Jesse Vincent (obra) Subagent-Driven Development
Execute plan by dispatching a fresh implementer subagent per task, a task review (spec compliance + code quality) after each, and a broad whole-branch review at the end.
Why subagents: You delegate tasks to specialized agents with isolated context. By precisely crafting their instructions and context, you ensure they stay focused and succeed at their task. They should never inherit your session's context or history — you construct exactly what they need. This also preserves your own context for coordination work.
Core principle: Fresh subagent per task + task review (spec + quality) + broad final review = high quality, fast iteration
Narration: between tool calls, narrate at most one short line — the ledger and the tool results carry the record.
Continuous execution: Do not pause to check in with your human partner between tasks. Execute all tasks from the plan without stopping. The only reasons to stop are the four named below, or all tasks complete. "Should I continue?" prompts and progress summaries waste their time — they asked you to execute the plan, so execute it.
Rulings, not stalls. A running plan does not wait on a human. Conflicts,
ambiguities, plan defects, a cap you would have asked to exceed — decide
them. The spec is the binding authority, the plan is its argument, and your
judgment settles what neither answers. Record every decision in the ledger as
Ruling: <what you decided> — <why> — <what it costs if wrong>, and keep
going. A wrong ruling costs rework your human partner can see and undo; a
session parked on a question costs their whole day and buys nothing.
Four things stop you, and only these: an irreversible or destructive operation; a security-sensitive action; a side effect outside this worktree that norms say you ask about first (a merge, a push to a shared branch, a publish); and a plan so broken that every path forward is a guess. For those, stop and ask.
When to Use
digraph when_to_use {
"Have implementation plan?" [shape=diamond];
"Tasks mostly independent?" [shape=diamond];
"Stay in this session?" [shape=diamond];
"subagent-driven-development" [shape=box];
"executing-plans" [shape=box];
"Manual execution or brainstorm first" [shape=box];
"Have implementation plan?" -> "Tasks mostly independent?" [label="yes"];
"Have implementation plan?" -> "Manual execution or brainstorm first" [label="no"];
"Tasks mostly independent?" -> "Stay in this session?" [label="yes"];
"Tasks mostly independent?" -> "Manual execution or brainstorm first" [label="no - tightly coupled"];
"Stay in this session?" -> "subagent-driven-development" [label="yes"];
"Stay in this session?" -> "executing-plans" [label="no - parallel session"];
}
vs. Executing Plans (parallel session):
- Same session (no context switch)
- Fresh subagent per task (no context pollution)
- Review after each task (spec compliance + code quality), broad review at the end
- Faster iteration (no human-in-loop between tasks)
The Process
digraph process {
rankdir=TB;
subgraph cluster_per_task {
label="Per Task";
"Dispatch implementer subagent (./implementer-prompt.md)" [shape=box];
"Implementer asks questions?" [shape=diamond];
"Answer questions, provide context" [shape=box];
"Implementer implements, tests, commits, self-reviews" [shape=box];
"Generate review package, dispatch task reviewer (./task-reviewer-prompt.md)" [shape=box];
"Spec ✅ and quality approved?" [shape=diamond];
"Finding conflicts with plan text?" [shape=diamond];
"Rule on the conflict, ledger the ruling" [shape=box];
"Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model" [shape=box];
"Dispatch scoped re-review (./re-review-prompt.md)" [shape=box];
"All findings addressed?" [shape=diamond];
"R = 5?" [shape=diamond];
"Adjudicate each open finding" [shape=box];
"Any load-bearing finding?" [shape=diamond];
"Rule and continue; stop only if every path forward is a guess" [shape=box];
"Park findings in ledger with rulings" [shape=box];
"Append completion to ledger, mark todo complete" [shape=box];
}
"Setup: worktree, ledger check, read plan, pre-flight review" [shape=box];
"More tasks remain?" [shape=diamond];
"Dispatch final code reviewer (../requesting-code-review/code-reviewer.md)" [shape=box];
"Final findings? ONE fix dispatch, one scoped re-review, adjudicate residuals" [shape=box];
"Final review clean: delete this plan's workspace" [shape=box];
"Use superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch" [shape=box style=filled fillcolor=lightgreen];
"Setup: worktree, ledger check, read plan, pre-flight review" -> "Dispatch implementer subagent (./implementer-prompt.md)";
"Dispatch implementer subagent (./implementer-prompt.md)"