spawn-skill

name	spawn-skill
description	How to spawn disposable child agents in Docker for sandboxed work — iteration, testing, evolution from a clean slate. Children stage and export DNA back; they cannot commit or reboot. Load this when the user asks to test, sandbox, isolate, spawn, or experiment.

Child Agent Spawning

Children are full copies of the parent running in Docker, with one critical difference: no git tools, no commit, no reboot. They iterate in isolation, verify their own work, and export_dna back to the parent for commit.

Tools

• spawn_agent(purpose, config=None) — launch a new disposable child container. Returns the child's session id.
• list_spawned_agents() — list active children with status.
• stop_spawned_agent(session_id) — kill a child container.

When to use

Scenario	Use child?
Building a new feature from scratch	YES — iterate in isolation, export when ready
Risky refactor that might break the bot	YES — break the child instead
Validating a fix against a clean codebase	YES
Adding 1-line config tweak	NO — overhead exceeds benefit
Reading code, answering questions	NO — your own context handles this

How children work

Children share the parent's image (so they auto-inherit code changes after each parent commit). On spawn:

1. The parent's data/ directory is not mounted; the child has its own per-session sandbox at data/sandbox/<session_id>/.
2. The child has all skills/tools EXCEPT evolution_git_*, evolution_commit_and_push, and update_self.
3. The child stages and verifies. When ready, it calls export_dna(source_paths) which packs files into a tarball and sends them back to the parent via A2A binary content.
4. The parent receives via import_dna (KnowledgeAgent), verifies again in its own sandbox, then commits via the normal evolution-workflow.

You are automatically the admin of any child you spawn — they recognize your ADMIN_USER_IDS membership.

Coordinator-only

The spawn_agent tool lives on the Coordinator (so the agent that the user is conversing with can spin up children). DeveloperAgent does not have it directly — Developer asks Coordinator to spawn when sandboxed work is needed.

Anti-patterns

• Don't spawn a child for a 1-file change that you can stage + verify in your own sandbox.
• Don't expect children to persist beyond their session — they're disposable.
• Don't commit child output blindly — the parent must re-verify in its own sandbox before commit.