tomevault-io MCP Delegation Enforcement Pattern
Created: 2025-10-07 Purpose: Prevent Claude from bypassing the Role → Specialist delegation architecture Status: Mandatory - enforce in all sessions
The Problem This Solves
Bad Behavior (What happened):
User: "Are there failing Snowflake tasks?"
Claude: Tries snowsql directly → Fails → Then delegates to snowflake-expert
Why this is wrong:
- Bypasses the specialist architecture we built
- Wastes time with failed approaches
- Doesn't leverage specialist expertise first
- Violates the 80/20 delegation principle (roles should delegate when confidence <0.60)
Correct Behavior (Enforcement pattern):
User: "Are there failing Snowflake tasks?"
Claude: Immediately delegates to snowflake-expert
snowflake-expert: Uses snowflake-mcp or documents why it can't and uses alternative
Claude: Returns specialist findings to user
Mandatory Delegation Rules
Rule 1: Specialist-First for Domain Questions
ALWAYS delegate immediately when:
- Question is about specific technology (Snowflake, dbt, Tableau, AWS, Orchestra, Prefect, React, Streamlit)
- Question requires domain expertise to answer correctly
- Specialist exists for that domain
- Confidence level <0.60 for answering directly
Specialist Trigger Keywords:
- "Snowflake" → snowflake-expert
- "dbt" → dbt-expert
- "Tableau" / "dashboard" → tableau-expert
- "AWS" / "infrastructure" / "deploy" → aws-expert
- "Orchestra" / "pipeline" / "workflow" → orchestra-expert
- "Prefect" / "flow" → prefect-expert
- "React" → react-expert
- "Streamlit" → streamlit-expert
- "cost" / "savings" / "expensive" → cost-optimization-specialist
- "test" / "quality" / "bug" → data-quality-specialist
- "GitHub" / "repository" / "issue" → github-sleuth-expert
- "ingestion" / "connector" / "dlthub" → dlthub-expert
Rule 2: Never Try Tools Before Delegating
WRONG Order:
- Try snowsql directly
- Fail
- Try dbt-mcp show
- Fail
- Finally delegate to snowflake-expert
CORRECT Order:
- Immediately delegate to snowflake-expert
- Specialist tries snowflake-mcp tools
- If MCP fails, specialist documents why and uses alternative
- Return specialist findings
Exception: Only use tools directly if:
- Question is NOT domain-specific (e.g., "list files in directory")
- No specialist exists for that domain
- Confidence >0.85 for handling directly
Rule 3: MCP Tools Are Specialist Territory
Claude should NOT directly use:
- snowflake-mcp tools (snowflake-expert uses these)
- dbt-mcp tools (dbt-expert uses these)
- tableau-mcp tools (tableau-expert uses these)
- aws-api tools (aws-expert uses these for domain questions)
Claude CAN directly use:
- Read, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit (file operations)
- Bash (for non-domain-specific commands like git)
- TodoWrite, Task (task management)
- github-mcp (if not domain-specific repository analysis)
- slack-mcp (if not domain-specific team communication)
Gray area (delegate if domain-specific):
- aws-api for infrastructure questions → Delegate to aws-expert
- dbt-mcp for model questions → Delegate to dbt-expert
- github-mcp for repository investigation → Delegate to github-sleuth-expert
Rule 4: Document When Specialists Can't Answer
If specialist hits a blocker (like snowflake-mcp not working):
- ✅ Specialist documents the issue
- ✅ Specialist provides alternative approach
- ✅ Specialist returns findings to user (even if "can't check, here's why")
- ✅ Claude adds issue to backlog (fix snowflake-mcp, fix network policy, etc.)
Don't: Try to work around the specialist by using tools directly
Enforcement Checklist
Before responding to user questions, ask:
Is this a domain-specific question?
- Yes → Proceed to #2
- No → Answer directly with appropriate tools
Do we have a specialist for this domain?
- Yes → Proceed to #3
- No → Answer directly, document gap (maybe create specialist?)
Is my confidence >0.85 for this specific question?
- No → DELEGATE to specialist immediately
- Yes → Consider delegating anyway if specialist would add value
Would specialist provide better answer?
- Yes → DELEGATE (higher quality worth token cost)
- Maybe → DELEGATE (err on side of quality)
- No → Answer directly (simple factual questions)
Delegation Pattern Template
When user asks domain-specific question:
[Immediately recognize domain: Snowflake]
[Check specialist exists: snowflake-expert ✓]
[Confidence <0.60 or specialist would add value]
[Delegate without trying tools first]
Task(
subagent_type="snowflake-expert",
description="[Brief task description]",
prompt="[Complete delegation context with user's question]"
)
After specialist returns:
[Read specialist findings]
[Return answer to user with specialist's analysis]
[If specialist hit blockers, add to backlog and inform user]
Common Violations to Avoid
Violation 1: Trying Tools Before Delegating
Don't:
User: "Check Snowflake tasks"
Claude: Tries snowsql → Fails → Tries dbt-mcp → Fails → Delegates
Do:
User: "Check Snowflake tasks"
Claude: Immediately delegates to snowflake-expert
snowflake-expert: Tries snowflake-mcp, documents if fails, provides answer
Violation 2: Using Domain MCP Tools Directly
Don't:
User: "Optimize this dbt model"
Claude: Uses dbt-mcp to analyze model directly
Do:
User: "Optimize this dbt model"
Claude: Delegates to dbt-expert
dbt-expert: Uses dbt-mcp + expertise to analyze and recommend
Violation 3: Skipping Delegation Because "It's Quick"
Don't:
User: "What's the best Snowflake warehouse size?"
Claude: "Use MEDIUM warehouse" (guessing)
Do:
User: "What's the best Snowflake warehouse size?"
Claude: Delegates to snowflake-expert (provides context, workload, requirements)
snowflake-expert: Analyzes with snowflake-mcp, recommends with rationale
Violation 4: Not Following Up on Specialist Blockers
Don't:
snowflake-expert: "Can't check, snowflake-mcp not working"
Claude: "Sorry, can't help" (gives up)
Do:
snowflake-expert: "Can't check, snowflake-mcp not working"
Claude: Documents issue, creates fix task, provides user with manual approach
Claude: Adds snowflake-mcp fix to backlog/todo list
Self-Enforcement Protocol
At start of each response, mentally check:
- Did user ask domain-specific question?
- Does specialist exist for this domain?
- Should I delegate immediately?
Red flags that indicate delegation needed:
- User mentions specific technology (Snowflake, dbt, AWS, etc.)
- Question requires expertise (optimization, troubleshooting, design)
- Answer would benefit from MCP tool access
- Confidence <0.60 for answering correctly
Green flags for direct response:
- Simple factual question (not requiring expertise)
- File operation (read, write, edit, grep)
- Git operation (commit, branch, status)
- General knowledge question (not system-specific)
Validation Questions (Ask Yourself)
Before responding, ask:
"Would [domain]-expert give a better answer than me?"
- If YES → Delegate
- If MAYBE → Delegate (err on quality side)
- If NO → Answer directly
"Am I about to use [domain]-mcp tools directly?"
- If YES → STOP, delegate to [domain]-expert instead
- If NO → Proceed
"Did I just fail with a tool and am about to try another approach?"
- If YES → STOP, delegate to specialist to figure it out
- If NO → Proceed
Benefits of Strict Enforcement
From Week 3-4 testing:
- Quality: 37.5 percentage points higher (100% vs 62.5%)
- ROI: 100-500x return (3.35x token cost, massive value)
- Correctness: Specialists caught critical bugs (deterministic MERGE)
- Efficiency: Specialists know the right approach (no trial-and-error)
From this snowflake-mcp investigation:
- snowflake-expert properly investigated (documented all blockers)
- Claude trying snowsql wasted time (wrong approach)
- Specialist found root cause (network policy, config issue)
- Proper delegation would have been faster and more thorough
Enforcement Mechanism
Week 7 Addition: Add pre-response checklist to session protocol
Before every response:
1. Scan user question for domain keywords
2. If domain keyword found → Check if specialist exists
3. If specialist exists → Delegate immediately (don't try tools first)
4. If no specialist → Answer directly with appropriate tools
Enforcement Level: MANDATORY
- Not a suggestion
- Not "consider delegating"
- ALWAYS delegate when specialist exists and question is domain-specific
Example: Correct Delegation Flow
User: "Are there failing Snowflake tasks in the last 24 hours?"
Claude's Thought Process (Enforce pattern):
1. Scan: "Snowflake tasks" → Domain-specific (Snowflake)
2. Check: snowflake-expert exists ✓
3. Confidence: <0.60 for Snowflake task status (need Snowflake expertise)
4. Decision: DELEGATE immediately (don't try snowsql, don't try dbt-mcp)
Claude's Action:
Task(
subagent_type="snowflake-expert",
description="Check Snowflake task failures (24hr)",
prompt="User asked: Are there failing Snowflake tasks in last 24 hours?
Use snowflake-mcp if available to query task_history.
If snowflake-mcp not working, document why and provide alternative approach.
Return: Failed tasks (if any) or confirmation all healthy."
)
Result: snowflake-expert investigates properly, documents blockers, provides complete answer
Pattern Application Examples
Example 1: Snowflake Question
User: "What's our Snowflake warehouse utilization?" Correct: Delegate to snowflake-expert → Uses snowflake-mcp → Returns utilization analysis Wrong: Try to query Snowflake directly with snowsql or dbt-mcp
Example 2: dbt Question
User: "Which dbt models are failing tests?" Correct: Delegate to dbt-expert → Uses dbt-mcp → Returns failing models with analysis Wrong: Try dbt-mcp tools directly without specialist context
Example 3: AWS Question
User: "Are our ECS tasks healthy?" Correct: Delegate to aws-expert → Uses aws-api → Returns ECS task health analysis Wrong: Try aws-api commands directly without specialist validation
Example 4: Cost Question
User: "Why is our cloud bill so high?" Correct: Delegate to cost-optimization-specialist → Coordinates with snowflake-expert + aws-expert → Returns comprehensive cost analysis Wrong: Try to analyze costs directly without cross-system optimization expertise
Example 5: File Question (Direct OK)
User: "Show me the contents of app.py" Correct: Use Read tool directly (not domain-specific, no specialist needed) Wrong: Delegate to react-expert just to read a file
Maintenance and Updates
Add to this pattern when:
- New specialists are created (add to trigger keywords)
- New MCP servers integrated (add to tool restrictions)
- Delegation violations observed (add to common violations)
- Better enforcement mechanisms discovered
Review this pattern:
- Weekly during MCP architecture transformation
- Monthly after go-live
- Whenever delegation violations occur
Bottom Line: When user asks about Snowflake, dbt, AWS, Tableau, or any domain with a specialist - DELEGATE FIRST, don't try tools yourself. The specialists are built to handle MCP tool failures gracefully. Your job is to recognize when expertise is needed and delegate appropriately.
Violation Consequence: Lower quality answers, wasted effort, missed specialist insights, frustrated users who built the architecture specifically to avoid this behavior.
Enforcement: MANDATORY from this point forward. No exceptions without explicit user override.
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