Add subagent capability seam: interface, mock backend, model-facing tool
Introduce the `packages/subagent/` group and the abstract subagent seam — an
agent delegating to a child agent — as a named-provider registry (`ctx.subagents`),
unlike the single-implementation bash seam, so multiple transports (in-process,
ACP, future A2A) coexist. This first PR lands the interface, a scripted test
backend, and the model-facing tool, validated through the real cordis load path.
- dsh-subagent: SubagentService registry + SubagentProvider/SubagentRun
vocabulary + subagent/start|end events. Start-time capabilities (outputSchema,
depthLimit, toolFilter) are checked pre-start and rejected loud; runtime
capabilities (sendMessage, resume) are optional methods on SubagentRun.
- dsh-subagent-mock (support): scripted provider for keyless, deterministic
tests through the real Loader/export path.
- dsh-tool-subagent: the model-facing `subagent` tool, config-bound to one
provider; synchronous collect with try/finally dispose, signal->cancel
bridging, and non-completed-stop-reason -> isError mapping.
- Proposed RFC documenting the seam, the fork-vs-spawn-as-separate-backends
decision, own-session isolation, synchronous-collect scope, and the deferral
of background/poll/spill to a future unification with bash.
- Wire the new group into tsconfigs, build refs, package hierarchy docs, the
module graph, and the cordis catalog.
RFC: docs/rfc/proposed/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md
2026-06-21 22:31:56 +08:00
# subagent/ — subagent capability family
2026-07-26 05:03:53 +08:00
English | [中文 ](README.zh.md )
2026-07-19 22:50:49 +08:00
The subagent seam: an agent delegating work to a child agent. Like the [bash ](../bash/README.md ) and [llm ](../llm/README.md ) families this is a capability seam (see [capability seams ](../../.agents/notes/implemented/architecture/2026-06-13-capability-seams.md )) — but with one defining difference: **multiple provider implementations coexist in one context** , registered by name, rather than the single-implementation bash shape. The registry mirrors the LLM adapter registry.
Add subagent capability seam: interface, mock backend, model-facing tool
Introduce the `packages/subagent/` group and the abstract subagent seam — an
agent delegating to a child agent — as a named-provider registry (`ctx.subagents`),
unlike the single-implementation bash seam, so multiple transports (in-process,
ACP, future A2A) coexist. This first PR lands the interface, a scripted test
backend, and the model-facing tool, validated through the real cordis load path.
- dsh-subagent: SubagentService registry + SubagentProvider/SubagentRun
vocabulary + subagent/start|end events. Start-time capabilities (outputSchema,
depthLimit, toolFilter) are checked pre-start and rejected loud; runtime
capabilities (sendMessage, resume) are optional methods on SubagentRun.
- dsh-subagent-mock (support): scripted provider for keyless, deterministic
tests through the real Loader/export path.
- dsh-tool-subagent: the model-facing `subagent` tool, config-bound to one
provider; synchronous collect with try/finally dispose, signal->cancel
bridging, and non-completed-stop-reason -> isError mapping.
- Proposed RFC documenting the seam, the fork-vs-spawn-as-separate-backends
decision, own-session isolation, synchronous-collect scope, and the deferral
of background/poll/spill to a future unification with bash.
- Wire the new group into tsconfigs, build refs, package hierarchy docs, the
module graph, and the cordis catalog.
RFC: docs/rfc/proposed/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md
2026-06-21 22:31:56 +08:00
| Package | Role | ctx key |
|---|---|---|
| `subagent/` | Abstract subagent seam: named-provider registry + vocabulary | `ctx.subagents` |
2026-07-11 22:55:40 +08:00
| `subagent-inprocess/` | Shared in-process run driver (no provider; one cleanup effect per run) | — |
2026-06-22 14:27:38 +08:00
| `subagent-spawn/` | In-process backend: a fresh child agent | (registers on `ctx.subagents` ) |
Add in-process subagent backends: spawn (fresh) and fork (seeded)
The second PR of the subagent seam: the two in-process backends that run a
child agent on the same cordis context, reusing the agent factory's quiescent
AgentHandle teardown. Both register on ctx.subagents (PR1's named-provider
registry) and share one run driver.
- dsh-subagent-spawn: a FRESH child via ctx.agents.create — own session, the
parent's model by default (overridable), zero inherited conversation. Also
exports the shared in-process run driver (startInProcessRun): mint ids, stamp
cwd/parentSession-lineage/depth, drive the one-shot (send → whenIdle), read
the last assistant/message + turn/end reason, dispose to quiescence.
- dsh-subagent-fork: a child SEEDED with the parent's balanced completed-turn
prefix (the log up to and including its last turn/end), so the child inherits
context. The in-flight unbalanced turn is excluded — a raw seed would fail the
invariants replay. Proven: a regression test goes red if the boundary seeds
the open turn.
- Seam extension: CreateAgentOptions.seed, threaded through AgentLoop.createAgent
→ ctx.sessions.prepare({ seed }) (the primitive resume already used). This is
the fork-lineage path the TODO(sub-agents) markers anticipated.
- Depth: a merge-extensible AgentOptions.subagentDepth (0 top-level, parent+1 for
a child); the depthLimit capability refuses a spawn past request.maxDepth.
Tests: real-loop unit tests for both backends (mock MODEL only, real loop +
invariants), a multi-subagent test (one parent drives a fork AND a spawn child
then keeps working), and a with-key e2e (a real parent delegates via the
`subagent` tool to a real child that writes a file on disk — world-verified).
100% per-file coverage. The coding-agent demo wires the spawn backend + tool.
Snapshot coverage of nested agents is deferred to a stacked follow-up
(TODO(subagent-snapshots)): dsh-llm-replay is a single global positional cursor
that cannot route calls to a parent vs. a child on one context. Recorded in the
RFC's deferrals and a new AGENTS.md rule: designing a subsystem must design its
test infrastructure END TO END up front, verifying the snapshot/e2e harness can
express the new shape — a gap this plan hit.
2026-06-22 05:58:40 +08:00
| `subagent-fork/` | In-process backend: a child seeded with the parent's completed-turn prefix | (registers on `ctx.subagents` ) |
rename: @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-process -> @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-subprocess
The extracted library's name sat one edit away from @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-inprocess
(process/inprocess), inviting a typo'd import to silently resolve to the wrong
package. subagent-subprocess also reads as the deliberate counterpart to
subagent-inprocess (in-process vs. subprocess), matching how the two shared
drivers actually differ.
Package directory, npm name, module doc, JSDoc module tags, test-file name and
its temp-dir prefixes, the subagent-acp import and its Config/tsconfig/package.json
references, root tsconfig.json/tsconfig.build.json/knip.json entries, and the
packages/subagent group README all renamed together; regenerated
docs/module-graph.md and docs/config-catalog.md. Pure rename — no behavior,
export, or Config shape changed.
2026-07-09 13:42:03 +08:00
| `subagent-subprocess/` | Shared out-of-process machinery: env scrub, dispose ladder, isolated config dirs (pure lib; registers nothing) | — |
Add the ACP subagent backend: out-of-process delegation (PR3)
The first OUT-OF-PROCESS subagent backend, proving the seam generalizes past the
in-process backends. @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-acp runs each child agent in a
spawned subprocess, driven over the Agent Client Protocol as the CLIENT — the
direction-inverted twin of the dsh-acp server bridge. Point the configured
command at the acp-agent example and the harness talks to its own process.
- Fresh process per run: start spawns, runs one ACP session (initialize →
newSession → prompt), dispose kills the subprocess and awaits its exit.
- Minimal client stub: advertises no fs/terminal; accumulates agent_message_chunk
text as the result output; auto-answers session/request_permission by a
configured policy (reject default / allow). No start-time capabilities (an
out-of-process child can't enforce the parent's depth/tool-filter); ignores
request.parent; injects only `subagents`.
- StopReason mapping (end_turn→completed, cancelled→aborted, …); result resolves
error/aborted on a child failure, never rejects (seam contract).
- Security: credential-shaped ambient env vars are scrubbed; the child's own key
is forwarded only via explicit config.env. A spawn-level error (ENOENT) is
captured and raced against the ACP drive so a bad command settles error rather
than crashing the parent.
Testing designed at every tier: keyless integration drives a scripted mock ACP
server subprocess (cancellation incl. the pre-newSession race and a
torn-pipe-after-cancel, permission auto-answer, non-message updates, spawn
failure, HMR, export shape) at 100% coverage; a with-key e2e drives the REAL
acp-agent example process (PONG + real file write, verified on disk) — the
harness driving itself. Snapshot coverage of an ACP child is deferred as
TODO(acp-subagent-replay) (each child is its own process with its own replay).
Stayed on @agentclientprotocol/sdk 0.25.1: the proposed 0.28.x bump only
deprecates the stable ClientSideConnection/AgentSideConnection API this layer
uses (33 sites incl. the server bridge), turning no-deprecated red across code
this PR shouldn't rewrite — that fluent-API migration is its own follow-up. The
backend needs nothing 0.28.x adds.
This completes the subagent seam stack (PR1 interface → PR2 in-process → PR2.5
snapshot infra → PR3 ACP); the seam RFC moves to implemented/, amended.
2026-06-22 10:47:02 +08:00
| `subagent-acp/` | Out-of-process backend: a child agent in a spawned subprocess, driven over ACP | (registers on `ctx.subagents` ) |
Add subagent capability seam: interface, mock backend, model-facing tool
Introduce the `packages/subagent/` group and the abstract subagent seam — an
agent delegating to a child agent — as a named-provider registry (`ctx.subagents`),
unlike the single-implementation bash seam, so multiple transports (in-process,
ACP, future A2A) coexist. This first PR lands the interface, a scripted test
backend, and the model-facing tool, validated through the real cordis load path.
- dsh-subagent: SubagentService registry + SubagentProvider/SubagentRun
vocabulary + subagent/start|end events. Start-time capabilities (outputSchema,
depthLimit, toolFilter) are checked pre-start and rejected loud; runtime
capabilities (sendMessage, resume) are optional methods on SubagentRun.
- dsh-subagent-mock (support): scripted provider for keyless, deterministic
tests through the real Loader/export path.
- dsh-tool-subagent: the model-facing `subagent` tool, config-bound to one
provider; synchronous collect with try/finally dispose, signal->cancel
bridging, and non-completed-stop-reason -> isError mapping.
- Proposed RFC documenting the seam, the fork-vs-spawn-as-separate-backends
decision, own-session isolation, synchronous-collect scope, and the deferral
of background/poll/spill to a future unification with bash.
- Wire the new group into tsconfigs, build refs, package hierarchy docs, the
module graph, and the cordis catalog.
RFC: docs/rfc/proposed/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md
2026-06-21 22:31:56 +08:00
| `tool-subagent/` | Model-facing `subagent` delegation tool over `ctx.subagents` | (registers on `ctx.tools` ) |
2026-07-19 11:54:37 +08:00
The interface lives at `subagent/subagent/` . The in-process `subagent-spawn` / `subagent-fork` backends share the `subagent-inprocess` driver (a library with no provider of its own — both depend on it, neither on the other), and the out-of-process `subagent-acp` backend builds on the `subagent-subprocess` library (the credential env scrub, the dispose ladder, isolated config dirs). Tests replace only the child boundary with package-local fixtures.
Add subagent capability seam: interface, mock backend, model-facing tool
Introduce the `packages/subagent/` group and the abstract subagent seam — an
agent delegating to a child agent — as a named-provider registry (`ctx.subagents`),
unlike the single-implementation bash seam, so multiple transports (in-process,
ACP, future A2A) coexist. This first PR lands the interface, a scripted test
backend, and the model-facing tool, validated through the real cordis load path.
- dsh-subagent: SubagentService registry + SubagentProvider/SubagentRun
vocabulary + subagent/start|end events. Start-time capabilities (outputSchema,
depthLimit, toolFilter) are checked pre-start and rejected loud; runtime
capabilities (sendMessage, resume) are optional methods on SubagentRun.
- dsh-subagent-mock (support): scripted provider for keyless, deterministic
tests through the real Loader/export path.
- dsh-tool-subagent: the model-facing `subagent` tool, config-bound to one
provider; synchronous collect with try/finally dispose, signal->cancel
bridging, and non-completed-stop-reason -> isError mapping.
- Proposed RFC documenting the seam, the fork-vs-spawn-as-separate-backends
decision, own-session isolation, synchronous-collect scope, and the deferral
of background/poll/spill to a future unification with bash.
- Wire the new group into tsconfigs, build refs, package hierarchy docs, the
module graph, and the cordis catalog.
RFC: docs/rfc/proposed/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md
2026-06-21 22:31:56 +08:00
2026-07-19 22:50:49 +08:00
The proposal and design rationale: [.agents/notes/implemented/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md ](../../.agents/notes/implemented/feature/2026-06-21-subagent-capability-seam.md ).
