# Subagent selection and handoff

Use this reference when a workflow has permitted or required a subagent. The
calling workflow owns the delegation trigger, authority, and acceptance rules;
the selected agent owns only its bounded assignment. This reference grants no
editing, remote mutation, or further delegation authority.

1. Read the user's instructions, repository agent guidance, and the calling
   workflow's role, scope, and permission requirements. Keep the selected lead
   model unchanged. If delegation is optional, stay in the current agent for
   small or tightly coupled work without an independent task.
2. Choose by required capability before runtime role name or cost. Match the
   task to bounded discovery, predetermined checking, implementation and
   repair ownership, or independent judgment-based review. Use an exceptional
   investigator for a concrete unresolved question backed by evidence, not a
   broad topic or large task. Respect configured agent and model choices; this
   reference does not pin a model or reasoning level. Confirm the chosen
   agent's actual read/write access, tools, isolation, capacity, and ability to
   persist or resume for the required work.
3. Give the agent one bounded assignment: objective or question, exact worktree
   or repository state, relevant instructions and evidence, owned files or
   resources, allowed actions, acceptance criteria, expected result, and the
   blocker to report if it cannot proceed. State whether further delegation is
   allowed. A fresh independent audit needs a self-contained brief rather than
   inherited conversation context.
4. Retain the agent handle when follow-up or repair may be needed. Inspect its
   returned work and evidence under the calling workflow's acceptance rules;
   an agent's success report is not independent acceptance. Return failed work
   to the same owner when the calling workflow requires that continuity.

Finish this handoff with the selected capability and actual runtime role, the
model and reasoning level only when exposed, the bounded brief, and the result
or blocker. If a required capability is unavailable, report it to the caller;
if delegation was optional, the caller may continue solo within its own rules.