d578d06f59
CRITICAL fixes: - Installation: Remove false prerequisites (installer auto-installs everything except git) - Tools: Remove non-existent 'web_crawl' tool from tools table - Memory: Remove non-existent 'read' action (only add/replace/remove exist) - Code execution: Fix 'search' to 'search_files' in sandbox tools list - CLI commands: Fix --model/--provider/--toolsets/--verbose as chat subcommand flags IMPORTANT fixes: - Installation: Add missing installer features (Node.js, ripgrep, ffmpeg, skills seeding) - Installation: Add 6 missing package extras to table (mcp, honcho, tts-premium, etc) - Installation: Fix mkdir to include all directories the installer creates - Quickstart: Add OpenAI Codex to provider table - CLI: Fix all 'hermes --flag' to 'hermes chat --flag' across all docs - Configuration: Remove non-existent --max-turns CLI flag - Tools: Fix 'search' to 'search_files', add missing 'process' tool - Skills: Remove skills_categories() (not a registered tool) - Cron: Remove unsupported 'daily at 9am' schedule format - TTS: Fix output directory to ~/.hermes/audio_cache/ - Delegation: Clarify depth limit wording - Architecture: Fix default model, chat() signature, file names - Contributing: Fix Python requirement from 3.11+ to 3.10+ - CLI reference: Add missing commands (login, tools, sessions subcommands) - Env vars: Fix TERMINAL_DOCKER_IMAGE default, add HERMES_MODEL
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sidebar_position, title, description
| sidebar_position | title | description |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Subagent Delegation | Spawn isolated child agents for parallel workstreams with delegate_task |
Subagent Delegation
The delegate_task tool spawns child AIAgent instances with isolated context, restricted toolsets, and their own terminal sessions. Each child gets a fresh conversation and works independently — only its final summary enters the parent's context.
Single Task
delegate_task(
goal="Debug why tests fail",
context="Error: assertion in test_foo.py line 42",
toolsets=["terminal", "file"]
)
Parallel Batch
Up to 3 concurrent subagents:
delegate_task(tasks=[
{"goal": "Research topic A", "toolsets": ["web"]},
{"goal": "Research topic B", "toolsets": ["web"]},
{"goal": "Fix the build", "toolsets": ["terminal", "file"]}
])
Key Properties
- Each subagent gets its own terminal session (separate from the parent)
- No nested delegation — children cannot delegate further (no grandchildren)
- Subagents cannot call:
delegate_task,clarify,memory,send_message,execute_code - Interrupt propagation — interrupting the parent interrupts all active children
- Only the final summary enters the parent's context, keeping token usage efficient
Configuration
# In ~/.hermes/config.yaml
delegation:
max_iterations: 50 # Max turns per child (default: 50)
default_toolsets: ["terminal", "file", "web"] # Default toolsets
When to Use Delegation
Delegation is most useful when:
- You have independent workstreams that can run in parallel
- A subtask needs a clean context (e.g., debugging a long error trace without polluting the main conversation)
- You want to fan out research across multiple topics and collect summaries
:::tip The agent handles delegation automatically based on the task complexity. You don't need to explicitly ask it to delegate — it will do so when it makes sense. :::