Now that forking is the default, review agents are the ones I still call by name
Subagent forking became the default, so delegated work now inherits the parent conversation. Work can inherit context. Judgment cannot. Here is how I declare that boundary in the repository and catch it drifting.
Tracking Multi-Step Work in Claude Code Now That the Todo Tools Are Off by Default
Since Claude Code v2.1.233, TodoWrite and the Task tools are left out on the newer models. Here are the three branches to check before you set the opt-in variable, the PostToolUse ledger I put in their place, and the measured point where that ledger quietly corrupts under parallel agents.
The Write Your Permission Mode Never Stops — Auditing an Agent-Scoped PreToolUse Gate Across 150 Payloads
Workflow subagents auto-approve file edits regardless of your session permission mode. I measured the remaining boundary — an agent_id-scoped PreToolUse hook — across 150 payloads, found 54 silent pass-throughs, and rebuilt it to fail closed.
Branch with /fork, Delegate with /subtask — Two Commands That Traded Jobs
In Claude Code 2.1.212, /fork now clones your conversation into a background session, and in-session subagents moved to /subtask. Here is how I decide between them, and the budgets worth setting before you start branching freely.
My Nightly Subagents Ran, and I Couldn't Retrace Them — Trimming the Logs That --forward-subagent-text Unleashed
Subagent text and thinking can now flow into stream-json output, and unattended log volume climbs sharply with it. Here are measured numbers, a three-tier retention filter that keeps only what postmortems need, and a correlation ID design that survives missing fields.
Don't Accept an Agent's Numbers and Citations As-Is — A Verification Gate Built on a Dedicated Auditor Subagent
A design that verifies every number and citation in an agent-generated summary using a separate subagent before accepting it — with working TypeScript for deterministic recomputation and fail-closed source matching.
Running Subagents in Parallel Without One Failure Sinking the Whole Run
A fan-out / fan-in design for running several subagents in parallel, covering token budgeting, a result contract, and partial-failure handling. Includes an implementation where one branch can fail without stopping the rest, plus measured numbers.
A SubagentStop Hook That Grades Subagent Output and Sends It Back to Be Redone
When a Claude Code subagent occasionally returns rule-breaking work, a SubagentStop hook can grade it automatically and ask for a redo. Here is a working setup with code and field notes.
Context Budgets for Nested Subagents: Designing Contracts So 5-Level Delegation Doesn't Lose Quality
Once subagents could nest, deeper delegation made summaries thinner and reruns more frequent. Here is how I rebuilt quality by adding four contracts between layers: token budgets, a handoff schema, failure isolation, and an independent grader.
How Deep Should Nested Subagents Go? Rethinking My Delegation Tree After Claude Code's 5-Level Limit
Claude Code subagents can now spawn their own subagents, up to five levels deep. I rebuilt my automation around nesting and settled on three levels — here is why.
Authoring Dynamic Workflows: Building Reusable Research Pipelines with phase / agent / pipeline
A hands-on guide to writing your own Claude Code Dynamic Workflows: the phase / agent / pipeline / parallel primitives, locking outputs with JSON Schema, porting the adversarial-verification pattern, and designing for token cost.
Running Claude Code's Dynamic Workflows: What I Learned About Orchestrating Subagents
A hands-on walk through Claude Code's Dynamic Workflows (v2.1.154): running /deep-research, enabling the feature, watching progress with /workflows, and saving a workflow for reuse, from an indie developer's angle.