Delegation Routing

Delegation Routing

Provides keyword-based routing patterns so any agent can autonomously delegate work to the right specialist via #runSubagent, without relying on handoff buttons.

Description

This skill replaces UI-based handoff buttons with autonomous #runSubagent delegation. It teaches agents how to:

1. Detect when a specialist is needed by matching keyword patterns in the task
2. Select the correct target agent from the 27-agent roster
3. Compose an effective delegation prompt with required context
4. Respect invocation restrictions (model preferences, allowlists, invocation controls)
5. Decide whether to delegate directly or escalate to the conductor

The conductor agent retains its handoff buttons as the single user-facing entry point. All other agents delegate autonomously using the patterns defined here.

When to Use

This skill is relevant when:

• An agent needs to hand work to another specialist
• A task requires cross-agent collaboration (e.g., implementer needs security review)
• An agent has completed its work and must return results to the conductor
• Routing ambiguity needs resolution (which agent handles this task?)
• An agent encounters work outside its specialization

When NOT to Use

• Do not use for choosing which skill to load — skill activation is handled by VS Code's skill matching, not by this routing table.
• Do not use for direct user-to-agent routing — the conductor handles that via its handoff buttons.

Entry Points

Trigger Phrases

• "delegate to", "hand off to", "route to"
• "needs review", "needs testing", "needs security check"
• "return to conductor", "escalate", "report findings"
• "who handles", "which agent", "specialist for"

Context Patterns

• Agent completes its primary task and needs next-step routing
• Task requires a capability the current agent doesn't have
• Multi-step workflow needs coordination across agents
• Quality gate requires a different perspective (review, security, a11y)

Core Knowledge

Delegation Mechanism

All inter-agent delegation uses #runSubagent:

#runSubagent {agent-name} "{detailed context prompt}"

Rules:

• Always include objective, files in scope, and acceptance criteria in the prompt
• Reference prior decisions: "As planned in Phase 1..." or "Following the findings above..."
• Carry forward constraints: timeline, budget, compliance requirements
• Never call #runSubagent for agents not in your agents: allowlist (if one is defined)

Routing Table

Core Workflow Agents

| Agent | Keyword Triggers | When to Delegate | Model Preference | Effort | |-------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|--------| | conductor | "orchestrate", "coordinate", "multi-phase", "lifecycle" | Escalate scope changes, ambiguous routing, multi-agent coordination | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Medium | | planner | "plan", "scope", "phases", "strategy", "breakdown", "estimate", "impact analysis", "blast radius" | Need structured multi-phase plan, risk analysis, option evaluation, impact assessment | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Medium | | implementer | "implement", "build", "code", "fix", "apply", "execute", "create" | Execute approved changes, apply fixes, generate code | GPT-5.4 | Medium | | reviewer | "review", "audit", "quality", "check", "verify", "validate" | After implementation, quality gates, diff review, compliance checks | GPT-5.4 | Medium | | researcher | "research", "investigate", "evidence", "compare", "explore", "context", "code topology", "codebase overview", "architecture map" | Gather background info, evaluate alternatives, find documentation, structural codebase analysis | GPT-5.4 | Medium | | maintainer | "triage", "release", "changelog", "version", "PR", "issue management" | Issue triage, release preparation, PR logistics, changelog updates | GPT-5.4 | Low | | spec | "spec", "specification", "requirements", "scope", "project brief", "acceptance criteria" | Comprehensive project specification, requirements elicitation, scope definition | GPT-5.4 | Medium |

Support Persona Agents

| Agent | Keyword Triggers | When to Delegate | Model Preference | Effort | Restriction | |-------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|--------|-------------| | security | "threat", "vulnerability", "compliance", "STRIDE", "credentials", "auth" | Security review, threat modeling, compliance checkpoint | Claude Opus 4.7 | High | user-invokable: false — subagent-only | | performance | "latency", "memory", "profiling", "scalability", "Big O", "cost" | Runtime analysis, memory profiling, cost modeling | GPT-5.4 | Medium | user-invokable: false — subagent-only | | accessibility | "WCAG", "ARIA", "a11y", "screen reader", "keyboard navigation", "contrast" | Accessibility audit, WCAG compliance, ARIA review | GPT-5.4 | Low | — | | docs | "documentation", "onboarding", "guide", "README", "tutorial", "knowledge" | Documentation drafts, onboarding materials, template creation | GPT-5.4 | Low | — | | observability | "metrics", "logging", "tracing", "telemetry", "monitoring", "dashboard" | Instrumentation review, platform integration, metrics analysis | GPT-5.4 | Low | user-invokable: false — subagent-only | | visualizer | "UX", "diagram", "wireframe", "user flow", "visual", "Mermaid" | UX review, diagram creation, visual hierarchy feedback | Claude Haiku 4.5 | N/A | — | | deployment | "CI/CD", "pipeline", "deploy", "release readiness", "environment", "infrastructure" | Deployment review, pipeline validation, release runbooks | GPT-5.4 | Low | — | | red-team | "adversarial", "exploit", "edge case", "stress test", "loophole", "bad actor" | Adversarial testing, assumption challenging, attack surface analysis | GPT-5.4 | High | user-invokable: false — subagent-only |

Translation Workflow Agents

| Agent | Keyword Triggers | When to Delegate | Model Preference | Effort | Restriction | |-------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|--------|-------------| | translation-conductor | "translate repo", "full translation", "codebase translation", "language migration" | Full-repo translation orchestration (6-phase lifecycle) | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Medium | Only invoked by conductor | | translator | "translate file", "convert code", "port module" | Single-file code translation with pattern mapping | GPT-5.4 | Low | disable-model-invocation: true | | translation-analyzer | "dependency graph", "manifest", "translation analysis", "source discovery" | Source repo analysis, dependency DAG, complexity assessment | GPT-5.4 | Low | disable-model-invocation: true | | translation-validator | "validate translation", "confidence score", "equivalence check" | 6-layer validation stack, confidence scoring | GPT-5.4 | Low | disable-model-invocation: true | | translation-styler | "idioms", "conventions", "target style", "idiomatic code" | Target language idiom application, convention enforcement | GPT-5.4 | Low | disable-model-invocation: true |

Specialist Agents

| Agent | Keyword Triggers | When to Delegate | Model Preference | Effort | |-------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|--------| | test | "unit test", "integration test", "coverage", "TDD", "Pester", "test suite" | Test creation, coverage analysis, Red-Green-Refactor cycles | GPT-5.4 | Medium | | lint | "format", "style fix", "lint", "whitespace", "naming convention" | Code formatting, style enforcement, auto-fixes | Claude Haiku 4.5 | N/A | | github-ops | "issue", "pull request", "workflow", "GitHub Actions", "branch", "repository" | GitHub operations, PR management, workflow automation | GPT-5.4 | Low | | terraform | "Terraform", "multi-cloud", "IaC", "drift detection", "HCL" | Infrastructure-as-code planning, drift detection | GPT-5.4 | Low | | bicep | "Azure", "Bicep", "ARM template", "Azure IaC" | Azure infrastructure implementation, ARM compatibility | GPT-5.4 | Low | | design | "design system", "brand colors", "components", "design tokens" | Design system queries, component search, contrast validation | GPT-5.4 | Low | | gui-tester | "GUI test", "browser test", "visual regression", "interaction test", "screenshot", "Playwright", "page load", "UI validation" | Browser automation, visual regression, interaction testing, form validation | GPT-5.4 | Low | | rubber-duck | "stuck", "confused", "think through", "debug thinking", "rubber duck", "talk it out", "help me understand" | Socratic problem-solving, guided debugging via probing questions | Claude Haiku 4.5 | N/A |

Delegation Templates

Standard Delegation

#runSubagent {agent} "
Objective: {what needs to be done}
Context: {relevant findings, decisions, constraints from current work}
Files in scope: {file paths}
Acceptance criteria: {how to verify success}
"

Return to Conductor

#runSubagent conductor "
Completed: {summary of work done}
Findings: {key results, severity-tagged if applicable}
Artifacts: {files created or modified}
Next steps: {recommended follow-up actions}
"

Implementation Handoff

#runSubagent implementer "
Implement: {specific objective from approved plan}
Phase: {N of M}
Files: {target file paths}
TDD: Write failing test first, then implement, then validate.
Validation: Run `powershell -File scripts/validate-copilot-assets.ps1 -RepositoryRoot .`
"

Review Handoff

#runSubagent reviewer "
Review: {what was changed and why}
Phase objective: {the goal this change serves}
Changed files: {list}
Acceptance criteria: {specific checks}
Tag findings: BLOCKER, MAJOR, MINOR, NIT
"

Quality Specialist Handoff

#runSubagent {security|performance|accessibility} "
Scope: {files, features, or changes to evaluate}
Context: {what prompted this review}
Prior findings: {any related issues from earlier phases}
Deliver: Severity-tagged findings with actionable remediation.
"

Complexity-Based Pre-Routing (Cognitive Router)

Before keyword-matching to a specific agent, assess the request's complexity tier to determine the appropriate processing depth. This prevents over-engineering simple tasks and under-resourcing complex ones.

Complexity Tiers

| Tier | Signal Patterns | Routing Action | |------|----------------|----------------| | INSTANT | Simple lookups, greetings, factual questions, "what is X?" | Conductor answers directly — no subagent delegation needed | | FAST | Single-file fixes, typo corrections, config changes, "fix this lint error" | Route to a single specialist (lint, implementer) — skip planning | | STANDARD | Feature implementation, bug investigation, documentation overhaul | Standard lifecycle: Planner → Implementer → Reviewer | | DEEP | Multi-system architecture, cross-cutting refactor, security audit + performance review | Full lifecycle with support personas (security, performance, red-team) | | ULTRADEEP | Full-repo translation, compliance overhaul, production incident RCA | Trilateral consensus: planner (architecture scan) → implementer (draft) → reviewer --adversarial (challenge); all three must reach consensus before output is accepted |

Complexity Signal Detection

Escalate to DEEP/ULTRADEEP when any of these signals are present:

• Request uses synthesis keywords: "synthesize", "compare and contrast", "trace evolution", "root cause"
• Multiple systems or agent domains are affected (e.g., security + performance + deployment)
• Contradictory evidence or failed prior attempts exist in session context
• User explicitly requests deep analysis: "thorough", "comprehensive", "investigate fully"
• Ruin-risk indicators: destructive operations, PII handling, production environment changes

Keep at FAST/INSTANT when:

• Request matches a calculator pattern, greeting, or simple factual question
• Single-file scope with clear acceptance criteria
• Task is routine-tier work (formatting, commit messages, PR descriptions)

Pre-Routing Decision Flow

1. Check complexity tier (INSTANT → ULTRADEEP)
2. If INSTANT → Conductor answers directly, no delegation
3. If FAST → Skip planning, delegate to single specialist
4. If STANDARD → Standard lifecycle (plan → implement → review)
5. If DEEP → Standard lifecycle + engage support personas
6. If ULTRADEEP → Trilateral consensus: planner → implementer → reviewer --adversarial (all must agree)

Integration with keyword routing: Complexity tier determines the workflow depth; keyword matching determines the target agent. Apply complexity assessment first, then use the routing table below to select the specific agent.

Escalation Rules

Escalate to conductor (do NOT delegate directly) when:

• The task requires coordination across 3+ agents
• Scope is expanding beyond the approved plan
• A compliance checkpoint is reached (privacy review, deployment approval)
• Routing is ambiguous — multiple agents could handle the task
• A BLOCKER-severity finding requires workflow changes
• The current agent's agents: allowlist doesn't include the target
• Complexity tier is ULTRADEEP and requires parallel subagent coordination

Delegate directly when:

• Clear single-agent handoff with matching keyword pattern
• The target agent is in your agents: allowlist (or no allowlist is defined)
• The work is scoped to one phase or one deliverable
• Complexity tier is FAST and a single specialist can handle it
• Return-to-conductor after completing your assigned task

Invocation Guardrails

Agents with user-invokable: false

These agents cannot be started directly by users. They are only reachable via #runSubagent:

• security — invoke from conductor, implementer, reviewer, or planner
• performance — invoke from conductor, implementer, or reviewer
• observability — invoke from conductor only
• red-team — invoke from conductor, planner, or reviewer

Agents with disable-model-invocation: true

These agents cannot be autonomously invoked by another model. They must be explicitly invoked by their designated parent:

• translator — invoked only by translation-conductor
• translation-analyzer — invoked only by translation-conductor
• translation-validator — invoked only by translator or translation-conductor
• translation-styler — invoked only by translator or translation-conductor

agents: Allowlists

Some agents have explicit allowlists restricting which subagents they can invoke:

• conductor — can invoke 23 agents (all except translation sub-agents directly)
• translation-conductor — can invoke 13 agents (translation workflow + core workflow)
• translator — can invoke only translation-validator and translation-styler

If your agents: allowlist doesn't include the target, escalate to the conductor:

#runSubagent conductor "
Need delegation to {target-agent} but it's outside my allowlist.
Context: {what needs to happen}
Recommendation: Route to {target-agent} with these parameters: {details}
"

Model Override Guidance

Each agent's model: frontmatter controls which model it uses. The platform applies the configured model automatically — you do not need to specify the model in delegation prompts.

Notable cost-tier assignments:

| Target Agent | Configured Model | Tier | Effort | Rationale | |--------------|-----------------|------|--------|----------| | lint | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Routine (0.33×) | N/A | Formatting is pattern-matching; smallest model suffices | | rubber-duck | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Routine (0.33×) | N/A | Socratic questions don't require deep reasoning | | visualizer | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Routine (0.33×) | N/A | Diagram generation and UX feedback are template-driven | | translation-conductor | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Execution (1×) | Medium | Multi-phase orchestration needs Anthropic tool-use strengths | | red-team | GPT-5.4 | Execution (1×) | High | Adversar

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: kennedym-ds
• Source: kennedym-ds/copilot_orchestrator
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.