agent-teams

name	agent-teams
description	The canonical guide for Claude Code agent swarms (TeamCreate-based multi-agent coordination). Use when the user says "swarm", "agent team", "orchestrate agents", or when 3+ independent tasks should run in parallel with inter-agent messaging and coordination. Covers the full swarm lifecycle: planning tasks, spawning teammates, inter-agent communication via SendMessage, monitoring, verification, and cleanup. NOT for fire-and-forget subagents (use superpowers:dispatching-parallel-agents instead).
allowed_tools	Teammate(*), SendMessage(*), Task(*), Bash(tmux:*)

Agent Teams

Detailed reference: agent-teams atom

Prerequisites

Requires experimental flag:

// settings.json
{ "env": { "CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS": "1" } }

Quick Decision: Teams vs Subagents

Use subagents when workers report results back (lower tokens, simpler). Use teams when workers need to message each other, share findings, and self-coordinate (higher tokens).

Key Controls

• Delegate mode (Shift+Tab): Prevents lead from implementing — coordination only
• Task sizing: Aim for 5-6 tasks per teammate
• File conflicts: Assign non-overlapping files to each teammate
• Plan approval: Spawn with "require plan approval" for risky work
• Permissions: Pre-approve common operations before spawning to reduce friction

Model Configuration

Always pass an explicit model parameter when spawning teammates via Task tool. Do NOT rely on inherit — model inheritance is buggy for tmux-spawned teammates (known issue, partially fixed through v2.1.47 but still unreliable).

• Use model: "haiku" for simple bash/checking tasks
• Use model: "sonnet" for research, code review, moderate complexity
• Use model: "opus" only for complex reasoning tasks

Role Detection

Check your environment to understand your role:

echo "Team: ${CLAUDE_CODE_TEAM_NAME:-not in team}"
echo "Agent ID: ${CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_ID:-no ID}"
echo "Agent Type: ${CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_TYPE:-no type}"

Variable	Team Lead	Teammate
CLAUDE_CODE_TEAM_NAME	Set (you created it)	Set (assigned on join)
CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_ID	Usually empty	Your assigned name
CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_TYPE	team-lead or empty	worker or custom

Native Tools Overview

Teammate Tool (Team Management)

Teammate.spawnTeam      Create a new team
Teammate.discoverTeams  List available teams to join
Teammate.requestJoin    Request to join a team
Teammate.approveJoin    Approve join request (leader only)
Teammate.rejectJoin     Reject join request (leader only)
Teammate.cleanup        Remove team resources when done

SendMessage Tool (Communication)

SendMessage.message     Direct message to one teammate
SendMessage.broadcast   Message all teammates (use sparingly - expensive!)
SendMessage.request     Protocol requests (shutdown, plan_approval)
SendMessage.response    Respond to protocol requests

Task Tools (Work Coordination)

TaskCreate   Create a task (writes to session list, not team list!)
TaskList     List tasks in current context
TaskGet      Get full task details
TaskUpdate   Update task status, owner, dependencies

Team Lead Workflow

1. Create Team and Tasks

{
  "operation": "spawnTeam",
  "team_name": "my-feature",
  "description": "Implementing authentication feature"
}

CRITICAL: TaskCreate writes to YOUR session list, not the team list. See references/patterns.md for the workaround.

2. Spawn Teammates

Use the Task tool with team_name parameter:

{
  "description": "Implement auth module",
  "prompt": "You are working on team 'my-feature'. Check TaskList for available work...",
  "subagent_type": "general-purpose",
  "team_name": "my-feature",
  "name": "auth-worker"
}

3. Monitor and Coordinate

• Teammates send idle notifications automatically when they finish
• Use SendMessage.message to give specific instructions
• Use SendMessage.request with subtype: "shutdown" to gracefully stop teammates

4. Cleanup

Cleanup fails if teammates are still active. Shut them down first, then:

{ "operation": "cleanup" }

Teammate Workflow

1. Check tasks: TaskList
2. Claim: TaskUpdate with status: "in_progress" and owner: "your-agent-id"
3. Complete: TaskUpdate with status: "completed" (system auto-notifies lead)
4. Communicate: Use SendMessage.message when blocked or need coordination

Critical Gotchas

Task Directory Mismatch

TaskCreate writes to: ~/.claude/tasks/{session-uuid}/ Team tasks live in: ~/.claude/tasks/{team-name}/

Result: Teammates won't see tasks you create with TaskCreate! Solution: Write tasks directly to the team directory. See references/patterns.md.

Message Delivery

• Messages are automatically delivered - no need to poll
• Your text output is NOT visible to teammates - use SendMessage!
• Broadcast is expensive (sends N separate messages to N teammates)

Shutdown Protocol

Shutdown requests are graceful - teammates can reject them. To force:

tmux kill-pane -t %PANE_ID

Agent Hallucination

Agents may report work as "done" before files exist. Always verify:

ls /path/claimed/by/agent/

Keyboard Shortcuts (In-Process Mode)

Shortcut	Action
Shift+Up/Down	Select teammate
Enter	View teammate's session
Escape	Interrupt teammate's turn
Ctrl+T	Toggle task list
Shift+Tab	Delegate mode

Quality Gate Hooks

• TeammateIdle: Exit code 2 = send feedback, keep working
• TaskCompleted: Exit code 2 = prevent completion, send feedback

tmux Tips

# Find agent panes
tmux list-panes -a -F "#{pane_id} #{pane_current_command}"

# Move cramped panes to own windows
tmux break-pane -s %PANE_ID -n agent-name

# Watch agent output
tmux capture-pane -t %AGENT_PANE -p | tail -50

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
Agents see empty TaskList	Tasks in session dir	Write to team directory
Messages not received	Using text instead of tool	Use SendMessage tool
Cleanup fails	Teammates still active	Send shutdown requests first
Agent reports phantom work	Hallucination or timing	Wait 30-60s, then verify filesystem
Agents ask for permission	Prompt too passive	Add "Act autonomously" to prompt

Known Limitations

• No session resumption for in-process teammates
• One team per session; no nested teams
• Lead is fixed (can't promote)
• Split panes don't work in VS Code terminal, Windows Terminal, Ghostty

Quick Reference

Start a Team

1. Teammate.spawnTeam - Create team
2. Write tasks to ~/.claude/tasks/{team}/ directly (not TaskCreate)
3. Task tool with team_name - Spawn teammates
4. Monitor via delivered messages

End a Team

1. SendMessage.request (shutdown) to each teammate
2. Wait for SendMessage.response (approve)
3. Teammate.cleanup

Deep-Dive References

Reference	Description
references/native-tools.md	Detailed tool schemas and examples
references/patterns.md	Orchestration philosophy, task decomposition, communication patterns

Acceptance Checks

• CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS enabled
• Display mode appropriate to terminal
• Tasks sized ~5-6 per teammate
• Non-overlapping file assignments
• Explicit model set on each teammate (not inherit)
• Using SendMessage for communication (not text output)
• Writing team tasks to correct directory
• Verifying agent work with filesystem checks
• Team cleaned up via lead when done