| name | agents-make |
| description | Design production-ready agent systems with Anthropic-style definitions, tool contracts, and orchestration rules. |
AGENTS-MAKE — Agent System Design Skill
Build agents as reusable systems, not vague prompts.
This skill governs the design and execution of AI agent systems: single agents, pipelines, and director trees. It is intentionally aligned with the Anthropic Managed Agents model so a user can define a serious agent system, not just describe one loosely.
PRINCIPLES
- Every agent has one job. A focused agent outperforms a general one.
- Define the agent, then the session. Separate reusable agent configuration from one-off execution.
- Agents communicate through contracts. Define input, output, tools, and failure behavior before building.
- Director agents plan and delegate. Sub-agents execute. Do not collapse the two unless the task is truly small.
- Quality gates are non-negotiable. Every multi-agent flow ends with an audit pass.
- Fail loudly. Agents should surface missing tools, missing context, and blocked dependencies explicitly.
ANTHROPIC-STYLE AGENT DEFINITION
When this skill creates or specifies an agent, it should use this shape as the baseline:
{
"name": "Research Director",
"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
"description": "Coordinates research and synthesis for a specific domain.",
"system": "You are a focused research director. Plan, delegate, verify, and summarize.",
"tools": [
{ "type": "agent_toolset_20260401" }
],
"mcp_servers": [],
"skills": [],
"callable_agents": [],
"metadata": {
"owner": "team-name",
"domain": "research"
}
}
Treat this as the contract to fill in. If the target platform is not Anthropic Managed Agents, still preserve the same structure conceptually and adapt the syntax to that runtime.
AGENT DESIGN CHECKLIST
Before building any agent, answer:
If any of these are undefined, the agent design is incomplete.
BUILD ORDER
Always work in this order:
- Task definition: what business or product job the system must do.
- Agent definition: reusable agent config with model, system, tools, MCP, skills, and callable agents.
- Environment definition: network access, container needs, secrets, filesystem assumptions.
- Session contract: what a live run receives, streams, produces, and persists.
- Evaluation plan: how success, failure, and handoff quality are verified.
ORCHESTRATION PATTERNS
Pattern 1: Single Agent
User → @agent → Output
Use when: one focused task, stable toolset, no delegated specialists needed.
Pattern 2: Pipeline
User → @agent-a → @agent-b → @agent-c → Output
Use when: task has sequential stages with explicit handoffs and each stage can validate the previous output.
Pattern 3: Director Tree
User → @director → spawns → [@sub-a, @sub-b, @sub-c] → merges → Output
Use when: task requires parallel specialization, centralized planning, and an integration step.
AGENT CONTRACT TEMPLATE
Every agent must have a defined contract:
## Agent: [name]
**Responsibility:** [one sentence]
**Model:** [model id and why it fits]
**Description:** [human-readable summary]
**System:** [behavioral rules and constraints]
**Input:** [what it receives]
**Output:** [what it produces]
**Tools:** [built-in tools or custom tools]
**MCP Servers:** [remote tool systems, if any]
**Skills:** [reusable knowledge packs, if any]
**Callable Agents:** [agents it can delegate to]
**Failure modes:** [what can go wrong]
**Escalation rule:** [when it should stop and ask for help]
SESSION CONTRACT TEMPLATE
For Anthropic-style runtimes, define the live execution contract separately:
## Session
**Agent:** [agent id or local equivalent]
**Environment:** [container/network assumptions]
**Initial user message:** [first task payload]
**Expected events:** [status, tool activity, output, errors]
**Artifacts:** [files, reports, patches, API calls]
**Stop conditions:** [done, blocked, waiting on approval]
TOOLING RULES
- Default to the built-in agent toolset when the task needs shell, files, search, or web access.
- Add MCP servers only when the tool capability is external and stable enough to justify maintenance.
- Attach skills for durable domain knowledge, not transient task instructions.
- Add callable agents only when delegation boundaries are explicit.
- Do not give every agent every tool. Tool access must match responsibility.
ENVIRONMENT RULES
When the user is targeting Anthropic Managed Agents, also specify:
- Network access requirements
- Filesystem requirements
- Secrets or credentials required
- External service dependencies
- Time sensitivity or long-running session expectations
If the environment is underspecified, the design is incomplete even if the system prompt looks good.
PLATFORM ADAPTERS
| Platform | How to deploy agents |
|---|
| Claude Managed Agents | Define agent config, environment, session flow, and optional MCP/skills |
| Claude Code | Use agents/ docs as role definitions and adapt the same contract locally |
| Cursor | Adapt the contract into project rules and role-specific prompt files |
| GitHub Copilot | Use repo instructions plus slash-command workflow docs |
| Custom API | Use the same schema and map it into your own agent registry/runtime |
See skills/agents-make/resources/AGENT_TREE.md for the full agent role library.
See docs/integrations/anthropic/define_your_agent.md for the canonical Anthropic agent shape.
See docs/integrations/anthropic/managed_agents_overview.md for the runtime model.
See docs/integrations/anthropic/skills.md for skill attachment patterns.
QUALITY GATES
Every agent system must pass before delivery:
