wpank Subagent-Driven Development
Execute a plan by dispatching a fresh subagent per task, with two-stage review after each — spec compliance first, then code quality.
Core principle: Fresh subagent per task + two-stage review = no context pollution, high quality, fast iteration.
Installation
OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot
npx clawhub@latest install subagent-driven-development
When to Use This Skill
- You have an implementation plan with discrete, mostly independent tasks
- You want to execute the plan within a single session (no human-in-the-loop between tasks)
- Tasks can be implemented and reviewed sequentially without tight coupling
| Condition | This Skill | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Have a plan, same session | Yes | — |
| Have a plan, parallel session | No | executing-plans |
| No plan yet | No | Write a plan first |
| Tasks tightly coupled | No | Manual execution or decompose more |
The Process
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Read plan, extract ALL tasks with full text │
│ 2. Note shared context (arch, deps, conventions) │
│ 3. Create TodoWrite with all tasks │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
▼
┌────── Per Task ──────┐
│ │
│ Dispatch Implementer (references/implementer-prompt.md)
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ Questions?──yes──► Answer, re-dispatch│
│ │no │
│ ▼ │
│ Implement + test + commit + self-review│
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ Dispatch Spec Reviewer (references/spec-reviewer-prompt.md)
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ Compliant?──no──► Implementer fixes──┘
│ │yes then re-review
│ ▼
│ Dispatch Code Reviewer (references/code-quality-reviewer-prompt.md)
│ │
│ ▼
│ Approved?──no──► Implementer fixes, re-review
│ │yes
│ ▼
│ Mark task complete
└───────┬──────────────┘
▼
More tasks? ──yes──► next task
│no
▼
Final cross-task code review
▼
Finish development branch
Prompt Templates
Three reference prompts are provided for the subagent roles:
| Role | File | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Implementer | references/implementer-prompt.md |
Implement, test, commit, self-review |
| Spec reviewer | references/spec-reviewer-prompt.md |
Verify code matches spec exactly |
| Code reviewer | references/code-quality-reviewer-prompt.md |
Verify code is clean and maintainable |
Example Workflow
Controller: Reading plan — 5 tasks extracted, TodoWrite created.
─── Task 1: Hook installation script ───
[Dispatch implementer with full task text + context]
Implementer: "Should the hook be installed at user or system level?"
Controller: "User level (~/.config/hooks/)"
Implementer: ✅ Implemented install-hook command
- Added tests (5/5 passing)
- Self-review: missed --force flag, added it
- Committed
[Dispatch spec reviewer]
Spec reviewer: ✅ Spec compliant — all requirements met
[Dispatch code reviewer with git SHAs]
Code reviewer: ✅ Approved — clean, good coverage
[Mark Task 1 complete]
─── Task 2: Recovery modes ───
[Dispatch implementer]
Implementer: ✅ Added verify/repair modes (8/8 tests passing)
[Dispatch spec reviewer]
Spec reviewer: ❌ Issues:
- Missing: progress reporting ("report every 100 items")
- Extra: added --json flag (not in spec)
[Implementer fixes: remove --json, add progress reporting]
Spec reviewer: ✅ Spec compliant
[Dispatch code reviewer]
Code reviewer: Important — magic number 100, extract constant
[Implementer fixes: extract PROGRESS_INTERVAL]
Code reviewer: ✅ Approved
[Mark Task 2 complete]
... (tasks 3-5) ...
[Final cross-task code review]
Final reviewer: ✅ All requirements met, ready to merge
Controller Responsibilities
The controller (you) orchestrates the flow. Key duties:
| Responsibility | Detail |
|---|---|
| Extract tasks upfront | Read plan once, extract all task text — subagents never read the plan file |
| Provide full context | Give each subagent the complete task text + architectural context |
| Answer questions | Respond clearly and completely before letting subagent proceed |
| Enforce review order | Spec compliance first, code quality second — never reversed |
| Track progress | Update TodoWrite after each task completes |
| Dispatch sequentially | One implementation subagent at a time to avoid conflicts |
Quality Gates
Each task passes through three quality checks:
| Gate | Who | What |
|---|---|---|
| Self-review | Implementer | Completeness, naming, YAGNI, test quality |
| Spec review | Spec reviewer | Matches requirements exactly — nothing more, less |
| Code review | Code reviewer | Clean code, maintainability, test coverage |
Advantages
vs. manual execution:
- Fresh context per task (no confusion from accumulated state)
- Subagents follow TDD naturally
- Questions surfaced before work begins, not after
vs. parallel-session plans:
- No handoff overhead
- Continuous progress
- Review checkpoints are automatic
Cost trade-off: More subagent invocations (implementer + 2 reviewers per task), but catches issues early — cheaper than debugging later.
NEVER Do
- Skip either review — both spec compliance and code quality are mandatory
- Start code review before spec review passes — wrong order wastes effort on code that doesn't meet spec
- Dispatch multiple implementers in parallel — causes merge conflicts and context corruption
- Make subagents read the plan file — provide full task text directly
- Skip scene-setting context — subagent needs to understand where the task fits architecturally
- Ignore subagent questions — answer fully before they proceed
- Accept "close enough" on spec compliance — if the reviewer found issues, it's not done
- Skip re-review after fixes — reviewer found issues → implementer fixes → reviewer reviews again
- Let self-review replace actual review — self-review is a first pass, not a substitute
- Move to next task with open review issues — current task must be fully approved first
- Fix issues manually instead of through a subagent — manual fixes pollute controller context
Handling Failures
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| Subagent asks questions | Answer clearly, provide additional context if needed |
| Reviewer finds issues | Same implementer subagent fixes, reviewer re-reviews |
| Subagent fails task entirely | Dispatch a new fix subagent with specific instructions |
| Task blocked by dependency | Reorder remaining tasks or resolve dependency first |