| name | spawn-skill |
| description | How to spawn disposable child agents in Docker for sandboxed work — iteration, testing, evolution from a clean slate. Children stage and export DNA back; they cannot commit or reboot. Load this when the user asks to test, sandbox, isolate, spawn, or experiment. |
Child Agent Spawning
Children are full copies of the parent running in Docker, with one critical difference: no git tools, no commit, no reboot. They iterate in isolation, verify their own work, and export_dna back to the parent for commit.
Tools
spawn_agent(purpose, config=None) — launch a new disposable child container. Returns the child's session id.list_spawned_agents() — list active children with status.stop_spawned_agent(session_id) — kill a child container.
When to use
| Scenario | Use child? |
|---|
| Building a new feature from scratch | YES — iterate in isolation, export when ready |
| Risky refactor that might break the bot | YES — break the child instead |
| Validating a fix against a clean codebase | YES |
| Adding 1-line config tweak | NO — overhead exceeds benefit |
| Reading code, answering questions | NO — your own context handles this |
How children work
Children share the parent's image (so they auto-inherit code changes after each parent commit). On spawn:
- The parent's
data/ directory is not mounted; the child has its own per-session sandbox at data/sandbox/<session_id>/.
- The child has all skills/tools EXCEPT
evolution_git_*, evolution_commit_and_push, and update_self.
- The child stages and verifies. When ready, it calls
export_dna(source_paths) which packs files into a tarball and sends them back to the parent via A2A binary content.
- The parent receives via
import_dna (KnowledgeAgent), verifies again in its own sandbox, then commits via the normal evolution-workflow.
You are automatically the admin of any child you spawn — they recognize your ADMIN_USER_IDS membership.
Coordinator-only
The spawn_agent tool lives on the Coordinator (so the agent that the user is conversing with can spin up children). DeveloperAgent does not have it directly — Developer asks Coordinator to spawn when sandboxed work is needed.
Anti-patterns
- Don't spawn a child for a 1-file change that you can stage + verify in your own sandbox.
- Don't expect children to persist beyond their session — they're disposable.
- Don't commit child output blindly — the parent must re-verify in its own sandbox before commit.
