claude-delegate

name	claude-delegate
description	Delegate complex tasks to Claude Code CLI for superior reasoning, research, analysis, and multi-step work. Use when: (1) deep research requiring multiple web searches and synthesis, (2) complex multi-step reasoning or analysis, (3) tasks requiring careful fact-checking or verification, (4) long document summarization or transformation, (5) system administration and diagnostics, (6) any task where quality matters more than speed. NOT for: simple greetings, casual chat, one-line answers, tasks already handled well by the current model.
metadata	{"openclaw":{"emoji":"🧠","requires":{"bins":["claude"]},"os":["macos","linux"],"always":true}}
user-invocable	true

Claude Code Delegate

Delegate tasks to Claude Code CLI (claude -p) for high-quality results. Claude Code is a full agentic system with web search, file management, bash execution, and deep reasoning.

When to Delegate

ALWAYS delegate these task types to Claude Code — they exceed what the local model can reliably do:

• Research: "find out about X", "what's the latest on Y", "compare A vs B"
• Analysis: "analyze this data", "what does this mean", "evaluate these options"
• Complex reasoning: multi-step problems, planning, strategy, trade-off analysis
• Writing: drafting emails, articles, reports, documentation
• Summarization: long documents, articles, threads
• Fact-checking: verifying claims, cross-referencing sources
• Math & logic: calculations, proofs, data processing
• System admin: diagnosing issues, checking logs, fixing configs
• File work: processing, transforming, or searching through files in the workspace

Do NOT delegate these — handle them directly:

• Simple greetings and casual chat
• One-word or one-line factual answers you're confident about
• Emoji reactions, acknowledgments
• Status checks or simple lookups you can do yourself

How to Delegate

Use bash with pty:true to run Claude Code. Always use --dangerously-skip-permissions since this runs unattended.

General Task (most common)

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'USER_TASK_HERE' --dangerously-skip-permissions"

Research Task (with web access)

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'Research: USER_TASK_HERE. Search the web, synthesize findings, and provide sources.' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'WebSearch WebFetch Read'"

File/Workspace Task

bash pty:true timeout:300 workdir:"/path/to/project" command:"claude -p 'USER_TASK_HERE' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'Read Write Edit Glob Grep Bash'"

Analysis Task

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'Analyze the following and provide detailed insights: USER_TASK_HERE' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'WebSearch WebFetch Read'"

System Admin Task

bash pty:true timeout:300 elevated:true command:"claude -p 'USER_TASK_HERE' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'Bash Read Glob Grep'"

Important Rules

1. Always use pty:true — Claude Code is a terminal application
2. Always use --dangerously-skip-permissions — no human to approve permissions
3. Set timeout:300 (5 min) for most tasks, timeout:600 (10 min) for heavy research
4. Pass the user's FULL message as the prompt — don't summarize or rephrase
5. Add context if the user's message references prior conversation — prepend relevant context to the prompt
6. Use workdir when the task involves a specific project directory
7. Return Claude's output directly to the user — don't re-summarize unless the output is extremely long (>2000 chars), in which case summarize the key points

Choosing the Right Tool Permissions

Task Type	--allowedTools
General question	(omit — Claude picks)
Research	"WebSearch WebFetch Read"
Coding	"Bash Read Write Edit Glob Grep"
File analysis	"Read Glob Grep"
System admin	"Bash Read Glob Grep"
Writing/analysis	"WebSearch WebFetch"
Everything	(omit — let Claude use all tools)

Handling Long Output

If Claude's response exceeds what fits in a chat message:

1. Extract the key findings/answer
2. If the user needs the full output, save it to a file and share the path
3. Offer to elaborate on specific sections

Error Handling

If Claude Code fails or times out:

• Report the error to the user
• Suggest breaking the task into smaller pieces
• Try again with a longer timeout if it was a timeout issue
• Fall back to handling the task directly if Claude Code is unavailable

Examples

User asks: "What are the pros and cons of Rust vs Go for building a web API?"

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'What are the pros and cons of Rust vs Go for building a web API? Consider performance, developer experience, ecosystem, deployment, and learning curve. Provide a balanced comparison with concrete examples.' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'WebSearch WebFetch'"

User asks: "Summarize the latest news about AI regulation in the EU"

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'Search for and summarize the latest news about AI regulation in the EU. Focus on the AI Act implementation, recent developments, and what it means for developers. Include sources.' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'WebSearch WebFetch'"

User asks: "Check why my server is running slow"

bash pty:true timeout:300 elevated:true command:"claude -p 'Diagnose why this Linux server might be running slow. Check CPU, memory, disk, network, and running processes. Identify the likely bottleneck and suggest fixes.' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'Bash Read Glob Grep'"

User asks: "Help me plan a trip to Japan"

bash pty:true timeout:300 command:"claude -p 'Help plan a trip to Japan. Search for current travel info, suggest an itinerary, recommend areas to stay, transportation tips, and estimated costs. Make it practical and actionable.' --dangerously-skip-permissions --allowedTools 'WebSearch WebFetch'"

User invokes: /claude-delegate what is the mass of the sun in elephants

bash pty:true timeout:120 command:"claude -p 'What is the mass of the sun expressed in elephants? Show your calculation step by step.' --dangerously-skip-permissions"