Claude Code: Part 6 - Subagents and Task Delegation

The Problem

You're facing a complex development challenge that requires deep, systematic analysis:

• Refactoring a large legacy system with many interdependencies
• Planning a major feature that touches multiple parts of your application
• Investigating a performance issue that could have various root causes
• Migrating to a new framework while maintaining functionality

These tasks require hours of careful analysis, reading through dozens of files, understanding complex relationships, and maintaining context across multiple steps. It's exhausting to guide Claude through every single step, and you lose focus on the bigger picture while managing the details.

The Solution

Subagents are specialized AI assistants that operate in separate contexts with focused expertise. They handle complex tasks autonomously while you focus on high-level decisions.

Learn more: Subagents Documentation

How Subagents Work

Creation:

/agents  # Interactive interface (recommended)
# Or create files in .claude/agents/ or ~/.claude/agents/

Usage:

Use an agent to analyze the authentication system

What happens: ⏺ indicator shows subagent is working autonomously

Key Features

• Separate contexts - Don't consume main conversation tokens
• Specialized expertise - Custom system prompts for specific tasks
• Tool access control - Limited permissions for security
• Automatic selection - Claude picks appropriate agent for task

Agent Types

Code Reviewer: Proactively reviews code quality and security Debugger: Specializes in root cause analysis
Data Scientist: Focuses on SQL queries and data analysis

When to Use

• Complex codebase analysis
• Multi-step refactoring plans
• Performance investigations
• Architecture planning
• Systematic code reviews

Best Practices

• Single responsibility - One focused purpose per agent
• Clear system prompts - Detailed instructions for agent behavior
• Limited tool access - Only necessary permissions
• Version control - Track project-level agents in git

Example Usage

"Use an agent to analyze the user onboarding flow"
"Use an agent to plan Redux to Zustand migration"  
"Use an agent to review payment processing security"

Working with Results

• Review outputs - Subagent results may need refinement
• Break down plans - Convert analysis into actionable steps
• Chain agents - Use results for follow-up analysis

Task Definition Tips

❌ "Use an agent to look at the code"
✅ "Use an agent to analyze authentication security and create modernization plan"

Be specific:

• Define scope and constraints
• Set success criteria
• Request actionable output

Performance Benefits

• Context preservation - Don't consume main conversation tokens
• Specialized analysis - Custom expertise for specific tasks
• Autonomous work - No need for step-by-step guidance
• Chain workflows - Connect multiple agents for complex tasks

When NOT to Use

• Simple questions
• Interactive debugging
• Small changes
• Tasks needing frequent input

Getting Started

1. Use /agents to create specialized agents
2. Start with analysis tasks
3. Be specific about scope and goals
4. Review and iterate on results

Subagents transform Claude into specialized AI analysts handling complex work autonomously.

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Claude Code Blog Series

Previous: Part 5 - MCP Servers and Tool Integration Next: Part 7 - IDE Integration with VS Code and JetBrains

Full Series:

1. Part 1 - Getting Started and Installation
2. Part 2 - CLAUDE.md Configuration Files
3. Part 3 - Conversation Management and Context
4. Part 4 - Slash Commands and Custom Commands
5. Part 5 - MCP Servers and Tool Integration
6. Part 6 - Subagents and Task Delegation (this post)
7. Part 7 - IDE Integration with VS Code and JetBrains
8. Part 8 - Hooks for Automated Quality Checks
9. Part 9 - Complete Development Workflows
10. Part 10 - Power User CLI Options and Scripting
11. Part 11 - Troubleshooting and Recovery