| name | subagent-driven-development |
| description | Use when executing a written implementation plan, or dispatching 2+ independent implementation tasks (research, audit, exploration, or coding lanes), through implementer/review/fix/integration gates. |
Subagent-Driven Development
If dispatched as a subagent for a specific task, skip this skill.
Execute a written plan with one focused implementer subagent per task, one
review gate per task, and one final branch review.
Purpose: keep the main agent as coordinator while isolated agents implement and
review bounded work.
Consumer: agents executing multi-task implementation plans with subagent support.
Failure consequence: task context leaks across lanes, review gaps ship, or
subagents edit shared files without ownership.
Falsifier: inline execution completes the same plan faster with equal review
quality and less context load.
Use
Use when:
- A written plan exists.
- Tasks are mostly independent or can be serialized by dependency.
- Subagent support is available.
- Review gates matter.
Use executing-plans when subagents are unavailable or the plan is small enough
for inline execution. Use dispatching-parallel-agents for ad hoc independent
failures without a full plan.
Flow
- Read plan once. Record global constraints and shared-file owners.
- Verify the plan is status-readable: plan header has
Status:, Owner:,
Last verified:, Source:, and Canonical issue/ADR/spec:; each task has
Status:, Proof:, and Blocker:.
- If the plan lacks status fields but is otherwise clear, normalize it before
dispatch.
- Preflight contradictions: task conflicts, missing dependencies, or plan text
that mandates a review defect. Ask once if blocked.
- For each task:
- set task
Status: active before dispatch;
- dispatch implementer with only its task, global constraints, allowed paths,
forbidden paths, unique artifact prefix, test commands, and stop rule;
- require status:
DONE, DONE_WITH_CONCERNS, NEEDS_CONTEXT, or BLOCKED;
- inspect diff and reported tests;
- dispatch reviewer with task requirements and diff/package;
- fix Critical/Important findings, then re-review;
- update task
Proof: with command, trace, commit, PR, or file path;
- mark task
Status: implemented only after clean spec and quality review.
- If a task blocks, set
Status: blocked and write the concrete Blocker:.
- After all tasks, run final branch review.
- Update plan-level
Status: and Last verified: before completion.
- Run markdownlint for the plan file when available.
- Use
finishing-a-development-branch.
Prompt Contract
Implementer prompt:
- Task scope and exact files.
- PDD contract: purpose, consumer, contract, failureBoundary, evidence,
falsifier, nonGoals, invariants, assumptions.
- Global constraints copied from plan.
- Allowed edits and forbidden shared files.
- Unique task artifact prefix, e.g.
.agent-work/task-03/ or
/tmp/<repo>-task-03-<timestamp>/.
- Required tests/verification commands.
- Commit/report expectation.
- Required plan update: task
Status:, Proof:, and Blocker:.
- Stop rule for ambiguity, missing context, or plan conflict.
Reviewer prompt:
- Task requirements.
- Diff/package path or exact diff source.
- Unique review artifact path.
- Tests already run.
- Required verdicts: spec compliance and code quality.
- No pre-judged findings. Do not tell reviewer what not to flag.
Status Handling
DONE: review it.DONE_WITH_CONCERNS: read concerns; resolve correctness/scope doubts before
review.NEEDS_CONTEXT: provide missing context and re-dispatch.BLOCKED: change context, model, task split, or plan. Do not retry unchanged.
Record the blocker in the plan.
Boundaries
- Main agent owns plan context, shared files, branch state, and final claim.
- Subagents own only assigned paths.
- No generic scratch/report paths. Every artifact path includes repo/task/lane
identity.
- One fixer handles final-review findings as a batch.
- Subagent summaries are evidence, not completion proof. Verify before claiming
done.
- A checked task without
Proof: is not complete.
