feat(delegation): live orchestration of running subagents via delegate_task action param - #85232
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…e_task action param delegate_task gains a control plane: action='list' / 'steer' / 'stop' let the parent agent see, redirect, and early-stop its own running subagents mid-flight — the model-facing counterpart of the TUI's delegation.pause / subagent.interrupt / subagent.steer RPCs. - action='list': live children of this conversation's spawn tree (ids, goal, status, running_seconds, accepting_steer, live transcript path). Ownership is enforced via a _delegate_parent_ref weakref chain stamped at child build time, so a conversation can only control its own descendants, never a sibling tree. - action='steer': queues text into a running child via the existing steer_subagent() registry path (delivered at the child's next tool boundary; missed steers surface as missed_steer in the completion). - action='stop': interrupt_subagent() — child stops at its next iteration boundary, partial result still re-enters as a completion. - Spawn dispatch response now includes subagent_ids + control hint. - Control actions run synchronously (never backgrounded) and bypass the spawn pause gate and depth limit; they also never consume the per-turn subagent spawn cap, and remain usable once the cap is hit (that is when stop matters most). - Small-model robustness (found live with gpt-5.4-mini on Nous Portal): tasks=[] alongside goal no longer trips the "Batch mode requires at least 2 tasks" gate — treated as single-goal. - CLI display: control calls render as "steer sa-…" / "list" instead of an empty goal. Live-tested E2E on Nous Portal (fable-5 + gpt-5.4-mini): full spawn→list→steer→stop cycle, plus a steer-efficacy run where the child acked the steer mid-essay and switched topics before finishing.
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… live orchestration Companion docs for #85232 — adds the model-facing control section (list/steer/stop, ownership scoping, spawn-cap exemption) above the existing TUI/gateway subagent.steer RPC docs.
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Summary
delegate_taskcan now orchestrate its own running subagents live:action='list'shows this conversation's children,action='steer'redirects one mid-run without stopping it, andaction='stop'ends one early — the model-facing counterpart of the TUI's kill/steer RPCs, in the same tool with zero new tools added.Changes
tools/delegate_tool.py:action/subagent_id/messageparams +_handle_control_action()(synchronous, never backgrounded); ownership enforced by a_delegate_parent_refweakref chain so a conversation can only control its own spawn tree; spawn dispatch response now returnssubagent_ids+ control hint;tasks=[]alongsidegoalno longer trips the "Batch mode requires at least 2 tasks" gate (live small-model failure)run_agent.py:_dispatch_delegate_taskforwards the control params (single choke point for all invocation paths)agent/tool_guardrails.py: control actions never consume the per-turn subagent spawn cap and stay usable once the cap is hit — that's whenstopmatters mostagent/tool_executor.py,agent/display.py: control calls render assteer sa-…/listinstead of an empty goaltests/tools/test_delegate_control_actions.py: 20 tests — ownership chain, per-action success/refusal shapes, guardrail exemption, entrypoint routing, empty-tasks coercionValidation
STEER-ACKmid-essay and switched topics (12 desert-plant → 4 penguin paragraphs), completed normallytasks:[placeholder]batches / "no action parameter"; after: clean spawn→list→steer→stop run quoting every status fieldSteering rides the existing
steer_subagent()registry path (delivered at the child's next tool boundary; missed steers surface asmissed_steerin the completion entry). Stop ridesinterrupt_subagent()— the child halts at its next iteration boundary and its partial result still re-enters as a normal completion message. Live transcripts undercache/delegation/live/remain the observation channel; this PR adds the actuation half.Infographic