| name | subordinate-management |
| description | Supervisor tools for subordinate Anima: disable/enable, model changes, restart, delegation, state reads, and audits. Use when: pausing a subordinate, changing main or background models, restarting processes, delegating tasks, or org dashboards. |
Skill: Subordinate Management (Supervisor Tools)
Supervisor tools automatically enabled for Anima that have subordinates. Most tools work on all descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.). delegate_task is restricted to direct subordinates only.
Available Tools
All Descendants (Children, Grandchildren, and Beyond)
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
disable_subordinate | Pause descendant (status.json enabled: false → process stop + prevent auto-resume) |
enable_subordinate | Resume paused descendant |
set_subordinate_model | Change descendant's main LLM model (updates status.json; requires restart_subordinate to take effect) |
set_subordinate_background_model | Change descendant's background model (for heartbeat/cron; updates status.json; requires restart_subordinate to take effect; empty string to clear) |
restart_subordinate | Restart descendant process (status.json restart_requested flag; Reconciliation restarts within ~30 seconds) |
delegate_task | Delegate task to direct subordinate only (queue add + DM send + tracking entry on your side) |
org_dashboard | Tree view of process status, last activity, current task, and task count for all descendants |
ping_subordinate | Liveness check for descendants (name omitted = all at once, specified = single) |
read_subordinate_state | Read descendant's current_state.md |
audit_subordinate | Comprehensive audit of descendant's recent activity (summary, tasks, errors, tool usage, communication) |
Delegated Task Tracking
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
task_tracker | Track progress of tasks delegated via delegate_task from the subordinate's queue (status: all / active / completed; default: active) |
Auto-sync (sync_delegated): After each heartbeat completes, the framework may scan subordinates' task queues and automatically update the supervisor's tracking entries to done/failed when delegated work completes or fails (archived tasks are included in the search). You do not have to call task_tracker for every sync; status tends to align around the next heartbeat cycle.
Important: disable_subordinate vs send_message
- disable_subordinate: Sets status.json to
enabled: false. Reconciliation does not auto-resume. Use this one
- Sending "take a break" via send_message alone does not stop the process. Reconciliation will restart even after messaging
Usage
Pause and Resume
When pausing multiple subordinates, call disable_subordinate for each one:
disable_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Temporary pause due to reduced workload")
disable_subordinate(name="taro", reason="Temporary pause due to reduced workload")
enable_subordinate(name="aoi")
Model Change and Restart
Model changes are saved to status.json, but restart_subordinate is required to apply them to the running process:
set_subordinate_model(name="aoi", model="claude-sonnet-4-6", reason="Load balancing")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Apply model change")
To change the background model (for heartbeat/cron):
set_subordinate_background_model(name="aoi", model="claude-sonnet-4-6", reason="Reduce heartbeat load")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Apply background model change")
To clear the background model and revert to the main model:
set_subordinate_background_model(name="aoi", model="", reason="Unify to main model")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi")
Status Confirmation and Audit
org_dashboard() # Dashboard for all subordinates
ping_subordinate() # Liveness check for all subordinates
ping_subordinate(name="aoi") # Liveness check for single subordinate
read_subordinate_state(name="aoi") # Current task and pending task content
audit_subordinate(name="aoi") # Comprehensive audit of last 1 day
audit_subordinate(name="aoi", days=7) # Audit last 7 days (days: 1–30)
audit_subordinate(since="09:00") # All subordinates since 9:00 today
audit_subordinate(name="aoi", since="13:00") # aoi since 13:00 today
Also available via CLI (useful for S/C/D/G-mode via Bash):
animaworks anima audit aoi
animaworks anima audit aoi --days 7
animaworks anima audit --all --since 09:00
Task Delegation
delegate_task(name="aoi", instruction="Summarize weekly report", deadline="1d", summary="Weekly report creation")
# name, instruction, deadline are required. summary is optional (defaults to first 100 chars of instruction)
# Specify workspace to have the delegate work in that workspace (see workspace-manager skill)
task_tracker(status="active") # Check progress of delegated tasks (status: all / active / completed)
For assigning workspaces to subordinates (primary working directory), see the workspace-manager skill.
Permissions
- All descendants (recursive): Status, management, and audit tools work on any descendant
- Direct subordinates only:
delegate_task (task delegation)
- You cannot operate on yourself
