Delegate

Delegate

Use the delegate tool for self-contained work that does not need the conversation history. The child runs with an operator-approved model, a bounded tool profile, and no persistent Pi session.

Model restriction

Delegate can use only models listed under Settings → Delegate → Approved delegate models. No providers are approved by default. The approved list requires an operator-approved provider, an ordered classified model ID, exact child-CLI executability, and no matching exclusion.

This restriction applies to automatic selection, explicit model arguments, fallback attempts, and disclosed provider response models. Delegate tool arguments and prompts cannot add models or bypass the list.

Good delegation candidates

• File, note, or code summaries
• Formatting, translation, extraction, and factual questions
• Mechanical code generation or refactoring
• Focused repository exploration and debugging
• A second-opinion review using judge

Do not delegate when the task depends on conversation history, needs user interaction, requires frontier capability, or is simpler than describing a complete standalone prompt.

Call shape

delegate({
  prompt: "Read src/client.ts. Summarize its public API in five bullets and identify compatibility risks.",
  files: ["src/client.ts"],
  task_category: "summarize",
  tools: "read_only"
})

Categories

Automatic selection is capped at the verified tier of the current model. If the current model is unknown to Delegate policy, automatic selection fails closed.

Explicit model selection

Use model: "provider/model" only to select an exact entry from Approved delegate models. Explicit selection can bypass the automatic tier choice. It cannot bypass provider approval, ordered classification, exclusions, child-CLI executability, or image-capability checks. A model visible only to Piclaw runtime is not enough.

Tool profiles

If the known MCP adapter is installed, Delegate adds the mcp tool. A custom comma-separated list of Pi child built-ins is accepted; custom lists must name mcp explicitly when needed. Do not assume other Piclaw add-on tools are present. Tool profiles are not an operating-system sandbox; prefer read_only when the child must not receive shell access.

Files

• Text files are inlined up to 100 KiB each.
• Only content-sniffed JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and BMP files are attached natively.
• PDF, SVG, TIFF/ICO, archives, audio, video, and unknown binary data are rejected.
• Extract document text or convert unsupported images before delegation.
• Canonical file paths must stay under /workspace; symlink escapes and non-regular files are rejected.

Judge mode

When the user asks to double-check, verify, review, or obtain a second opinion:

delegate({
  prompt: "Review the response below for correctness, omissions, and unsupported claims. Be critical.\n\n<response>\n...\n</response>",
  task_category: "judge",
  tools: "read_only"
})

Judge selection crosses families only when a valid tier-safe executable alternative exists.

Prompt discipline

The child has no conversation history. Include all necessary facts, paths, constraints, and the desired output shape.

• Bad: "Fix the bug we discussed."
• Good: "Read src/cache.ts and tests/cache.test.ts. Diagnose why stale entries survive invalidate(), propose the smallest fix, and return a patch outline."

Use the final result normally. While it runs, Delegate may emit bounded structured status/tool progress. It retries automatically only for provider setup, authentication, or unavailable-model failures; ordinary execution, protocol, timeout, cancellation, and rate-limit failures are returned without retry.