delegating
What it does¶
delegating decides where one issue's work runs: in this session, or in a sub-session it starts in the issue's checkout. /build 340 uses it to run building for #340, and /triage 409 uses it the same way to run triaging for #409.
It asks only where the answer can matter. In a terminal, where no session can be started, it asks nothing and runs the skill here. In the desktop app it asks one question, here or sub-session, with one recommendation. Before either, /build reads the issue's kind: a Sub-issue or a raw issue stops right there with the reason (build its Epic, or run /triage), so no question is asked and no sub-session starts for an issue that cannot be built. Once a sub-session is running, delegating hands it the issue and steps aside: the sub-session runs the skill directly and never asks where to run again.
When to reach for it¶
Type /delegating, or the agent starts it when an entry skill hands off an issue; in practice /build and /triage start it for you. It belongs to the build step of the Epic path and the single-issue path, and to the triage step of the single-issue path. ask-spp routes between every skill when the right one is unclear.
Here or sub-session¶
The recommendation follows from two facts about the session you typed in:
| This session | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Has already started other sessions, or its folder is not a checkout of the issue's repository | Sub-session |
| Neither | Here |
A session that has started others is acting as an orchestrator, such as a Chief of Staff session, and a long build would crowd it. A session outside the checkout cannot start workers at all, since each worker cuts its worktree from the checkout.
Finding the checkout¶
When you choose a sub-session, delegating needs a folder that is a checkout of the issue's repository:
| Where this session stands | Where the sub-session starts |
|---|---|
| In a checkout of the issue's repository | This folder |
| In a folder with exactly one checkout of it one level down, matched by git remote | That checkout |
| In a folder with none, or several | You are asked which folder, and nothing starts until you answer |
The sub-session runs in that folder as it is, with no worktree of its own, on this session's model. Its prompt tells it to use building (or the skill handed over) for the issue.
Common questions¶
The build's question arrived in my main session. Can I answer it there?
Yes. A sub-session's turn-end note reaches the session that started it, and every message in which building waits on you opens with one line in the same shape, such as "#340 waits on you: start Wave 1 with these 3 issues? Reply yes, or say what to change." Answer it where you are: delegating sends your words to the sub-session unchanged, quoted as yours, and adds nothing of its own.
It's working if¶
- In a terminal,
/build <N>starts building without asking where. - In the desktop app, the first thing
/build <N>asks is here or sub-session, with one recommendation. /buildon a Sub-issue or a raw issue tells you why it stops, and asks nothing about where to run.- A sub-session starts in the issue's checkout, and never in a folder you did not confirm when there was more than one.
- An answer you give in the parent shows up in the sub-session as your own words.