agent-relay-team-onboarding

name	agent-relay-team-onboarding
description	Use when a human or lead agent needs one plain handoff for starting an Agent Relay workspace, choosing the right Relay skill, and telling spawned agents how to communicate.

Agent Relay Team Onboarding

Use this skill when someone asks how to get agents onto Agent Relay, how a lead should start a workspace, or which Relay skill to give to a worker.

The default handoff URL is:

https://agentrelay.com/skill

Give that URL to a human driver, a lead agent, or a newly spawned agent when you want them to orient themselves without a long custom prompt.

Version-Conditional Security Gate

On Agent Relay 11.3.0 and earlier, agent-relay node up and agent-relay node status print the active workspace key. Agent Relay 11.3.1 masks it in these two commands; it is not a guarantee about credential output from every command in the installed dependency tree. If you are on 11.3.0 or earlier, upgrade to 11.3.1 or later, or ask a human driver to run those commands from a trusted, non-transcribed terminal.

The commands remain the correct way to start and inspect a node. The gate is about the vulnerable release's output, not a replacement workflow. The human-only quick start below is retained so an operator has the exact commands; do not copy its first two command lines into an agent prompt while 11.3.0 or earlier is installed.

On 11.3.1 or later this gate does not apply. The orchestrator starts and inspects the broker itself, exactly as the linked orchestrating-agent-relay skill describes — that skill assumes a patched install and is written for autonomous self-bootstrap with no human in the loop. Check your installed version before deciding which path applies:

agent-relay --version

Sharing a Live View

Never build an observer URL from a workspace key, on any version — it is an administrative credential and a URL query string is not a place for one. From Agent Relay 11.8.1, run agent-relay observer (or call the get_observer_url MCP tool) to mint a scoped, read-only, expiring token and print the link built from it. See Observer.

Choose the Right Skill

Human driver or lead orchestrator

Use orchestrating-agent-relay when the agent is responsible for starting Relay and managing other agents from the outside.

Source:

https://github.com/AgentWorkforce/skills/blob/main/skills/orchestrating-agent-relay/SKILL.md

Use this role when the agent should:

• start the broker with agent-relay node up on Agent Relay 11.3.1 or later; on 11.3.0 or earlier, coordinate startup with a human driver instead
• create or reuse a workspace
• spawn workers
• send follow-up instructions through local attach or registered Relay messages
• read terminal output, logs, and lifecycle state
• release workers when the run is accepted

Important distinction: lifecycle control — starting the broker, spawning, listing, tailing, attaching, releasing — goes through the agent-relay node ... CLI. Messaging goes through the relay MCP (agent-relay mcp) after the session registers itself once with the register_agent tool (messaging tools error with "Not registered" until it does); a plain shell sends with a registered agent token instead, while channel reads need no token.

Spawned or registered participant

Use using-agent-relay when the agent is already on the relay as a registered participant.

Source:

https://github.com/AgentWorkforce/skills/blob/main/skills/using-agent-relay/SKILL.md

Use this role when the agent should:

• ACK tasks over Relay
• send DMs to other agents
• post in channels
• reply in threads
• check its inbox
• coordinate peer-to-peer with MCP tools

Registered participants should use the current flat Agent Relay MCP tools, such as send_dm, post_message, reply_to_thread, check_inbox, list_agents, and join_channel.

Quick Start for a Human Driver

1. Start Relay from the project root:

   agent-relay node up --background --verbose
   agent-relay node status --wait-for 10
   

2. Spawn a lead or worker:

   agent-relay node agent spawn claude --name Lead --task "Use https://agentrelay.com/skill. Start the workspace, coordinate workers, and report progress."
   

3. Watch output from the lead:

   agent-relay node tail --agent Lead
   

4. Send follow-up instructions through an interactive attach:

   agent-relay node agent attach Lead --mode drive
   

5. List and inspect workers:

   agent-relay node agent list
   agent-relay node tail --agent Lead
   

Prompt for a Lead Agent

Use https://agentrelay.com/skill as your Agent Relay onboarding reference.

You are the orchestrator. Use the orchestrating-agent-relay role:
- start or verify the relay broker yourself on Agent Relay 11.3.1 or later; have a human driver do it when 11.3.0 or earlier is installed
- spawn the workers needed for the task
- tell each worker to use the using-agent-relay role
- read worker output with agent-relay node tail --agent <name>
- monitor liveness with agent-relay node agent list
- send follow-up instructions with agent-relay node agent attach <name> --mode drive
- keep workers alive through review/fix loops
- release workers only after final acceptance

Workers should ACK when they receive work, report DONE when complete, and stay alive for review findings until you release them.

Prompt for a Worker Agent

Use https://agentrelay.com/skill as your Agent Relay onboarding reference.

You are a registered Agent Relay participant. Use the using-agent-relay role:
- ACK the task immediately over Relay
- use flat Agent Relay MCP tools for DMs, channel posts, replies, inbox checks, and agent lists
- post concise progress updates when useful
- report DONE with evidence when the task is complete
- do not remove or release yourself; stay available for review findings

Common Failure Mode

If a tool says:

Not registered. Call agent.register first.

You are probably acting as the outside orchestrator. Use agent-relay CLI commands instead of participant MCP tools, or register yourself before using participant-only MCP tools.

Canonical Links

• Default hosted handoff: https://agentrelay.com/skill
• Raw markdown handoff: https://agentrelay.com/skill.md
• Orchestrator skill: https://github.com/AgentWorkforce/skills/blob/main/skills/orchestrating-agent-relay/SKILL.md
• Participant skill: https://github.com/AgentWorkforce/skills/blob/main/skills/using-agent-relay/SKILL.md