Delegation
Delegation gives a difficult current-turn task to one or more child sessions. Anyy waits for their results, then uses the structured summaries to answer in the parent conversation.
When to Use It
Use delegation when the work can be separated and the result is needed now:
Delegate three independent checks in parallel: review the API contract, the CLI behavior, and the tests. Then summarize any disagreement.
Use a Background Job instead when the work should continue after the current turn returns.
Single and Parallel Tasks
Anyy can delegate one focused task or a batch of independent tasks. A batch runs the child items concurrently and returns a result entry for each one, including status, summary, duration, model, token use, tool trace, and child IDs.
Good parallel tasks have clear boundaries:
- compare separate documents;
- check independent sources;
- review distinct components; or
- generate multiple alternatives for later synthesis.
Do not split a short lookup into many children. Delegation adds extra model calls, context transfer, and synthesis cost.
Give Children Useful Context
State the common goal and attach the minimum evidence each child needs. You can ask Anyy to select a different Role, Workspace, model, label, or timeout for a child when the distinction matters.
Child sessions inherit the parent's effective execution mode and cannot receive broader tool authority than the parent already has. Tool calls still follow ChangePlan, approval, and audit rules.
Define the decision or comparison the parent should make after the children finish. The child summaries and tool traces remain available for inspection when details matter.
Monitor and Stop
The parent can use the subagent controls to list runs, inspect their history, and cancel an active child. In Dashboard, delegated child sessions appear with other background/session activity so you can inspect their messages and tools.
Normal child sessions cannot delegate again or start recursive background work. This bounds the delegation tree.
Failures and Timeouts
A parallel batch can contain both successful and failed entries. Anyy should synthesize the completed evidence, identify missing checks, and avoid presenting a partial batch as complete.
Cancellation and timeout stop the child runtime, but cannot undo an external action that a tool provider already accepted.
Cost Control
- Delegate only independent, meaningful units.
- Set a timeout for uncertain or expensive work.
- Use a cheaper child model only when its capability is sufficient.
- Ask for concise summaries.
- Inspect token totals and tool traces when a batch costs more than expected.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| Child lacks a tool | The parent did not have that tool/toolset, or policy filtered it |
| Results arrive one by one but answer is incomplete | Ask Anyy to synthesize all completed entries and name failures |
| A child times out | Narrow its task, raise an intentional timeout, or use a background job |
| Delegation is rejected inside a child | Recursive delegation is intentionally disabled |