Overview
Complex investigations can spawn subagents and run autonomously in the background.
For complex investigations that require exploring multiple paths or running autonomously, the assistant supports delegation. This includes both inline subagent delegation and fully autonomous background investigations.
What is delegation?
Delegation allows the assistant to break down complex problems and work more efficiently:
- Subagents: Child investigations that run inline within your conversation, focusing on specific aspects of a larger problem
- Background investigations: Autonomous monitoring that runs on a schedule, inspecting your systems and alerting you to problems
Both approaches extend the assistant's capabilities beyond single-turn conversations.
Delegation options
Subagents
Complex investigations can spawn subagents that work on focused tasks in parallel, reporting findings back to the main conversation.
Background Investigations
The assistant can run investigations autonomously in the background, monitoring your systems and notifying you of findings.
When to use each
| Scenario | Use subagents | Use background |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-part question in conversation | Yes | No |
| Autonomous monitoring | No | Yes |
| Parallel hypothesis exploration | Yes | No |
| Continuous system health checks | No | Yes |
| Deep dive into a specific aspect | Yes | No |
| Proactive alert generation | No | Yes |
How delegation works
Subagent workflow
When you ask a complex question, the assistant may:
- Identify that the question has multiple independent parts
- Spawn one or more subagents to investigate each part
- Collect findings from all subagents
- Synthesize results into a comprehensive answer
You see this happening in real time as nested tool calls in your conversation.
Background workflow
When background investigations are enabled:
- A scheduled heartbeat triggers every 30 minutes
- The assistant inspects logs and system state
- If problems are found, alerts are created
- Alerts are delivered through your configured channels
Background investigations run in hidden threads that only surface when they find something worth alerting.
Capabilities and limits
Both subagents and background investigations share most of the assistant's investigation tools, with some restrictions:
Can do:
- Query logs from all connected backends
- Run code in the sandbox
- Search the web for documentation
- Create artifacts (charts, tables, diagrams)
Subagent limits:
- Maximum 2 levels of nesting (main -> subagent -> nested subagent)
- Cannot trigger alerts or modify settings
- Results must fit within response limits
Background limits:
- Fixed 30-minute schedule
- Resource caps per run
- Alerts require corroborated evidence
These limits ensure delegation remains efficient and does not overwhelm your systems or generate noise.
Getting started
To start using delegation:
-
Subagents: Just ask complex questions. The assistant automatically determines when delegation would help and spawns subagents as needed.
-
Background investigations: Enable the feature in your project settings. See Background Investigations for setup instructions.