delegation-triggers

name	delegation-triggers
description	Use when deciding whether to spawn subagents — explicit rules for when delegation pays off and when direct work is faster. Opus 4.8 under-delegates by default; these rules correct that.

Delegation Triggers

Opus 4.8 is documented to under-reach for subagents. Apply these rules instead of intuition.

Delegate (spawn subagents, in parallel where independent) when:

• Work fans out across independent items: reading/searching many files, auditing several modules, running several independent investigations.
• You need a broad search where only the conclusion matters (use a read-only explore subagent; you keep the answer, not the file dumps).
• You need fresh-context verification of your own work (see verification-loop).
• Two or more workstreams have no shared state and no ordering dependency — launch them in one message so they run concurrently.

Work directly when:

• A single file read or a known-location lookup would answer the question.
• Edits are sequential and each depends on the previous result.
• The task is small enough that subagent setup costs more than it saves.

How

• Give each subagent a self-contained brief: goal, exact scope, what to return.
• Don't duplicate a delegated search yourself — wait for the result.
• Prefer asynchronous delegation: keep working on the main thread while subagents run; intervene only if one goes off track.