delegate-task

name	Delegate Task
description	Create a WorkItem in the TaskPool targeting a specific agent. The Reconciler will automatically wake the agent and deliver the task when resources are available. No direct agent start or auto-monitoring — the Reconciler handles lifecycle, retries, and resource control.
version	2.0.0
category	management
skillType	claude-skill
assignableRoles	["orchestrator"]
triggers	["delegate task","assign work","task agent","delegate with monitoring","send task to agent"]
tags	["task","delegation","management","monitoring"]
execution	{"type":"script","script":{"file":"execute.sh","interpreter":"bash","timeoutMs":30000}}

Delegate Task

Creates a WorkItem in the TaskPool targeting a specific agent. The Reconciler automatically detects the queued item, wakes the agent (respecting maxConcurrentAgents and memory limits), and the auto-claim service delivers the task.

The script auto-resolves config/skills/... references to absolute paths so delegated tasks remain runnable from any working directory.

No auto-monitoring — the Reconciler handles stuck/unclaimed WorkItem detection, agent lifecycle, and retries. No recurring checks or idle subscriptions are created.

Parameters

Flag	JSON Field	Required	Description
--to / -t	to	Yes	Target agent's PTY session name
--task / -T	task	Yes	Task description (or pipe via stdin)
--task-file	—	No	Read task description from a file path
--priority / -P	priority	No	Priority: low, normal, high (default: normal)
--context / -c	context	No	Additional context for the task
--project / -p	projectPath	No	Project path; creates task file in .crewly/tasks/
--team / -g	teamId	No	Team ID for cross-team validation
--task-type	taskType	No	Task type: general, technical (default: general)
--force-cross-team	forceCrossTeam	No	Allow cross-team delegation
--request-id / -R	requestId	No	Parent V3 Request ID; tags the resulting WorkItem so Request.workItemIds[] is populated by the SLA subscriber (Pipeline-#4 fix)
monitor (JSON only)	monitor	No	Auto-monitoring config (see below)

Usage — CLI Flags (preferred)

# Basic delegation
bash execute.sh --to agent-joe --task "Implement the login form" --priority high --project /path/to/project

# With context
bash execute.sh --to agent-joe --task "Implement login form" --priority high --context "Use React hooks" --project /path

# Task from stdin (for long descriptions with special characters)
echo "Implement the OAuth2 flow — it's critical for launch" | bash execute.sh --to agent-joe --priority high --project /path

# Task from file
bash execute.sh --to agent-joe --task-file /tmp/task-description.txt --priority high --project /path

Usage — Legacy JSON (backward compatible)

bash execute.sh '{"to":"agent-joe","task":"Implement the login form","priority":"high","context":"Use React hooks","projectPath":"/path/to/project"}'

With monitoring disabled (opt-out, JSON only)

bash execute.sh '{"to":"agent-joe","task":"Implement the login form","priority":"high","projectPath":"/path/to/project","monitor":{"idleEvent":false,"fallbackCheckMinutes":0}}'

Examples

Example 1: Basic delegation (monitoring enabled by default)

bash config/skills/orchestrator/delegate-task/execute.sh '{"to":"agent-joe","task":"Fix the login bug","priority":"high"}'

This will automatically:

1. Send the task to agent-joe's terminal
2. Subscribe to agent:idle for agent-joe (auto-notifies when agent goes idle)
3. Schedule a recurring check every 5 minutes (auto-reminds orchestrator to check progress)
4. Link all monitoring IDs to the task for auto-cleanup on completion

Example 2: Delegation with project tracking + monitoring

bash config/skills/orchestrator/delegate-task/execute.sh '{"to":"agent-joe","task":"Implement user auth","priority":"high","projectPath":"/path/to/project"}'

Also creates a task file in the project's .crewly/tasks/ directory.

Example 3: Delegation with custom monitoring interval

bash config/skills/orchestrator/delegate-task/execute.sh '{"to":"agent-sam","task":"Write unit tests","priority":"normal","monitor":{"fallbackCheckMinutes":10}}'

Example 4: Delegation with monitoring disabled

bash config/skills/orchestrator/delegate-task/execute.sh '{"to":"agent-joe","task":"Quick fix","priority":"low","monitor":{"idleEvent":false,"fallbackCheckMinutes":0}}'

Output

JSON confirmation of task delivery. When projectPath is provided, also returns the created task file path.

Auto-Cleanup

When the agent completes the task (via report-status with status: done or complete-task), all linked monitoring is automatically cleaned up:

• Scheduled checks are cancelled
• Event subscriptions are unsubscribed

No manual cleanup needed.

Delivery Strategy

The script uses a two-stage delivery strategy:

1. Reliable delivery (15s timeout) — Waits for the agent to be at a prompt, then delivers with verification. This is the preferred path.
2. Force fallback — If the agent is busy or not ready within 15 seconds, the message is written directly to the PTY session without waiting. The task is still delivered, but may appear mid-output.

This ensures tasks are always delivered even when agents are busy processing previous work.

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Missing required parameter: to	to not provided	Include target session name
Missing required parameter: task	task not provided	Include task description
Failed to deliver task to X	Session doesn't exist or agent crashed	Check agent status, restart if needed
curl failed with exit code N	Backend not running	Start the Crewly backend

Error messages are output to stdout (JSON format) so the orchestrator can read them. Monitoring setup failures are non-fatal — if subscribe-event or schedule-check fails, the task is still delegated successfully.

Related Skills

• assign-task — for formal task tracking in the management system (file-based kanban)
• send-message — for simple messages without task structure
• subscribe-event — manual event subscription (auto-handled when using monitor)
• schedule-check — manual schedule creation (auto-handled when using monitor)
• report-status — agent reports completion, triggers auto-cleanup