| name | subagents |
| description | invoke this skill when the user asks you to use subagents |
Subagents
Each subagent is headless, has its own context window, cannot see the parent conversation, cannot ask the user, and cannot spawn subagents or workflows. Give every child a self-contained prompt with paths, constraints, and the expected report.
Pi Harness
Harness: pi
Prompt nicknames: “pi”, “pi agent”, “pi subagent”
Best default: Use when the user does not request another harness. It inherits the parent model and thinking level when model or reasoning_effort is omitted.
Do not use models from the Anthropic provider even if one appears in the model list.
Pi can use any model shown by pi --list-models. Prefer provider/model-id; a bare model id only works when unambiguous. Common picks in this environment:
| Model | Recommended effort |
|---|
| inherited parent model (default) | inherited |
openai/gpt-5.6-sol | high |
openai/gpt-5.4-mini | medium |
Thinking budgets: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, max. These map directly to pi thinking levels.
Claude Code Harness
Harness: claude
Prompt nicknames: “claude”, “Claude Code”, “claude agent”, “claude subagent”, "cc"
Best default: use the latest fable model on high reasoning. Do not default to anything else, if the user does not specify, use fable.
| Model hint | Model | Recommended effort |
|---|
fable | latest Claude Fable | high |
Thinking budgets: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, max. The extension maps these to Claude thinking-token budgets: 0, 1,024, 4,096, 10,000, 16,000, 32,000, and 63,999 tokens respectively.
Requires Claude Code to be installed and authenticated.
Codex Harness
Harness: codex
Prompt nicknames: “codex”, “Codex CLI”, “codex agent”, “codex subagent”
Best default: gpt-5.6-sol with high effort for coding work. Do not use anything other than sol unless the user specifically asks for it.
| Model | Recommended effort |
|---|
gpt-5.6-sol | high |
gpt-5.6-terra | high |
gpt-5.6-luna | high |
Thinking budgets accepted by the extension: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, max. Codex maps these to the nearest effort supported by the selected model; off/minimal become minimal, while max becomes the highest extension-supported Codex effort.
Requires the Codex CLI to be installed and authenticated.
Spawn and Manage
Call subagent_spawn with a complete prompt, short name, chosen harness, and optional working_dir, model, and reasoning_effort. At most four subagents run concurrently.
subagent_check({ id }): peek without blocking.subagent_list(): list all runs.subagent_wait({ ids }): block only when results are required to proceed.subagent_cancel({ ids }): stop runs while preserving partial transcripts./subagents: inspect or take over a run interactively.
Results return automatically. After spawning, continue useful parent work instead of immediately waiting.
Routing policy — which harness for which task
Route by task type, not by whim. Defaults (override only when the user asks):
| Task type | Harness | Model / effort |
|---|
| Browser inspection, computer use, simulators | codex | gpt-5.6-sol / high |
| Long-running grunt work, big mechanical jobs | codex | gpt-5.6-sol / high |
| Independent research (APIs, docs, libraries) | codex | gpt-5.6-sol / high |
| Planning, architecture, project foundations | claude | fable / high |
| Copy, docs, README, release prep, presentation | claude | fable / high |
| Code where beauty and maintainability matter | claude | fable / high |
| Small one-off changes, quick edits | pi | inherit parent |
| Test execution, verification runs, menial tasks | pi | inherit parent |
Every settled run is appended to ~/.pi/agent/routing-log.jsonl (backend, model, duration, status, tokens). When unsure between two harnesses for a recurring task type, check that log for the backend with the better completion record before choosing.
