Delegating to Agents
When to Use
- Use when work should be handed to another AI agent with a complete prompt and progress checks.
- Use when you need to relay instructions to terminal or TUI agents without losing context.
Which agent to pick
- Coding (default) → Codex CLI. Strongest coding agent, especially for complex, long-running SWE tasks. It's on an unlimited-usage plan — effectively unlimited, don't ration it.
- Most other tasks → Pi Agent (
pi in a cmux terminal). All Pi agents run opus-4.8-fast via OpenRouter at xhigh reasoning effort.
- Frontend / design → Pi. Opus 4.8 Fast beats Codex on UI, styling, design.
- Heavy multi-step work: you as orchestrator + Codex CLI executing in a right-hand cmux pane is a solid default setup.
Sending prompts to a TUI agent
- ONE single line — never newlines in the message body. In a TUI, newline = Enter: a multi-line prompt submits at the first line and the rest arrives as fragmented mid-turn steering messages. Use ". " or "; " instead of line breaks, then one explicit enter. For long instructions, write them to a file and send:
read /tmp/task.md and follow it.
- Wrap the prompt in plain double quotes — NEVER escaped.
cmux send --surface surface:N "your prompt". The recurring bug is emitting \" — in bash that's literal-broken and dies with unexpected EOF. Inside the prompt, avoid apostrophes and literal double quotes (write "dont", "wont", "lets"); rephrase instead of escaping. If a send failed, the cause was the escaped \", not the quote type.
- Exact command names:
cmux send --surface surface:N then cmux send-key --surface surface:N enter. There is NO send-surface or send-key-surface.
Polling
Keep sleeps SHORT: start at 3-5s, re-check, repeat. Don't sleep 30. Pi and Hermes (opus-4.8-fast) launch and respond within seconds; scale up only for genuinely heavy tasks. After every check, send the user a one-line status: what the agent is doing and whether it's on track.
Claude Code note: after it finishes, it may prefill a predicted next user message — that draft is Claude, not the user.
Remote VPS
SSH in first and launch the agent ON the VPS (e.g. codex --yolo), then drive that on-box agent. Don't run an agent locally and have it SSH for every step.
The 4 agents (background reference)
All four use the portable SKILL.md standard; project skills win over global.
- Pi (pi.dev, open-source TS): minimal read/write/edit/bash core, self-extends via TS extensions; true BYOK; best-in-class session branch/fork/resume. Skills:
~/.pi/agent/skills/.
- Codex CLI (OpenAI, Rust): fastest startup; kernel-level sandboxing;
codex exec for CI; reads AGENTS.md. Skills: ~/.codex/skills/.
- Claude Code (Anthropic, TS): deepest Claude integration,
.claude/ conventions, live skill hot-reload. Skills: ~/.claude/skills/.
- Hermes (Nous Research, Python): persistent autonomous agent — cross-session memory, built-in scheduler, 40+ tools; can orchestrate the other CLIs as workers. Skills:
~/.hermes/skills/.
Driving interactive CLIs
- Codex, Pi, OpenCode: need
pty=true.
- Claude Code: prefer
claude --print --permission-mode bypassPermissions (no PTY).
Example
User request:
Delegate these independent work items with complete context, clear ownership, and progress checks.
Limitations
- Adapted from
davidondrej/skills; verify local paths, tools, credentials, and agent features before acting.
- For commands, remote access, scheduling, browser automation, or file-changing workflows, get explicit user approval and confirm the target environment first.
1---2name: delegating-to-agents3description: Delegate bounded work to other AI agents while preserving context, ownership, and progress checks.4license: MIT5---67# Delegating to Agents89## When to Use1011- Use when work should be handed to another AI agent with a complete prompt and progress checks.12- Use when you need to relay instructions to terminal or TUI agents without losing context.1314## Which agent to pick1516- **Coding (default) → Codex CLI.** Strongest coding agent, especially for complex, long-running SWE tasks. It's on an unlimited-usage plan — effectively unlimited, don't ration it.17- **Most other tasks → Pi Agent** (`pi` in a cmux terminal). All Pi agents run opus-4.8-fast via OpenRouter at xhigh reasoning effort.18- **Frontend / design → Pi.** Opus 4.8 Fast beats Codex on UI, styling, design.19- **Heavy multi-step work:** you as orchestrator + Codex CLI executing in a right-hand cmux pane is a solid default setup.2021## Sending prompts to a TUI agent22231. **ONE single line — never newlines in the message body.** In a TUI, newline = Enter: a multi-line prompt submits at the first line and the rest arrives as fragmented mid-turn steering messages. Use ". " or "; " instead of line breaks, then one explicit enter. For long instructions, write them to a file and send: `read /tmp/task.md and follow it`.242. **Wrap the prompt in plain double quotes — NEVER escaped.** `cmux send --surface surface:N "your prompt"`. The recurring bug is emitting `\"` — in bash that's literal-broken and dies with `unexpected EOF`. Inside the prompt, avoid apostrophes and literal double quotes (write "dont", "wont", "lets"); rephrase instead of escaping. If a send failed, the cause was the escaped `\"`, not the quote type.253. **Exact command names:** `cmux send --surface surface:N` then `cmux send-key --surface surface:N enter`. There is NO `send-surface` or `send-key-surface`.2627## Polling2829Keep sleeps SHORT: start at 3-5s, re-check, repeat. Don't `sleep 30`. Pi and Hermes (opus-4.8-fast) launch and respond within seconds; scale up only for genuinely heavy tasks. After every check, send the user a one-line status: what the agent is doing and whether it's on track.3031Claude Code note: after it finishes, it may prefill a predicted next user message — that draft is Claude, not the user.3233## Remote VPS3435SSH in first and launch the agent ON the VPS (e.g. `codex --yolo`), then drive that on-box agent. Don't run an agent locally and have it SSH for every step.3637## The 4 agents (background reference)3839All four use the portable SKILL.md standard; project skills win over global.4041- **Pi** (pi.dev, open-source TS): minimal read/write/edit/bash core, self-extends via TS extensions; true BYOK; best-in-class session branch/fork/resume. Skills: `~/.pi/agent/skills/`.42- **Codex CLI** (OpenAI, Rust): fastest startup; kernel-level sandboxing; `codex exec` for CI; reads AGENTS.md. Skills: `~/.codex/skills/`.43- **Claude Code** (Anthropic, TS): deepest Claude integration, `.claude/` conventions, live skill hot-reload. Skills: `~/.claude/skills/`.44- **Hermes** (Nous Research, Python): persistent autonomous agent — cross-session memory, built-in scheduler, 40+ tools; can orchestrate the other CLIs as workers. Skills: `~/.hermes/skills/`.4546## Driving interactive CLIs4748- Codex, Pi, OpenCode: need `pty=true`.49- Claude Code: prefer `claude --print --permission-mode bypassPermissions` (no PTY).5051## Example5253**User request:**5455> Delegate these independent work items with complete context, clear ownership, and progress checks.5657## Limitations5859- Adapted from `davidondrej/skills`; verify local paths, tools, credentials, and agent features before acting.60- For commands, remote access, scheduling, browser automation, or file-changing workflows, get explicit user approval and confirm the target environment first.
David Ondrej