references/claude-code-tools.md
Claude Code Tool Notes
Section titled “Claude Code Tool Notes”Claude Code is the reference harness: skills speak its vocabulary
(Agent for a subagent dispatch, todos, Skill). These notes cover the
one place Claude Code can run a plan cheaper than the skills’ default
shape. It is opt-in by your human partner and changes nothing the skills
require.
Cheaper orchestration for subagent-driven development
Section titled “Cheaper orchestration for subagent-driven development”The controller session is the most expensive seat in a
superpowers:subagent-driven-development run: it reads every dispatch
result and every report, and it usually runs on the session’s most
capable model. Claude Code supports nested subagents (three layers below
the main conversation by default; CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_SUBAGENT_SPAWN_DEPTH
adjusts it), so the whole loop can run one layer down.
When your human partner asks for it — or has said the session model is too expensive to spend on coordination — dispatch ONE orchestrator subagent on a mid-tier model with the plan path and the instruction to use superpowers:subagent-driven-development end to end. The orchestrator dispatches its own implementers and reviewers per that skill’s Model Selection; the workspace and ledger live on disk, so nothing is lost to the extra layer. Its final message must carry the “Rulings I made” list verbatim — that list is how the decisions reach your human partner, and you relay it, not summarize it.
Do this only for a whole plan. Nesting a single task’s dispatch buys nothing and adds a seat.
Original Markdown source
# Claude Code Tool Notes
Claude Code is the reference harness: skills speak its vocabulary(`Agent` for a subagent dispatch, todos, `Skill`). These notes cover theone place Claude Code can run a plan cheaper than the skills' defaultshape. It is opt-in by your human partner and changes nothing the skillsrequire.
## Cheaper orchestration for subagent-driven development
The controller session is the most expensive seat in asuperpowers:subagent-driven-development run: it reads every dispatchresult and every report, and it usually runs on the session's mostcapable model. Claude Code supports nested subagents (three layers belowthe main conversation by default; `CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_SUBAGENT_SPAWN_DEPTH`adjusts it), so the whole loop can run one layer down.
When your human partner asks for it — or has said the session model istoo expensive to spend on coordination — dispatch ONE orchestratorsubagent on a mid-tier model with the plan path and the instruction touse superpowers:subagent-driven-development end to end. The orchestratordispatches its own implementers and reviewers per that skill's ModelSelection; the workspace and ledger live on disk, so nothing is lost tothe extra layer. Its final message must carry the "Rulings I made" listverbatim — that list is how the decisions reach your human partner, andyou relay it, not summarize it.
Do this only for a whole plan. Nesting a single task's dispatch buysnothing and adds a seat.