reminders as agent progress notifications. Don't poll.
Pattern
When you launch a background agent, continue working on other tasks. The system will notify you via reminders when:
- Agent makes progress:
Agent <id> progress: X new tools used, Y new tokens
- Agent writes output file (check the path you specified)
DO
1. Task(run_in_background=true, prompt="... Output to: .claude/cache/agents/<type>/output.md")
2. Continue with next task immediately
3. When system reminder shows agent activity, check if output file exists
4. Read output file only when agent signals completion
DON'T
# BAD: Polling wastes tokens and time
Task(run_in_background=true)
Bash("sleep 5 && ls ...") # polling
Bash("tail /tmp/claude/.../tasks/<id>.output") # polling
TaskOutput(task_id="...") # floods context
Why This Matters
- Polling burns tokens on repeated checks
TaskOutput floods main context with full agent transcript- System reminders are free - they're pushed to you automatically
- Continue productive work while waiting
Source
- This session: Realized polling for agent output wasted time when system reminders already provide progress updates
