Spawn Agent

Spawn Agent

Purpose

When an SOP declares execution: subagent in its frontmatter, this skill governs how main CC creates and invokes that subagent.

Default Strategy

Execution Protocol

When you encounter an SOP with execution: subagent:

Step 1: Read the prompt

Read the file specified in the SOP's prompt frontmatter field (relative to the SOP directory).

Step 2: Format the user message

Take the SOP's input parameters and format as:

[FIELD_NAME]:
[value]

[FIELD_NAME]:
[value]

Each field on its own line, separated by blank lines. Field names in UPPER_CASE.

Step 3: Invoke Agent tool

Agent({
  description: "[SOP name] — [brief task description]",
  prompt: "[prompt.md content]\n\n---\n\n[formatted user message]",
  model: "[opus, unless SOP overrides]"
})

The subagent's prompt combines:

1. The prompt.md content (role definition, framework, output structure)
2. A separator (---)
3. The formatted input parameters

Step 4: Return result

The Agent tool result IS the SOP output. Pass it back to the calling tactic/strategy as-is. No parsing, no transformation.

Override Handling

If the SOP frontmatter contains override fields:

• model: sonnet → use model: "sonnet" in Agent call
• tools: [alphaxiv, ss] → add tool restriction note to the prompt

Parallel Execution

When a tactic needs multiple subagents (e.g., debate with Critic + Defender), spawn them as parallel Agent tool calls in a single message. The Agent tool natively supports this.